Clutter free, how??

[Times10]

I was looking on rightmove earlier and most of the houses had completely bare surfaces, and nothing out of place. Obviously, I know that most of them are staged that way, but I don’t know how we’d ever managed that, without hiring a storage unit and putting everything in there!

We’ve been decluttering with more or less results, but are still far away from a clutter free house! The photos look so relaxing though, compared to what we’re living in at the moment. It is just a question of getting rid of more, or is there tricks to keep surfaces clear? I think we have enough storage, but maybe we’re not using it effectively.

I’m not quite sure what I’m asking (except for someone to come and get rid of everything for me )

About 15/20 minutes, I put everything in a box, then went through it all, instead of looking at each thing one by one and giving up halfway through!

I was find selling things a bit of a slippery slope, as I don’t get round to actually doing it, so nothing leaves the house. And most of our stuff really isn’t worth much, so the charity shop may well make more out of our stuff than we’d be able to with a car boot sale.

That's great going in a short space of time, and it's a great idea to empty it all out first.

I get into the same slippery slope with selling things. Especially my sims old clothes- generous grandparents bought him stuff I wouldn't have splashed out on like Boden which I think is worth selling, but I just have piles of stuff to sell 'one day' .

You've inspired me to have a go at the bathroom cabinet and drawers. I know I can't sell stuff from there so maybe I'll find it a good place to start.

I have so so much makeup. I don't really wear it much, but I get sucked it and buy stuff hoping it will be so wonderful that I'll use it, and inevitably I don't! So I've loads and loads of it. Plus silly amounts of sample sizes, hotel minis etc!

I find some projects seem more daunting than they actually are... or the opposite, and they take far longer than I assumed they will. I’v not yet cracked the timings yet, but I thought if it was in a box, at least if I ran out of time everything is contained!

I wonder what to do with the toiletries and make-up too.
The unused that I won't use can go to charity but am trying to use up the part used and it feels a bit of a chore.
Some things seem to get used up quite quickly.
I suppose I should apply the KonMari thinking.

I know what you mean Mike I've got about 10 lipsticks that are not quite right. They were annoying me this morning. I must get over the Bad Purchase Guilt and bin them.

Just bin the lipsticks if they are no good. I got rid of tons of make up and it feels good!

A lot of make up goes off. It's easy to bin a stinky mascara but not so easy to get rid of stuff that I just have too much of.

How much of each item would be a sensible amount to keep?
I'm thinking of decent, unopened things that might should I live to be 145 eventually get used up?

The beauty hoarders thread is quite good for inspiration.

That’s one of the konmari elements I really liked, she said that if an item made you feel bad/upset/annoyed then to get rid of it so you don’t have a constant reminder of the money wasted/obligation etc... I sometimes found that more helpful than the spark joy element.

I had to get rid of notebooks, as I just wasn’t using them, but they were so pretty/lovely/were going to be the answer to my productivity problems.... until they just became a pain, so I shipped most of them to the DCs school so they could use them as (very expensive) practice papers for the children. This was a few years ago, and I don’t miss them. I’m also very careful in trying not to buy anymore to replace them, and most of the time I’m successful although a few have slipped through the net...
I found that getting rid of a substantial amount has really helped me not buy more, as when I just got rid of one or two I’d easily replace them in my next shopping trip!

There's a thought
I suppose I should apply the how much I can keep by space to put it in theory.

This is a fabulous thread and timely as we're currently having a kitchen extension built and will need to store kitchen stuff in our already overfull tiny house!
My problem is the sentimental stuff, things we've been given, things dd made and cds, dvds and books. I love my books but we're overrun, all bookcases stuffed full and books piled in odd corners. Aaaagh!

Maybe you could sort through the makeup, chuck anything that is awful the and pop the rest into piles by type. Then keep a couple of each item?

I really like the idea of getting rid of anything that makes you feel negative, including stuff that you feel guilty about buying in the first place!

For the beauty stuff, try donating to a beauty bank or women’s shelter?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/oct/06/beauty-banks-help-people-too-poor-to-buy-toothpaste-tampons-sali-hughes

Books are hard, I was brought up with the idea that books are basically sacred, and you should keep them all... but I realised a lot of them I’d never re-read them, and others just didn’t interest me anymore. It was a big thing though, for me!
We still have too many books for the space we have, but it’s harder as it’s books we have decided to keep through many decluttering sessions, so I’m not sure how we’re going to solve that, but I refuse to buy more bookcases.

Unless beauty stuff is unopened don't donate it. I can't imagine anybody would want a half used lippy or eyeshadow, esp as these things all have use within x time symbols on them.

I need a book clear out too. The volume to physically transport to the library is what blocks me. I rather like knowing someone else will get to read that book. I feel a Kondo madness with books - they are sad on a shelf unread, needing to be dusted.

Middle child taught me the way. He adores books and sees them as living. If you won't read them regularly that's like not walking your dog or petting your cat. You have to rehome them.

@TowelNumber42 ah that's a great way to look at it. Could you take say ten books every few days and work down the pile that way?

@TowelNumber42 the Oxfam and Amnesty bookshops will collect if you have lots! As will many non-book-specific charity shops. Most libraries are a bit sniffy about donating books- they are constantly decluttering themselves!
@peoplepleaser1 re your clients with their clutter free houses- they have staff!! (Eg-you!) so you can't compare. Also I bet they blitzed the cat food cupboard before signing up for cat feeding- there will be cupboards of doom elsewhere.

I think I'd live a lovely clutter free existence were it not for those pesky kids. The churn of clothes/toys/books to grow in and out of, presents with no obvious homes, the added chaos and knackeredness... also they have even defeated the blinking toothbrush principle! They wander about while brushing their teeth and we find toothbrushes down the back of the sofa...

Towelnumber that's a beautiful way to think about it.

OP one thing we've done is put all the borderline ones onto one shelf and reread them. Have a "to donate" box stashed in a cupboard. After you've finished rereading each one, decide whether to reshelve it or put it in the donate box. Any you haven't read for a few years and you don't fancy rereading now, move them straight to donate because if you were suddenly going to fancy reading it again, you've have done it by now.

We found there were not many we wanted to keep beyond one more read. But those we did (stares hard at Good Omens) are clear keepers.

There were also some that we didn't want to read again but we wanted to keep for DC. These we stack vertically on the bookshelf so DC can find them easily, but you could also put them away for a few years if your DC are younger.

I love a good clear out, so I was reading your first posts feeling slightly judgey (Sorry!!) ... until I read you had young D.C. and are pregnant. No judginess here! The young kids/babies/pregnant years are just cluttery. I don’t know how anyone gets through those without “stuff” everywhere.

It gets 100% easier when the kids are at school or nursery every day. Then you can keep their stuff in their bedrooms. Once you’re doing that, it feels easier to de-clutter downstairs because you have more of an idea how you’d like your grown-up space to feel and look.

Having said that! You might have gone clutter blind to certain things. The kitchen worktops - his often are you using the things out on display, truly? I had things like my InstsntPot and sandwich toaster out on the worktop, then realised I only used them once or twice a week, max. So I cleared space in the big understairs cupboard and put them in there.

I find grabbing s carrier bag and just speeding round the place throwing things away at random works pretty well when you’re overwhelmed. I’ve never regretted getting rid of anything in that mood.

Books: I had a lot of books on different subjects. An easy way to clear old ones was to just keep my FAVOURITE book on each subject, and donate the rest. I don’t miss any of the ones I threw away using that method. Except the Blood Group Diet book. I miss that.

You’ll ge fine. Just be heartless.

I wish I could say it was the arrival of the DCs that caused all the excess stuff but that would be lying... of course, they added a whole new meaning to the words clutter and stuff, but it was actually when the eldest was born that I realised we (ok, ok I) had to get rid of all the random things I’d been taking from house to house and never using. So all in all, there’s been a slow decrease of my own belongings, but we’re still no where near where I want to be.

I’m so fed up of the wasted hours trying to deal with the mess we create, so this past week since the older DCs are back at school, I’ve been trying to be a lot more ruthless, but I know I still have a huge amount of work ahead of me.

Sometimes it looks like there’s an improvement, but it doesn’t take long to look like everything is out of place, so we still have too much stuff, as I believe if we had the right amount of stuff things wouldn’t end up lying everywhere.

And we need to find room to fit baby things, which seems like an impossible task at the moment!

@Times10 me too with the baby things! I'm 37 weeks with DC3 so it's all a bit urgent...

Good luck! I’ve got a few months to go, so hopefully we will have the time to sort it out!

That's what I was saying a few months ago...

I’m known for that kind of thing too!

I think my next step is to make a list of problem areas, as I’m starting to run out of steam and we’re no where near done.