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

There is a distressing amount of dh tidy sabotage reported on this thread. They MUST be told that unless they are prepared to cull their belongings, they will be the focus of your next declutter.

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

Forceably getting someone else to get rid of their books is a step too far.

Books are tidy on a shelf. They don't magically move somewhere else.

I've been doing a big clear out the last few weeks. One of our problems is having the same type of thing in multiple rooms.

So I've set about putting all photography equipment, all craft equipment, all paper etc in the same room and therefore the same place.

Also having things in multiple places means things often get needlessly rebought.

I have discovered today that we have 20 pairs of scissors. Just bog standard ordinary scissors.

I'm now trying to work out wtf I can reduce them without landfilling them!!!

😁
Welcome to the club OP. Don't every look back!!

But your owls 😢🦉😢🦉😢

Add message | Report | Message poster | Quote | See all ImUninsultable Mon 25-Oct-21 20:54:55
I dont keep things. I keep really personal things of course but I dont like knick knacks and junk and 5 of each thing when I need 1. Lovely and tidy.

Then I had kids. And now every surface is covered in Lego because my main builds the seta and does not dismantle them or let them break about. So, hundreds of lego sets on every surface. Had to buy a side unit and 4 bookcases for the living room just for his Lego storage.

I dont have things. But a house full of lego is impossible to dust and tidy!

I feel your pain. DP is a collector of Lego.
3 double wardrobes filled with Lego!!! We have baskets of clothes that won’t fit into wardrobes, it’s insane.
Fortunately, his are all boxed and never opened so no problem with dusting.

Sorry, tried to copy your post, don’t think I did it right

I admit I was expecting something more groundbreaking or magical.

glad you figured it, but it wasn't a well-kept secret!🤣

@tankcrossing Can I join the DP Lego moan train please? Mine has just gone into Lego overdrive in last few months. I have considered leaving (but he is an otherwise lovely lovely man). Oh and he is a knick-knack buyer. Stuff for everything, everywhere

What an uplifting and brilliant post!! Off to declutter first thing

One coat each? What about a going out coat? A snow coat? An autumn coat? A hiking coat? A summer coat? I feel confused.

@MrsBobDylan I love you a bit (and your name)because you seem quite excitable.

My husband is a hoarder. I shall never have a tidy home because he just can't see that too much rubbish is the cause of the clutter; we don't need a bigger home which is what he thinks. He also can't see that living in the muddle that I have to constantly try to tidy is bad for my mental health; to him, it is a security blanket. I wish I could be on one of those programmes on TV where they get rid of all the 'stuff' but I know he won't do that, the best I can do is confine the rubbish to a couple of rooms.

We’re about to downsize and I am dreading the culling before we pack (I absolutely refuse to pay for DH’s crap to be moved across the country!) He stuffed the attic full when we moved here 23 years ago and has never looked at the contents since 😡

I am going to radically thin out all my stuff - any ideas on what to do with 200 paperbacks needing a new home?

@LoislovesStewie

My husband is a hoarder. I shall never have a tidy home because he just can't see that too much rubbish is the cause of the clutter; we don't need a bigger home which is what he thinks. He also can't see that living in the muddle that I have to constantly try to tidy is bad for my mental health; to him, it is a security blanket. I wish I could be on one of those programmes on TV where they get rid of all the 'stuff' but I know he won't do that, the best I can do is confine the rubbish to a couple of rooms.

I sympathise. DH is insisting on taking a massive rolltop desk that’s buried under his rubbish, obscure paperwork and obsolete documents 🤬

@YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp

We’re about to downsize and I am dreading the culling before we pack (I absolutely refuse to pay for DH’s crap to be moved across the country!) He stuffed the attic full when we moved here 23 years ago and has never looked at the contents since 😡

I am going to radically thin out all my stuff - any ideas on what to do with 200 paperbacks needing a new home?

Charity shop if in decent condition. Recycling if not.

@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.

My suggestion would be to sort out the toys into groups and then advertise them on your local FB FREE STUFF group. I've done this with lots of things, it has worked well and people come and collect them from your home :)

This has been a bit of a recent revelation to me . I knew about the clearing out bit, but hadn't got the memo about the not buying more stuff part, which is equally important. I also thought things were going ok if everything fitted in the cupboards. Never ocurred to me that I could have some empty cupboards!

Now having massive cull, so far things have gone to:

ebay
Freebay
Friends
Various charity shops
The local animal shelter
The man who does car boot sales on behalf of the local animal shelter.

Very little so far has gone to the tip. DH and DS have slightly more hoarding tendencies than me, but will be confining the clutter to certain rooms.

@YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp

We’re about to downsize and I am dreading the culling before we pack (I absolutely refuse to pay for DH’s crap to be moved across the country!) He stuffed the attic full when we moved here 23 years ago and has never looked at the contents since 😡

I am going to radically thin out all my stuff - any ideas on what to do with 200 paperbacks needing a new home?

Dana K White (a slob comes clean) has a good suggestion about downsizing. Use a moving box calculator based on your new house, then whatever fits in those boxes is what you can take. Everything else needs to go.

@peachesarenom

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

No. Definitely not. It will get knocked off because it is too light and be a bugger to dust.

Step away, @peachesarenom, STEP. AWAY.

@Snoopsnoggysnog

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

He has his own book case which stores 50 books and currently has another 50 which have gone rogue and are sitting in the corner of the living room.

He can lump it or get a bloody kindle like the rest of the world.

[quote Yogawankonobi]@MrsBobDylan I love you a bit (and your name)because you seem quite excitable.[/quote]
Thanks! I have two settings, excitable and asleep. My dh brings steady, calm and measured. And long suffering.

Oh God, the books! We have hundreds if not more of them that DH won't part with. His study is literally lined plus alcoves in the family room, hall, and random bookcases. Plus the childrens' books collection acquired over their 20 plus years. But books don't make a home untidy neatly arranged on their shelves, coming alive as you open them x

Dana K White (a slob comes clean) has a good suggestion about downsizing. Use a moving box calculator based on your new house, then whatever fits in those boxes is what you can take. Everything else needs to go.

Bloody hell! That’s genius! Also, incredibly obvious. Why have I not realised this before???

I'm sorry I have upset some people with the ornamental owl and book clearance. I hope this eases the pain a little - favourite owl kept and dh's best books...

@RosesAndHellebores

Oh God, the books! We have hundreds if not more of them that DH won't part with. His study is literally lined plus alcoves in the family room, hall, and random bookcases. Plus the childrens' books collection acquired over their 20 plus years. But books don't make a home untidy neatly arranged on their shelves, coming alive as you open them x

I agree. Books can just about be managed so they aren't clutter. But they do get bloody dusty and are hard to dust. I love books but would love to thin down our collection.

We also have hundreds and hundreds of books. A fair few of which are never read and will never be read again.

I persuaded DH by leading by example. First I decluttered all my stuff in the flat. Then I attacked my books and books the DC have grown out of. I found a shop that buys second hand books in perfect condition and gives you extra money for it if you exchange them for shop credit (we re always buying new books for the DC as they get older- no libraries here).

When he saw how much money I was making he agreed to go through his books.

He has also seen how much nicer the flat is after the 6 months of minimalising ive done. And that he doesnt miss anything that ive got rid off. So he pretty onboard now.