How to declutter? Help

[Mum2SweetCs]

Subbing.
I have a serious issue with hoarding because i love online shopping.

We live in a pretty big double storey house and two bedrooms are filled with junk. I kid you not, one you cant go in anymore.

I was going to clean it as my maternity leave mission but find it sooo daunting.

One stage i attempted and cleaned up half the room, donating boxes and bags of toys.

Somehow the room filled up again

I even started my own blog but ummm i forgot the url lol coz its too daunting that ive got no updates to write!!!

[HotI]

i saw a woman talk on decluttering, and one of her tips that i liked was once a cupboard or area is clean and organised, take a pic so you can remember what it is supposed to look like. you can even stick it up in the cupboard, to help you when you are returning things (towels linen etc) to the cupboard.

[Sopdet]

Growing up our family had a rule, every year the place was cleaned/sorted like it was about to be fumigated. So cupboards & storage spaces sorted out, garage & storage shed dealt with.

With a family of 5 kids, the living area was our main play area, even though there was a playroom that we ended up spending more time in as we got older. All toys were in plastic tubs and cycled on a regular basis. There was only one hard’n’fast rule, all lego had to be put away or it was vacuumed up – the living areas were vacuumed/swept on a daily basis so we all learnt the hard way about this rule.

At home now, I try to spend no more than 15 mins cleaning one room, if there are things for other rooms I just put them in a washing basket or container and continue to deal with the room I’m currently in.

I’ve probably got 2 or 3 more 15 min sessions in the spare room until it is back to respectable. There is minimal storage at my place, so I’m trying to find new ways of storing the stacks of empty plastic storage tubs.

I also do cleaning every day, just 15-20 mins because I want to not have to stress about doing anything major on the weekends.

[Sopdet]

Growing up our family had a rule, every year the place was cleaned/sorted like it was about to be fumigated. So cupboards & storage spaces sorted out, garage & storage shed dealt with.

With a family of 5 kids, the living area was our main play area, even though there was a playroom that we ended up spending more time in as we got older. All toys were in plastic tubs and cycled on a regular basis. There was only one hard’n’fast rule, all lego had to be put away or it was vacuumed up – the living areas were vacuumed/swept on a daily basis so we all learnt the hard way about this rule.

At home now, I try to spend no more than 15 mins cleaning one room, if there are things for other rooms I just put them in a washing basket or container and continue to deal with the room I’m currently in.

I’ve probably got 2 or 3 more 15 min sessions in the spare room until it is back to respectable. There is minimal storage at my place, so I’m trying to find new ways of storing the stacks of empty plastic storage tubs.

I also do cleaning every day, just 15-20 mins because I want to not have to stress about doing anything major on the weekends.

[AnyDream]

Subbing.
I have a serious issue with hoarding because i love online shopping.

We live in a pretty big double storey house and two bedrooms are filled with junk. I kid you not, one you cant go in anymore.

I was going to clean it as my maternity leave mission but find it sooo daunting.

One stage i attempted and cleaned up half the room, donating boxes and bags of toys.

Somehow the room filled up again

I even started my own blog but ummm i forgot the url lol coz its too daunting that ive got no updates to write!!!

I know that "too daunting" feeling. I've had it in the past for a number of reasons - too tired, too weak/unwell, not able to get anymore than half an hour of concentrated time, too many decisions to make all at once. That is pretty common for people with stuff-overload and it says just as much about the amount of stuff as it does about you.

Some strategies that might help:
* Phone a friend - get a buddy. Enlist a trusted friend/family member to come and help for a day or a couple of mornings/afternoons. Do not be distracted by making coffee. Make sure you have all the things you need on hand - bags, boxes, labels, textas, etc & refreshments. Go hard.
* Divide the room into categories, then deal with one category at a time. Categories might be: old toys, paperwork, clothes, linen/towels, hobby stuff, etc. Use a trestle table for sorting, with 3x boxes - keep, donate, throw away.
* Work out what the root of the issue is. For me (for a while) it was op-shopping. I could not pass on a fabulous op-shop bargain, which was great to start with but over time I accumulated stuff. Then we moved to a smaller house = immediate stuff crisis! Since then I've created some oppy "rules", which might be something you thing about re online shopping.
* Hire a hubby - get them to carry every last thing out of the room - park it on the verandah/lawn/in the garage - then only put back in the stuff you really, really want to keep. Have a garage sale or call the salvos truck to come the next day to collect everything else or put it straight into bags to run to the local drop off centre.

[Rowellen]

* Hire a hubby - get them to carry every last thing out of the room - park it on the verandah/lawn/in the garage - then only put back in the stuff you really, really want to keep. Have a garage sale or call the salvos truck to come the next day to collect everything else or put it straight into bags to run to the local drop off centre.

I love that idea! I have often thought of doing just that but can't bring myself to do it. I might talk to my DH about trying it. He's a bit of a hoarder in the "but we might need it one day" sense. But I think he's dealt with enough of my meltdowns over too much stuff that he might just go for it.

[squeezles]

I think you just have to have the motivation/desire to change it. We moved house recently and when I couldn't fit things nicely in cupboards it certainly made me look twice at whether I actually needed the things that wouldn't fit!

[MrsFabuloso]

I just put 5 big garbage bags full of clothes, shoes, towels and sheets we no longer want/need/use into the Vinnies box! Gosh it feels good to be free of all of that excess stuff!

[~TT40~]

It so does!
I'm not an anxious person, but all the stuff we had lying around our place was really making me stress
Big things happening here! I'm attacking our linen closet. And planned on making a big post when I was done, including a photo. There is more involved than just decluttering

[HotI]

I have finished the toy room and also have a bunch of shoes that have been worn once or twice but no longer fit me due to pregnancy growing my feet.

i advertised them for sale on local buy swap sell group and got nothing. so now how do i get rid of them before they get absorbed back into the house?

[MrsFabuloso]

It so does!
I'm not an anxious person, but all the stuff we had lying around our place was really making me stress
Big things happening here! I'm attacking our linen closet. And planned on making a big post when I was done, including a photo. There is more involved than just decluttering

TT40, I get anxious when my house is really messy and cluttered too (not like normal day to day messy, but mega untidy stuff spread everywhere messy. If my house is like that, then my head space is pretty bad and I am usually suffering with my depression pretty badly). My mother in law is a hoarder, their house is absolutely full of 'stuff'. Just bits and pieces she thinks she might need someday- packaged food out of date, magazines, books, toys, material, old bedding/clothes.....just stuff, everywhere. When I go there, I feel like I *need* to clean. I hate staying there and after 16 years together, I have finally put my foot down to DH that I just can't stay there anymore because of how anxious I get. I can visit there, and I love my in laws, they're lovely. But I just can't live there for weeks at a time when we go up to see them.

[AnyDream]

Double or nothing