Great suggestions above. Though I do 12 months for clothes

It's good to have a system eg one cupboard at a time, one room a week. Don't try and attack it all at once or it is overwhelming.

Also think about how you store what you do have....a bookshelf with pull out drawers (like the Ikea system) looks neat, is easy to get to and saves room. I second the throwing out of kids toys, esp with Christmas around the corner.

I do get sentimental about stuff but am slowly coming to the stage where I can throw stuff away....I take photos of DS' artwork for his scrapbook and then it's gone! A huge cull of knock knacks, photos are in albums rather than frames, we've culled lots of kitchen stuff (you know, the two mugs you get as a gift that don't match and you'll never use, or the garish platter that's never seen the light of day), even stuff that was a gift. Books and magazines I'll never read again go. Donating it makes me feel I'm paying it forward in a way.

I have a shoebox per room (approx) for stuff that I just can't bear to part with, but really isn't any use (my old school books, the first rose DH gave me and teenage diaries, for example) and that's a nice compromise for me for now.