I just found out how tidy people keep tidy!!!!!

[MrsBobDylan]

I have not felt this excited since I discovered sanitary towels can prevent new boot blisters.

You had better sit down.

Tidy people have less stuff. That's how they stay tidy.

No one bothered to tell me this life changing information. Bastards.

We are downsizing to a flat from a four bed house with a garage. I reckon I have donated/taken to the tip, at least half of the contents of our house.

We didn't need all that shit. I don't think I liked most of it.

Turns out, two mixing bowls is fine, 3 pans, 10 mugs, one duvet cover/pillowcase for each bed, no spare bedding for guests since they can bring their own, 6 bath towels, one coat each, three pairs of shoes each...I could go on.

Since decanting half of my house, it is lovely and tidy. I move a few things from room to room each day and clear the kitchen at the end of day. All manageable. I even have time for a nap on the sofa fgs.

Now my cupboards are not filled to the brim, I can PUT THINGS IN THEM.

The easiest and most satisfying clear out, was the knick knack cull. Photo frame we got for our wedding? Gone. Glass vase from my Uncle Harry? Gone. Mini collection of ornamental owls? Get in there!

It is easier to clean a house with less stuff in it. Surfaces get a quick wipe, floors are mopped without have to slalom round tables, chairs and plant stands.

If you have a friend who feels overwhelmed by keeping house, please pass this on.

You're welcome

I've just bought coverless duvets for everyone! I think it's going to be life changing!

@Bottleofstout

Can I ask about deceased computers, phones and tablets please? How do you remove private information from them and make sure no one steals e-mails and passwords and photos etc?

Sorry if this is a really stupid question but I am old enough not to have grown up with tech.

@Bottleofstout you can reset it to factory settings. Most phones / tablets / computers will have that option. Asked a younger/ trusted member of your family or friend circle ( children, nephews / nieces etc. )

Good luck.

[quote MrsBobDylan]@thenightsky I agree. Pantie

@SpookyPumpkinPants thank you, you are lovely. It is a 'necessity' downsize because I became a full time carer for the Lego maniac dc two years ago and our lives were set up for two wages.

But I'm not sad about it because it will being long-term security in a nicer town with better schools.[/quote]
I'm sorry it's a necessity downsize, but I'm glad there are positives and that you're not too sad about it!

Obviously it's a shame that Lego Maniac needs a full time carer, but it's great you have been able to rearrange your lives to enable you to do it.

It's great that it's a nicer town & has good schools 💐

Enjoy your clutter free (Lego isn't clutter!!) home & family x

Here is the thing.

My house is full of lovely things that obviously bring me joy and can in no way be culled.
Those are MY things.
Then there is all the crap that belongs to everyone else, which really needs ot be thrown away.
The problem I have is that they don't agree!

Yes. People hoard absolute shit. Have what you need. That is all

I feel quite sad reading about all these minimalist homes... I clean for a couple well into their 80's. Every square inch of their little bungalow is covered in nik naks and souvenirs.. Their whole lives are literally all over the place! They have been everywhere and they are still so happy and content.. Even with each other after 60 +years!!

It's fine IMO to have lovely things but they have to be kept or displayed properly. But broken tat kept for 20 or 30 years, or nice things shoved away in a drawer full of clutter where they can't be enjoyed is a different matter.

If your guests also subscribe to the "one set of bedding per bed and no spare" then they will have to strip their own bed and bring used bed linen with them to put on a bed when they arrive.

Which is pretty inconvenient and a bit grim to be honest.

I have too much bed linen it's true, I could declutter a lot, but I'll still have two sets per bed and that means there'd always be a spare set for when I need to take some with me (which does happen at times).

I have three sizes of bed - king, double, single. So with a spare set for each bed that means I can cover any size bed I need to if I have to take some when I go away.

I can't imagine having one coat, the weather is so variable.

But I do need to declutter and coats is on my list to do, I can probably get rid of six or seven.

I could add that my late DM who was a hoarder did just this - had a house full of clutter, so you couldn't sit down or move, but really nice things hidden away, when they should have been either used or displayed and given pleasure. Or worse, nice things stuffed away and got at by moths or mice.

@Monsterpumpkins

I feel quite sad reading about all these minimalist homes... I clean for a couple well into their 80's. Every square inch of their little bungalow is covered in nik naks and souvenirs.. Their whole lives are literally all over the place! They have been everywhere and they are still so happy and content.. Even with each other after 60 +years!!

I absolutely hate nick-nacks. Work of the devil.

@Monsterpumpkins

I feel quite sad reading about all these minimalist homes... I clean for a couple well into their 80's. Every square inch of their little bungalow is covered in nik naks and souvenirs.. Their whole lives are literally all over the place! They have been everywhere and they are still so happy and content.. Even with each other after 60 +years!!

You really don't need to feel sad. Everybody is different and everybody has a different clutter threshold. Having nik naks everywhere would drive me crazy. I'm not going to spend hours dusting - my memories are in my head, not my stuff.

@MrsCardone

This is so true. We have no spare bedding. Everyone has one duvet cover set and when they wear out, we throw them away and get new ones.

Everyone has one towel.

The DC have one set of school uniform that I wash on a quick wash every night.

Much simpler. And tidier.

My god the towels! There are only three of us at home now but DH and DS use hundreds of the fuckers every week. As soon as DS goes to Uni next year I’m buying one lovely new set and he can take the others with him.

@Monsterpumpkins

My flat is heading towards minimalism in the sense "only have what you need". This includes beautiful original paintings on the walls, as well as family photos and a couple of favourite ornaments, and some comfy cushions.

What I have got rid of includes:
Armchairs, old cameras, books, toys, scooters (DSes had 2 each), lego, DVDs, CDs, old watches, outgrown and unwanted clothes, blankets, bags (why does a family of 4 need 10 rucksacks? Why do I need 6 handbags when I only use 2?), pens/crayons/felt tips that don't work/we don't like so never use, hats, scarves, board games we never play, jigsaws, chipped plates, excess cutlery/mugs/glasses which never get used, old towels, shoes that are never worn, out of date medicine, curtains from old flat that have been in a cupboard for 3 years,...

I could go on and on. Our flat looks cosy, tidy and very personal. The cupboards only have stuff we use in them. Everything has a tidied away place out of sight. Its brilliant.

When I left home the only piece of advice my DM gave me was that you only need 3 sets of underwear - 1 set in the wash, 1 set on and 1 set in the drawer.

@Ionlydomassiveones

Can you tell my DH? He hoards broken and out of date electric equipment in case he can ‘make something out of them’ (but never does)

I share your pain/angst. My DH has magazines on all kinds of topics that are older than some of our GC. Of what use is a mag about technology that is over 20yrs old? Shelves of DVDs either that we have never seen or the box sets of things we have and enjoyed ONCE. Books!! Don't get me started on books. Bits of timber 'that might be useful' Screws.....boxes and boxes but somehow never the right size for the job he's doing NOW. I'm beginning to feel invisible!

At last, I have found my soul mates, all those who live with a hoarder.

@boireannach

When I left home the only piece of advice my DM gave me was that you only need 3 sets of underwear - 1 set in the wash, 1 set on and 1 set in the drawer.

Which is rubbish, isn't it?

I basically means you have to launder daily or at least alternate days.

I live alone, so to fill a wash load and make it worth putting the washing machine on, I need at least seven pairs of knickers, more likely is ten.

Plus, if you go for n holiday, you need to take enough for the time you're there, you don't want to be doing laundry every other day on holiday.

@MamsellMarie

How many biros did you keep? I probably have 62.

I have roughly as many as there are people in the world but never one I can find when I need it. Or it feels like that anyway.

I have decluttered the craft box and now there isn't one, which is very tidy indeed.

Autistic Lego maniac child spends his days crafting and comes home from school with polystyrene cups, tissue boxes and even sneaked out some A4 paper last week. The world is his craft box. The other two dc would have to be threatened with death to voluntarily create anything, so it works for us.

[quote InvincibleInvisibility]@Monsterpumpkins

My flat is heading towards minimalism in the sense "only have what you need". This includes beautiful original paintings on the walls, as well as family photos and a couple of favourite ornaments, and some comfy cushions.

What I have got rid of includes:
Armchairs, old cameras, books, toys, scooters (DSes had 2 each), lego, DVDs, CDs, old watches, outgrown and unwanted clothes, blankets, bags (why does a family of 4 need 10 rucksacks? Why do I need 6 handbags when I only use 2?), pens/crayons/felt tips that don't work/we don't like so never use, hats, scarves, board games we never play, jigsaws, chipped plates, excess cutlery/mugs/glasses which never get used, old towels, shoes that are never worn, out of date medicine, curtains from old flat that have been in a cupboard for 3 years,...

I could go on and on. Our flat looks cosy, tidy and very personal. The cupboards only have stuff we use in them. Everything has a tidied away place out of sight. Its brilliant.[/quote]
In working my way to achieving this too. It feels amazing.

How many biros did you keep? I probably have 62.
@MamsellMarie

The decluttering at the speed of life book, says that you find a place for the biros where you would actually think to look for them.
Then once you have found that space you keep as many biros as comfortably fit there.
Making sure there is enough space for anything else that might also need to fit there.
You can't keep what you don't have space for and in this case if you also need pencils or other writing equipment that will also need some of the space.
Don't store spare biros unless you would think to look for them, would use them before they stopped working and actually have space to store them.

@Monsterpumpkins

I feel quite sad reading about all these minimalist homes... I clean for a couple well into their 80's. Every square inch of their little bungalow is covered in nik naks and souvenirs.. Their whole lives are literally all over the place! They have been everywhere and they are still so happy and content.. Even with each other after 60 +years!!

I would feel for the children who one day have to clear this, having done so myself. Everything you throw away a memory, a lot of guilt involved but how could you keep the stuff? I know I could easily go that way and trying to reign it in!

Also with pens, I found I was always reaching for the same style and avoiding certain ones as I didnt like writing with them. So I took them into the office and left them in the stationery cupboard.

@Ionlydomassiveones

Can you tell my DH? He hoards broken and out of date electric equipment in case he can ‘make something out of them’ (but never does)

Yes, non unlike my dh with tools, duplicate/triplicates

And all those electrical wires that are a mystery

[quote Todayissunny]@Ionlydomassiveones your H must be my H's twin. Does he also keep boxes with bits of wood in just in case he needs them? And screws of 100 different types - but never has the right one.?[/quote]
And mine - bits of wood

@peachesarenom

But I saw this in John Lewis and I NEED IT!!!!

Love him