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

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

I need to declutter, but it makes me feel guilty. Especially getting rid of unwanted/unneeded gifts. And anything that’s unsaleable but still usable.

I’m a bit sad that you have made your DH get rid of his books!

How can I get rid of stuff and not feel guilty?

Ooh, is that a penguin? Who doesn’t love penguins?

One of my DC is very autistic and we'd never manage with one set of anything. There are days when he pisses on everything and we have enough laundry to do without a special load just for his stinky school clothes, every evening.

Sainsburys / argos were selling black Ravens one year and lots of MNetters bought one and posted pictures of them around their house - it's like a Christmas's version of that

This is so true.
I didn’t think I had a lot of stuff - but a house move recently forced me to examine what I had and I realised I had all these things I wasn’t using and ultimately never would use again - old DVDs, vases I didn’t particularly like, too much crockery, etc.

Sadly it won't feel so spacious and empty once you're in your lovely new flat!

Cattenberg it's a 'Scandi' Christmas Penguin!

My DS would love a raven HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

The tidiest I've ever been in my life was following a house fire. I do not suggest this as a cleaning method, BTW, but it does do the job. "Stuff" has slowly crept in again, however. I have probably 20 small kitchen appliances that I rarely use, simply because counters pace is so limited, and getting them in and out of the storage closet is such a job.

I really should go through and make a thorough job of clearing out again...but NOT with a box of matches!

If I ever ended up living in a home without my husband I'll have as few possessions as possible. The man loves 'stuff'! We have shelves full of books, comics, dvds, cds, just loads and loads of stuff. Right at this moment I can see 3 floor to ceiling book shelves that I could just happily box up and send to the charity shop without even looking at the contents.

@KloppsTeeth

I need to get rid of boxes and boxes of toys. All small things, like Octonauts, Bob The Builder type characters. Lots of die cast cars. But charity shops don’t want them as they only sell for pennies. Where do people move their on to that isn’t landfill? Then I would be tidier, as it would free up space.

Your local primary school/day care/after school club will have them I’m sure.

I can say that living with someone who doesn’t accumulate stuff and who is tidy is the best way to be tidy.

Really think about what you need to buy, and usually don’t buy it, we usually don’t need all this stuff either. And cull once a year. That usually does it!

My mum gets quite cross when she visits, ‘gosh you are so tidy’ she says with disdain! Because she just accumulates so much stuff, and puts it out on the surfaces and then spends loads of her time cleaning. I spend so little time tidying because it never gets messy. It’s really life changing.

I need to see your glass owl alien. Don’t tease us like this

All I can assume with no spare bedding is you don't have children who bleed or vomit in the night. And that makes me jealous.

Yes- great advice OP. I may get a skip…

Be firm. My dh's books were his heart and soul. And now they are gone he needs to LTW

I tried mentioning to husband tonight that all the crap he has moved into loft from downstairs cupboard wil be there until we die!! All stuff we havnt used for 20 years 😳I really need advice on how to get him to be more logical!

Thanks everyone who replied to my small toys to landfill guilt. Some great ideas and I will get to work decluttering this week.

@iwishiwasafish

I hear you OP, but it doesn’t matter how many times I declutter, DH just fills it right back up again

i hear that..............

Funny! Snd wtf re sanctuary towels I had not received a copy of that memo. Game changer.

We are all packed up in readiness for an imminent house move. A slight due shift from 5 to four beds and a colossal clear out post divorce and kid raising in a house we've been in for a decade.

The house is lovely right now if you ignore the huge boxes everywhere which are filled with way too many coats, bedding, kitchenware, clothes etc. I culled a huge percentage of books already but when I get to the new place with zero storage (current place has infinite fitted wardrobes snd cupboards throughout) I shall drastically cull more as we unpack.

I really like the feel of not having overstuffed cupboards- I'd like to continue it but honestly hadn't made the connection between stuff snd tidiness.

[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]
In a similar vein, when DH and I were in our 20s we were burgled, but the place was already in such a mess that we didn't even notice for a while...

@peachesarenom

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

No you don't.

You know perfectly well that one day this will be atop a skip.

Or, on a tressle table in the rain at your boot sale brandished by you frantically waving at punters pleading them for 50p rueing the day you set eyes on it.

Owning at least five uniform shirts and plenty of pants, tights, and socks per child makes life easier and cuts down on weekday washing. If school allows, knee socks are much more efficient and cheaper than tights. Skinned knees heal; ripped tights do not.