Decluttering but leaving some personality in your home

Citygirl1

Hi, I was discussing this with my friend earlier today. A lot of people have Kindles today (I don't have one by the way), someone at work has one and says she is going to get rid of all her books. I would find this hard to do, yes if I'd got loads and loads of books but for the amount I have I would rather leave them there as I feel books, along with CDs and DVDs give your place some personality. Without these things a home can look sterile as if nobody lives there. I have most of my CDs now on my laptop/phone but I still keep them because again it gives people an indication of my interests and my personality. I don't have loads of CDs now and I rarely add to my collection but they are there.

I do love to declutter as it makes me feel good afterwards and I wouldn't want a disorganised home but there are some things I do hang onto, like books I know I will read again (others I am happy to let go), ornaments that mean something to me, photos, diaries, some of my parents belongings etc.

Do you see decluttering the same, not hoarding everything but not getting rid of everything either, there is a middle ground.

Cat501

I love my books and am a bit OCD about buying and keeping hold of them, (nearly always at charity shops) I very very rarely get rid of any and have hundreds still to read and some that I won't read again but they look nice!:o. When I moved about 3 years ago I think I got rid of about 20 - at a rough guess I'd say I have 2000 now:eek: The only other things I find it impossible to get rid of are any presents from my kids or parents, and stuff the kids did at school when they were little. I do find clothes a bit hard to get rid of, always hoping to get back down to that size 12:D I'm trying to be a bit more ruthless at the moment though. I agree, there is a definite middle ground!:)

I'm trying to force myself to get rid of CDs I know I'll never listen to again, and I think I'll maybe manage about 50/200....it's a start!

esmf73

My OH used to be in the Army, so for 13 years I've been moving every 18 - 24 months. Plus we've had an overseas move where things have to go into storage and you can only take a few things. As we've lived in so many different houses and have had to be ready for anything you can imagine how many things we've accumulated!

Now we're in our own house and I'm able to sort through and decide which things are important to us, which we no longer need and which can be boxed up. Add to this all my grandparents dying in the last 13 years, and OH's mum passing earlier this year and we've been handed quite a bit of stuff. We've also managed to collect our two children along the way and 2 dogs and 2 cats! So it is my mission to have a large declutter but still maintaining our family home.

I'm happy to pass off books that I know I won't read again or for instance gardening books that I know I will never read or need. I do seem to have loads of kids books though!! Photos I tend to keep in special albums as we have enough photos to completely fill a wall of the house! Three photos from our time abroad I had put onto canvas so we have photos of Petra, the pyramids and the Sphinx that we took (I always find this amazing!) on the wall.

Large clear out coming every week - dining room and kitchen this week!!!

Poppy_Golightly

I agree, I see a lot of pictures in magazines etc of decluttered homes and a lot of them look like the very heart of the home has been decluttered as well. I am just going through a massive declutter as I am fed up of having to walk sideways like a crab to get round various bits of my home

I had a huuuuuuge amount of books but although I've got a Kindle now I haven't got rid of them all. I've designated two shelves to hold the books I've kept and have promised myself that I will not have more than 2 shelves worth of books at any one time. They are mainly knitting, crochet, gardening, animal care books that don't lend themselves very well to the Kindle format anyway. So anyone looking at them will know instantly what I'm into.

I have culled a few houseplants as well and have kept one large beautiful plant per room. I have this thing that rooms devoid of something organic like plants feel cold and soulless to me.

PixieDust

Hubby and I each have Kindles and we have ditched literally hundreds of our books...it's wonderful!!! We now have a bookcase with one shelf of cookery/recipe books, three shelves (ish) of non-fiction/craft books and the other two shelves hold books that we really, really love.

bluesindy_2

hi citygirl, this thread made me laugh, my sister swears by her kindle, but I couldn't get rid of my books. I love the smell of second hand books, a kindle seems so clinical, by the same token I still have old records, or as my 18 year old daughter calls them, those black plastic things !!! She bought me an ipod for my birthday and I still can't get to grips with it!

funkycat06

ooh i dont think i could ever get rid of my books !!i like my daughter having books around to read too

Cat501

Bluesindy I'm with you, Kindles are obviously great for some people but it's the worst present anyone could buy me, give me the same value in Waterstone's vouchers and I'd be as happy as the proverbial pig in mess!:D Love everything about my books, the feel, the smell, the way they look on the shelves and piled up on the floor....:o Did manage to get rid of my vinyl a few years back but I still regret it sometimes!

meritaten

I couldnt get rid of all my books! I dont have a Kindle - I just dont trust things with chips in them! I also love the feel and look of a REAL book!
much as I love my 'puter, I dont store stuff on there that I wouldnt be heartbroken to lose! like photos - my favourites get printed out and kept. I keep hard copies too of important emails - like confirmation of orders etc. If your hard drive gets fried then you are bu99ered if you dont have a hard copy of some things!

rachbc

i don't keep many books - I buy read and pass on.

Pics are on pooter or in frames out - no point having a box full of un looked at prints.

I don't have much 'stuff' but what there is is carefully chosen and personal- hand made, a family thing, choosen with lots of thought or care. I find minimalist spaces actually have more personality than cluttered spaces because the few things that are there are important and have a reason to be there but just accumulated junk. My mantelpiece has 3 thing on it - OH's grandma's clock, a vase bought with money from our collegues as wedding present an a handmade candle (oh and a pretty box of matches from a cousins wedding), I have 2 pieces of art work - from my mums final show for her masters. I like that everything can be seen and appreciated.

I try to avoid decluttering by not cluttering in the first place!

FrugalWorker

I have to say I'm happy to give away pretty much every. I'm down to 1 cookery book, a couple of random books around and my library books. All my music is now electronic. I found I was keeping books that I aspired to read. I was trying to use my belongings to give an aspirational personality to my space. I'm much happier now, sure there's still lots more work to be done.

Having less stuff, means less things to keep clean and tidy. I've more free time to do things that I enjoy doing. I'm still working through my stash of yarn and fabric. I'm not suggesting that people are keeping books that they aspire to read. But in my case, I've a super library 15min walk away. My objective is to only have things that I believe to be useful to me or beautiful. We've a 2 bed apartment, and I'm so much happier with less than with more.