Has annyone had a huge clear out and regretted it?

[YourHandInMyHand]

I'm seriously thinking of doing a MASSIVE declutter of my home.

A few things I'm mulling over completely getting rid of are things like CDs. Can't remember the last time I actually played a CD and I have a massive box full. If I get rid will I regret it?

DVDs: I'd maybe keep some but I reckon I'd get rid of any boxsets for example as they're so easy to watch on Netflix or elsewhere. I think I could half what I have.

Books: Do I really need a massive bookshelf full of books? Some are fiction, some are sen related (sen child), some are work related. Do I really need to keep hard copies of books when we have several fab libraries in our area?

Clothes: These could do to be hugely streamlined too. I'm currently too fat for most of my clothes and will soon be in maternity wear. I don't want to get rid of all of my usual clothes but I think I could massively cut them back, and stick what I want to keep in the loft until I've lost the baby weight.

I work from home as a childminder and could easily cut a lot of my toys and resources back too without it affecting the quality or range I offer the minded children.

The same sorts of things could also be tackled with DP and DS but I reckon both of them will be much more resistant. They are both ones to hang onto stuff, messy, not bothered by clutter whereas it drives me bonkers.

I just feel like our house is getting more and more cluttered with "stuff" that doesn't actually add to our life in terms of enjoyment, and visual clutter really gets to me.

Do it!!

Lol peachy. I think I am going to. Perhaps I will join one of the declutter threads on here to help me along.

I'm also thinking I could make a little money as I declutter too, which with a baby on the way is always helpful!

Any tips on how to get DP and DS on board?

Am in a similar situation to you, I am moving very soon and really should've packing by now, I feel silly taking cds, books and films with me but can't quite Chuck then it just in case!!

Never I love a big clearout. I’m thinking of ordering a skip and having another blitz myself. There’s nothing as cathartic as chucking stuff out I love it.

When I move from Dublin to the UK I put a box of stuffed toys in the loft and waited to see if they were missed. They weren't so I gave them to charity.

Another strategy is if you know your DS or DP want to buy something to show them on ebay what they could achieve by selling certain items so they then have a goal.

If you have read a book and aren't likely to reread it soon then get rid. Unless it is out of print you could buy it again if necessary.
Go through your CDs and DVDs and cull. Keep only the ones you love.

Smudged we moved in here about 2 years ago, going from separate houses (me and DP) to one. We were both used to having a house of our for our own stuff, and I think we need to realise we now have HALF of the space for "stuff" that we used to.

Wish we'd decluttered more ruthlessly when we moved but now I can look around the house and say "since we moved in I haven't played a single cd, or read a book I've had on a shelf for years, or watched that dvd boxset etc" so I can actually think about what does and doesn't get used to motivate me.

In your shoes I'd definitely try to be as ruthless as possible. It was such a massive chore us moving here, and it would have been much less workload if we'd decluttered beforehand.

Do it, we've done a huge amount of decluttering recently and it's the best feeling... freeing! The house is so easy to keep tidy now.

The DVDs and CDs you can keep while massively reducing the space they take up by buying those zip up books with slots for the discs. Then just chuck the cases.

I have never regretted decluttering clothes. Books and toys etc should have smaller, regular culls IMO.

Good idea OP. You'll feel better for it I'm sure. Make some extra cash too.

To PP. Please think of Freecycle before putting in skip. People are glad of all sorts of items. After someone's messaged about an item, I leave out in porch, saves being disturbed/waiting in.

We got Rid of 90% of our books, dvds and cd's. I sometimes miss a proper paperback, but I always read via my kindle. I don't miss them, I haven't watched a dvd for about 2 years and probably haven't played a cd aside from the ones in my car for about 5 years.

Clothes. I routinely get rid of stuff that doesn't fit or I no longer wear. Im not or for having hoardes of stuff for no reason. I do have a few pairs of jeans in my wardrobe I'm hoping to squeeze back into. The clothes maybe wait until you've had the baby and see what size/shape you are before you throw them out.

I gave a lot of my books to our local library - DVDs, too. They were really pleased and sold on those that they couldn't rent out. Could you do that?

You won't make any money selling CDs - you might as well give them to charity shops.

Have you read the Marie Kondo book? It is pretty short and has useful stuff about how to approach it, how to deal with the “but what if I need it” thoughts and how to deal with others who could do with culling. Worth a skim through - ideally on a kindle!

Do it! I don't keep hard copies of anything, films, music everything is available online/netflix/music stores.
So much information can be found online now I don't keep non fiction or cooking books. I read fiction but donate them back to charity once I've read them. What's the worst that can happen? If you miss something in particular you could always buy a copy again.
Clothes go if not been worn for a year.

Op.. I have just done it. I got a skip delivered and it was wonderful. I love going into rooms now not seeing good stuff all over the place. I was moving stuff from one place to another and back again. Since I have done a major declutter/dump, keeping house clean/tidy is so much easier. I was ruthless and kept saying "if in doubt throw it out!!" . Best thing I've done this summer

Honestly, I’ve had quite a few individual moments of looking for something that I’ve let go. But it’s only been a small% of what I’ve got rid of, and I’ve usually only wanted something for a one-off or realized I could do without. There’s a mindset shift with owning less.

It’s been so much easier to keep on top of the house since we decluttered and it’s a much nicer place to live. We organized our space more effectively too so we ended up with extra rooms so now DH has a music den and I have a yoga space.

I wouldn’t swop the momentary frustration of realizing I gave something useful away for the chaos and claustrophobia of our cluttered lives

It’s much easier to have less ‘stuff’. I Freecycled a ton of kitchen stuff and even managed to get rid of some cupboards too; I had things I didn’t use sitting in cupboards we didn’t need.... madness. So not regretted at all.

Go all Nike - just do it.

Every time I have a clear out, I feel massively happier. I feel mentally lighter. This is worth ten times more than the occasional feeling that I wish I had kept this or that. Another thing is that when you have less stuff, eg clothes, you find things that you didn’t realise you had because they were all stuffed together.

Just get rid. Take them to a charity shop so it helps others too. I don't own any cds or DVD's. Much easier to just do it online and not have it taking up space. Books can be borrowed from the library.

Do it!

We did one 18 months ago and 4/5 years before that and it's been brilliant both times... Think we're due another tbh! Best part of the first one was selling our hundreds of books. We obviously kept those with sentimental value or special editions but we made enough money to buy two kindles, saved ourselves an entire room of space and have never looked back!

We had hundreds of cds, sold them all on music magpie and haven't regretted it at all. Most stuff is on Spotify anyway.

I had a massive cull of books when we moved recently. Most were fiction that I'd accumulated over the years. I kept the classics that I would like the kids to read one day, but the others went to charity.

Clothes - I've always been a bit of a minimalist with clothes. At the moment I have 4/5 dresses, 2/3 skirts, about 20 tops, 1 sweater and 2 pairs of jeans. That's it. I admit I would like a little bit more but the budget doesn't allow and I can make do. But there is no point in hanging on to stuff that doesn't fit anymore.

I would definitely get rid of all the CDs, books and DVDs you never use. I never throw anything away though, I always sell stuff online (or give it away for free). I've sold stuff I never thought anyone would want.

We had a massive clear out about 3 months ago as we were moving.
As pp have said, I kept the books that meant something and did a massive cull of the dvds and cds.
I also got rid of a lot of clothes! I had to admit that I was never going to fit into some of it and other clothes just didn't suit me.
It felt good to get rid of the clutter and I'm trying to make sure we don't accumulate stuff we don't need at the new house. No regrets at all.

I had a huge clear put when I moved house, hundreds of books. Truly regret it now

I have. I recently moved home, downsized and needed to do a huge declutter, gradually lasting months. Made more problematic as I temporarily moved in to rented so did not know how much space I would eventually end up with and if I would have a garden.
I felt as though I was throwing my life away but we had accumulated so much stuff over the years it had to be done.
The majority of my grown up children's toys went as there would be nowhere to store them and my youngest son made me feel even worse as he said I was throwing his childhood away.
Clothes, I ended up seriously decluttering. It was Winter so when I came across Summer clothes I believed I hardly wore those went to charity too. Turns out this year during the heatwave I am really short of the lightweight Summer dresses I used to rely on. Worst of all I cannot find any Summer clothes left in the shops to replace them.
My list goes on....I now have no wheelbarrow as I gave it away, no garden table, watering can, grass strimmer or hedge cutters, plant pots, etc , etc,
Everything obviously needs replacing and it is maddening and expensive.
I put everything in to storage and believed it would be a saving to store less, I am now discovering that was not the case.
On a side note I cannot believe how on earth how we still have so much stuff.