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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Has anyone completely gutted their house of stuff?

71 replies

Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:06

I have come to the realisation that I have all the stuff I do because I feel bad about throwing away stuff I have paid money for.

I have too much stuff. Im ashamed to say that I have 2 storage rooms, 1 that I cant really get into, and they take up almost the same amount of room as I had in my flat (only moved out a year ago)

Last month I sorted a load of clothes and packed them up to give away (none worth selling, I dont think) but the 4 bin bags of stuff is still in my room.

I sort of want to get rid of it all, but at the same time, I struggle to part with it. How do you let go?

Do you do it all in one go? Or do the flylady type thing where you do it little bits at a time?

OP posts:

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 28/05/2009 23:20

Can you not store them somewhere messageinabottle? I got rid of all my baby stuff(freecycle, boot sale etc)and 10 days later found out I was pg! be careful!

messageinabottle · 28/05/2009 23:33

hahaha like that one! 10 days later.. how's your luck eh? I just know that will happen to me

well yes I guess I could put them in the loft, but our loft is tiny, and when I've put stuff away before (not baby bits) when I've got it back down I've thought why on earth did I think I would need that or it's mouldy or so truly out of date/useless it really wasn't worth keeping..

I am quite good at keeping clutter down but I just don't know if baby bits are considered clutter (when of course there is a possibility it maybe useful in the future!)

of course if I do get rid now and have to buy again I won't buy as much stuff or spend nearly as much

messageinabottle · 28/05/2009 23:35

not to mention by the time i may need a new pushchair or similar they will probably have an attached cappucino maker [ponders whether that would be useful]

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 29/05/2009 00:41

Well, get shot of the stuff you know you wouldn't buy again and just wrap up and store the stuff you know you'd definitely need. (listen to me! the queen of hoarders! )

flatcapandpearls · 29/05/2009 00:46

We got rid of lots when we moved but I am doing it again, it is why I am still up have been doing my dressing room/

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 29/05/2009 00:48

I couldn't even think of moving house until I cleared up

SparklyGothKat · 29/05/2009 00:59

When we moved house my old loft was rammed with bags of clothes, boxes of crap, 90% of that stuff went to the chartity shops and tip... I had a quick look in the boxes and bags, to see what was in them, and just got rid. 3 years on, my loft is getting bad again (though not as bad as before) so need to do it again.

SparklyGothKat · 29/05/2009 01:01

And I did the old 'getting rid of baby stuff' thing too... Then we had DS2 and had to buy EVERYTHING again

ninedragons · 29/05/2009 01:04

I am by no means a natural minimalist, but over the course of four international moves I'm quite good at the massive clear-out. We've gone from a six-bedroom house (full of crap from when DH and I moved in together and never bothered to sort the duplicates because we had sufficient room to hide it all) to a two-bedroom flat and I can honestly say I prefer living in the smaller place.

I read somewhere that you should think of eBay as having an infinitely big garage. Anything you get rid of, you will be able to replace through eBay if you subsequently change your mind.

I have paid for a couple of Christmases by selling stuff (clearing the large house meant that neither of us had to go to the cashpoint for three months, as well). It's a great feeling to sell ten things that were annoying you every time you opened a cupboard and they were there staring you in the face, and use the money to buy one thing you really do love.

Queenoftheharpies · 29/05/2009 09:15

Little and often is the key. Flylady's 15 mins of decluttering a day has helped me become a lot better at it.

Start with the stuff that really is crap (and I guarantee there will be some). You know the kind of thing - broken stuff you still haven't got round to mending after a year, pens that no longer work, keys that you can't remember ever fitting a lock etc.

Once you see the space that's created and how much nicer your house looks, you start to get a taste for it.

If you want an example of serious hoarding, my MIL has just delivered us a load of baby clothes worn by DP when he was a baby! I am slightly wierded out by that.

lljkk · 29/05/2009 09:55

There's a flip side to all this that I don't think has been mentioned:

STOP buying so much.
Be very careful to buy only what you know you need now or will need for certain within the next 2 weeks.
It's much easier to give away un-needed gifts than something un-needed that you paid for.

Car boot sales are a waste of time, ime. 8 hours on site for a £20 profit; my time is worth more than that.

DH & I are unreformed hoarders , but we have a big house so can hide it all quite well. It would just piss us off too much to go out and buy something identical to what we threw out 6 months previously.

flatcapandpearls · 29/05/2009 10:49

I made a a couple of hundred on my carboot, paid for a set of park tickets in Florida.

I have not bought anything in months now, it felt odd at first but you get used to it.

onepieceofcremeegg · 29/05/2009 10:55

I am good at chucking stuff out (not actually chucking, I mean recycling, charity shop, NCT sale etc)

I am also good at not buying a lot in the first place.

Our downfall is gifts. My mother especially is very kind but the dds can only wear a small number of cardigans/dresses. Once or twice I have recycled items then she ask did the item fit etc did dd like it?

How does anyone else cope with very generous relatives. I guess I just have to get round it, sometimes I say nicely that it is outgrown etc.

mrsjammi · 29/05/2009 10:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mulranno · 29/05/2009 11:20

The mistake is trying to organise and hide the clutter...it took me years to realise that I was spending hundreds on new wardrobes, storage systems etc for stuff that wasnt even worth the cost of the box it was in.

I now chuck out every few months...means it is easier to keep house tidy and clean.

All goes to charity or dump...not organised/have not got the time to do the ebay thing...but you need a goal. eg the childrens clothes I am ruthless with as I have 4. I get given loads of stuff from friends and neighbours...sometimes I think it is because they are too lazy to bring it to the tip themselves!...but with the boys clothes they are allowed to keep 3 pairs of jeans, 5 short sleeved tshirts, 3 long sleeved t shirts etc. Anything tatty is gone...it is beautiful to open a childs wardobe and it looks like Benetton with 5 neatly folded T shirts. Less washing, ironing etc for me...otherwise they just wear the same 3 t shirts from the top of the pile.

flatcapandpearls · 29/05/2009 11:39

I am off now with 3 bags for the charity shop including all of dd girls party dressed

Original poster

Mousey84 · 29/05/2009 12:18

Anyone any tips on how to stop old wooden furniture from smelling damp?

Ive had a massive set of drawers in storage thats been there since my granny passed away when I was 12..so 12 years ago! Pulled it out and cleaned it up last night (still smells a bit damp). Have moved it up to my bedroom, which only had hanging space and a bedside unit..and 6 boxes of clothes on the floor. This morning got up at six (am working today) and started sorting clothes into it, binning / bagging up for charity shop.

Found 3 pairs of trousers that I need taken up, so thats my plan for tonight - had forgotten about them and was planning to go shopping tomorrow for new trousers. Wont need to now!

flatcap - thats fab about your car boot sale and recent clear out

OP posts:

CarGirl · 29/05/2009 13:36

We do a car boot sale every year and always make over £100 and we sell stuff on ebay too. I do childrens clothes 3 for £1 (nothing special in there) and it's amazing how much we sold £10-£15 worth!

I agree though I don't buy much. My eldest dd is 12 so sort of buys her own clothes but 2-3 times a year sorts out stuff she doesn't wear. My 7 year old has very little indeed, my near 6 year old as over 40 outfits nearly all 2nd hand, pass me downs, charity or gifts from others but she loves her clothes same with my youngest - too many clothes - I am looking forward to them not having as much.

Toys - if they don't play with them I get rid the items we've kept & has been used steadily for years are: dressing up stuff, limit dolls & accessories, duplo, small kitchen & accessories, a few board games, books nearly everything else has had a short life span!

messageinabottle · 29/05/2009 15:19

wow mousey you really are going for it - up at 6am and sorting clothes before work - good for you! It's v satisfying sorting stuff out isn't it?

some good tips here tho -looks as though I should def keep my [essential] baby bits for a while! and don't buy so much (although I'm not tooo bad). loved the post about thinking of ebay as your own huge garage! and I have certainly made the mistake on spending far too much on ways to sort and store bit that are basically rubbish and not worth the storage they are in!

I've never sold on e-bay and it always seems like too much hassle tbh. I did do a car boot sale once though and made over £200 and then spent it all on a Fendi handbag (pre-DS obv)

Original poster

Mousey84 · 29/05/2009 15:32

Figured it was a good way to start the day! Been eyeing up thing all day and putting real thought into whether I need them (I work from home).

I dreamt last night about coming home and everything has been taken out of my house and was sitting in the garden and it was starting to rain, so I had to grab a few things and run to get them inside. Not sure if its my subconcious telling me I should attempt to do this... (except the rain bit)

OP posts:

CarGirl · 29/05/2009 16:19

we've just gutted our house because it's being rewired, hence a recent carboot sale. I will be very ruthless when putting stuff back in, it's just so nice having less stuff! The more you get rid of the easier it is to do and to live with less and enjoy it.

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