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

@MrsBobDylan I had the same revelation a few years ago when I read the Marie Kondo books. It was like a 100watt light bulb moment for me! Less stuff; easier clean. Still an ongoing process getting my household into the same mindset though....

There used to be a programme on called Life Laundry. They would take everything out, and put it on the lawn and only put some back. Some would go to charity shops and then the crusher a big machine with a rotating screw like mechanism would come and crush the tat. It used also to try to get to the problem of why people were hoarders.

@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

Husband from wedding day? Gone. MIL? Gone.

@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)

Same here! Big time! I secretly dump stuff. But not fast enough.

[quote MrsBobDylan]@CeeceeBloomingdale I am naturally, chaotically untidy. In my 20s I was late for work and when I go back to my flat, thought I'd been burgled because it was such a mess.

My two sisters have stuff and are tidy like you. I just can seem to cope with anything above the bare minimum![/quote]
I've done this about a month ago. DH and I are both messy people, my poor, excessively tdy mother sometimes 'pops by for a brew' (she lives an hour away) and I know it's because she's itching to tidy up. It's excellent.

@HelloDulling

One coat? No way. I wear a coat every day from October to April. I don’t want to look the same every day for seven months on the trot.

I have a few coats for different times of the year ie some are more for autumn/spring and one for the middle of winter, some rain jackets, and I can understand people having a formal coat, but it didn't occur to me that people buy multiple coats so that they 'don't look the same'! Quite a luxury.

When I go into town I invariably forget my glasses so often pop into Poundland and buy a pair of reading specs so i can actually read labels in the supermarket.

When I moved a few months ago and was clearing out, I was mortified to find I had 26 pairs ! 26 !!! Enough for the whole street if they couldn't find theirs

I am a declutterer married to a hoarder. It's a constant struggle.

My mum is a horrible combination of bargain hunter, shopaholic and hoarder. She only buys cheap tat from Poundland, Wilco, charity shops. but she buys a lot of it! I think my dad kept her in check but since his death 30 years ago she has gone berserk. She has recently moved to a small retirement flat and I am in the process of clearing her 4 bedroom house, with attic, garage, sheds and greenhouses. It is a complete nightmare.

Amongst choice items I have had to sort/dispose of so far - 38 tins of chopped tomatoes (those were the in date ones, the out of date ones went in the bin). One stash of 27 tiny IKEA pencils. I've found more since. Even more of those paper rulers from IKEA. Over 38 packs of panty liners (she is 82). Over 100 unopened packets of tights/stockings. Over 500 unused key rings shoved in a drawer . 18 different brand new with tags Primark scarves. 23 twin packs of Primark gloves. Over 30 umbrellas, mostly new. Dozens and dozens and dozens of part used shampoos, shower gels, soaps. My purse belt from brownies (I'm in my 60s). Every card, painting and gift her grandkids have ever sent her. Over 3G wooden spoons, again mostly unused. 4 unopened sets of king sized bedding (she has no king sized beds). Broken vacuums, TVs, kettles, printers, CD players, radios. iPads and kindles she has been given but never used. Maybe 20 sealed boxes of the Chanel No5 perfume she has been given and saved for best. Dozens of nail clippers, scissors and reading glasses. So much of it is destroyed by age damp or moths or is not up to modern safety standards. The waste is astronomical.

It is endless. Every day I visit her house and box and bag up stuff for charity shops or the dump and it is taking forever. 13/14 carloads in and I haven't made a dent in it.

Sorry - I needed to vent. It is taking over my life. It's grubby and soul destroying and I hate it. The waste is obscene. I will never, ever, ever inflict this on my children.

Aside from less stuff (though I do agree with that!) I came to a different conclusion after spending a lot of time with a tidy person years ago.

She put things away! Not like me, who spends half my life looking for something I should have put away in its proper place (always assuming there is a proper place, as there ought to be) but usually I haven’t.

She trained her kids the same way. If you’ve finished with it - whether that’s the packet of biscuits you just got out, or the jigsaw or Lego or whatever - put it away!

Pity you can’t just get one of those chutes that the builders use and put everything into it and straight into a skip.

@MrsTophamHat

You are so right. Since I had children I can't stand how much stuff there is everywhere. Sadly I am married to Mr It Might Come In Handy One Day so my culls are not as ruthless as i'd like.

I am married to his brother. He does not like throwing things away. But from time to time, I do manage to get rid of things (and then we get more).

I have regular cullls and give away to friends / family who can use things, otherwise charity shops.
Buy less.
Make do and mend.
Love what you have.
Don't buy into the whole marketing ethos of needing the latest models/ upgrades of everything. Keep what you have until no longer serviceable.
Give your spares away.
I love my ornamental owl though. Just the one.
Keep precious paper type stuff in a scrapbook.
Don't beat yourself up if it doesn't always work!

Downsized very reluctantly after separation and then discovered having spare time and a life! Unfortunately, being aspirational involves acquiring a bigger house and, consequently, more stuff to fill it. Never missed any of it and a smaller house equals smaller responsibility/bills/less cleaning! Good times 🤗

Yes! I have adopted a “if I moved house tomorrow would I take this with me?” approach and thrown out so much stuff. I’m planning to move next year so downsizing in preparation. My loft is almost empty due to the fact it was full of stuff I haven’t used since I moved in, except the Christmas tree / decs and all cupboards only contain stuff I genuinely use. Every few months I look to see if there’s anything not used since the last tidy out and if there is - it goes!

Love it! Wait until you start culling the space taking humans! Even more tidiness 😃

butter I do that with things like hair bobbles, lip balm, hand cream, hair spray... end up with loads of tiny handbag sized items

I need to show this to my partner, he whines constantly that the house is a mess. You would think it's like a house you see on some hoarding programs, it's not. But he doesn't help, he came back from a trip to his mother's, with 2 coats, that she Didn't want, but neither do we, he has several of the dam things. Without these new ones. So I said we need to sort through and I can donate some, but it's only 2 that have made it to the charity shop, apparently, he needs a coat, for gardening (doesn't do that much) he has kept 1 from his mother's, as it maybe fits a bit better than his other winter coat, so that's 2 winter coats, and a summer jacket. Then my son has 2 winter coats, and a rain coat, me I have 1, coat and 1 cycling jacket. Its annoying, as there is other stuff he doesn't seem to want to part with. Yet he will moan, when he cannot get in a cupboard, because its full of bloody scalectric, that I cannot sell, apparently if he cleans it, it might sell for more. But he has been promising to clean it for the last 2 years. 🤦‍♀️

A wonderful thread - from one who has an unopened box in the loft from a 30year ago house move!!!
But my real conundrum is, how do I dispose of a wooden sewing chest (it has woodworm) my Dad made for my Mum which has tins and tins of buttons, school ribbons (mine), knitting patterns galore that she collected without me regretting it. It’s just sentimental I know but somehow it feels disloyal. At the same time how do I stop myself from cutting off buttons from old shirts and saving them😱😱😂😂

@1frenchfoodie Pans with removable handles?? What?!?! mindblown

Well done @MrsBobDylan I can only dream of living in a house like that. My house is the complete opposite to tidy. I find it so hard to get rid of things.

Bedding? My boys and I each have about 6 sets. Do we need them all? No. Are they fun designs and favourite themes (Harry Potter, Roald Dahl)? Yes! So I don’t have the ability to part with them but I’d love to 😒 A whole shelf of double stacked mugs three deep. Do I need them all? No. Are they special and have memories attached? Yes 😩 There’s only myself who uses them!!

Send help!

@Learningstill

A wonderful thread - from one who has an unopened box in the loft from a 30year ago house move!!! But my real conundrum is, how do I dispose of a wooden sewing chest (it has woodworm) my Dad made for my Mum which has tins and tins of buttons, school ribbons (mine), knitting patterns galore that she collected without me regretting it. It’s just sentimental I know but somehow it feels disloyal. At the same time how do I stop myself from cutting off buttons from old shirts and saving them😱😱😂😂

Marie Kondo can help you with this, I think. She teaches us to be absolutely ruthless. She's like a tiny sociopath.

I don't agree with this. No spare bedding, one coat, seems silly. We keep the place tidy but have spares of most things.

We recently moved and got rid of a HUGE amount of stuff! It was so liberating and life changing to bring only the things we really need or love. We moved in to much bigger house though so there was actually space for everything (rather than cramming a million different random things in to one cupboard there is a different cupboard for each type of thing!). It's wonderful and I'm still frequently clearing things out. It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate when you have children.

I learnt this about 8 years ago and I want to shout it from the rooftops!
But most people like their stuff too much j think.
I love not having much, and having space, and room to move, and being able to keep tidy with ease!

I’m with you, OP! I would love to de-clutter, but the OH doesn’t half fill up the house with shite! I’m just as bad!

All of my Terry Pratchett/Anne McCaffrey books give me pleasure, so I simply cannot get rid of them. That’s my entire study covered. 😢