De-Cluttering Tips

[Eve]

Somewhat inspired by boxtops' thread the other day and my increasing frustration with getting rid of stuff I've accumulated.

How do you best deal with de-cluttering?

I have got to the point where I need help with cleaning, due to disability, well, I was there a long while ago but just letting it rumble on! I've been looking into cleaners and like the idea of getting one of those blitz cleans where they come in and do a deep clean, move stuff etc...

But, I want to de-clutter first to make it easier. I don't have masses of stuff but things have tended to gravitate to the spare room and I seem to have a big issue with throwing out things like carrier bags. I do reuse them for rubbish, taking lunch to work etc... I got rid of a load when I had a Tesco delivery and they take them though I rarely need enough non-fresh stuff to warrant paying for the delivery.

I have tried having mad sessions, just grabbing a bin bag and seeing how much stuff I can find to throw away.

I have managed to sort a big bag of clothes for charity if I can get someone to collect it. I am a devil for things just sneaking back in though, I've grown out of so much stuff as ballooned with lack of mobility and medication but can't let go in case I can magically lose all the weight!

How do you best de-clutter and get organised?

[B00]

I'm pretty ruthless, if it's not been used in the last year, it gets thrown/sold on/given away.

[Eve]

I need to be way more ruthless.

I've got lots of stuff I just feel like I'm storing, heels as I haven't been able to wear them for years, makeup I've been too knackered to make an effort to wear etc... I've got so many lovely bras too though can't wear them as the underwire is uncomfortable (and now too small) and am up and down as to whether I hang on to this kind of stuff.

[B00]

Oh get rid eve, you'll feel so much better!

Don't get me wrong, I do horde stuff, i'm a bugger for having decorative baskets scattered round the house filled with "little stuff" that I know i'll need one day! It drives Mr Boo bonkers-lol. However every now and then i'll have a blitz at those too.

I've also developed a the habit of if i buy a new item of clothing, one will get chucked to make room for it, for example, if I buy say a jumper, i'll throw out a jumper ive not worn for months- that way I don't have drawers bulging with clothes i know i won't wear again.

[Eve]

Oh my goodness, don't get me started on baskets and boxes and all that, I'm a devil for that too! :)

I do need to make better use of my storage space but things always end up out so they are in easy reach.

I'm a beggar for the "ooh I might need that someday" school of thought too!

I suffer from the nostalgia gene defect too, I have a hamster cage which has been lurking in a cupboard even though my last hamster died years ago! There is also the part finished filing cabinet I tried to DIY build which went a bit wrong - I had that before I moved so that's about 5 years ago now!

Arghhh I need help...and to be ruthless!

[Ann]

This great Pam Ayres poem is for you, Eve .......... and for me! I'm just like you!

Heaps of Stuff by Pam Ayres

How I wish that I was tidy
How I wish that I was neat
How I wish I was methodical
Like others down out street.
I tried to stem the rising tide
I tried to hold it back
But I have been the victim
Of a heap of stuff attack.

Yes, heaps of stuff come creeping,
They clutter up the hall.
And heaps of stuff are softly
Climbing halfway up the wall.
At each end of the staircase
Is a giant heap, a stack;
One to carry up the stairs
And one to carry back.

In a heap of stuff invasion
They settle everywhere -
They grovel on the lino
They tower on the chair.
You’re searching for a jacket,
“Is it in here?” you shout,
And, opening the cupboard door,
A heap of stuff falls out.

But heaps are many-faceted
And heaps are multi-faced
And what a heap is made of
Will depend on where it’s placed.
Now if it’s in the passage
It is mostly boots and shoes
And if it’s on the sofa
It is magazines and news.

If it’s in the shed
It’s broken propagating frames
And if it’s in the bathroom
Well, it’s best to say no names,
And if it’s in the bedroom -
Your own and not the guest’s -
The heap of stuff is mostly made
Of socks and shirts and vests.

For a heap is indestructible,
It’s something you can’t fight.
If you split it up by day
It joins back up at night.
So cunningly positioned
as from room to room you trek,
Increasing all the chances
That you trip and break your neck.

But step into my parlour
Now I’ve forced the door ajar;
I’ll excavate an easy chair -
Just cling there where you are.
And together we’ll survey it
Till our eyes they feast enough
On the tidiest home in England
Underneath the heaps of stuff.

[Eve]

Thanks Ann, I love it :)

[Frank97]

I work on the principle, that if I find something that I didn't know I owned I throw it away, because if I didn't know I owned it, I couldn't go and get it, so it may as well be in the bin.