sentimental clutter - what to do with?

bellsbells

Start by throwing away the obvious rubbish. Take a bin bag into the room with you and don't stop till it is full! Don't try to be methodical - just go for it! Next take a bin bag in and fill it with stuff for the charity shop. Do that a few times so that the pile starts to go down a bit, then start to sort it.
I had to clear my spare room a few years ago and yes it is daunting! I found this way really helped to get going - I just spent 10 mins at a time throwing things in bags and getting them straight out of the house.
Re ebay - what about setting yourself an ultimatum? Give yourself say two weeks to get it all listed, and another week to sell it, then if it is still there get rid of it.
Re sentimental stuff - a memory box is the way to go! Could you pass on some to grandparents? Are any of the pieces of art work nice enough to frame up and give to people as gifts? Could you ask the kids to sort them into the ones they want to keep? What about getting a scrap book and putting a set amount in there? Another idea is to cut the pictures down to size - if they are anything like the work of DS there will be a large piece of paper with the drawing in one corner! Cutting the pictures out then sticking in a scrap book will allow you lots more pictures for your space,
Good luck

carolt

Wow! I'm blown away, bellsbells...

So many good ideas - very, very helpful. I think I need you here as the voice of my conscience - especially where the ebay ultimatum is concerned. Hard to find the time to list them all (excuses, excuses, I know) as probably a couple of hundred items or more that need ebaying - especially hard as rely on dh to help with digital photography and getting pictures onto pc which never seems to happen.

Have you thought of a career as life coach or professional declutterer? Did you come up with all those ideas yourself or are you just naturally tidy?!

What's your hourly rate for decluttering others?!......

Would start now, feeling all motivated/guilty, but it's bedtime.....

Mrs_Wossinge

I'd recommend the Flylady approach - which is to set a timer for 15 minutes and work solidly for those 15 minutes without getting sidetracked, then have a 15-minute break. Doing it in bursts of 15 minutes is manageable. I'm currently doing just that...

jovichick123

We get snowed under with DS's paintings etc from creche and live in a small flat so have little to no storage space.. I have started keeping the really good ones and finding a place on the wall for them (when I run out of wall space, I'll start an album), any that don't make it to the walls are kept in a box in the bedroom and I have started using them for wrapping paper for birthdays/Christmas etc. We have that many this year, I am going to make handmade cards for friends and family with them :rotfl:

Everyone seems to have loved the personal touch, and my Mum especially seems to love the fact that even the wrapping to the pressie is personal..

Another thought is for piccies, could you scan them onto your pc then put them on a disk?? I have also done this with many of DS's baby pics, now I can just look at them whenever I like with them only taking up the space of a CD.

HTH

Sarah xx

phizzimum

ooh i need this thread too!

I find if I throw away the picture/letter within a week I'm fine with it...but any longer and it's become a historic artefact too precious to be parted with! (I always did want to work in a museum)

but recently i've been thinking about what my parents did...terrible hoarders so they never threw anything away. but then when they divorced we all had to clear the house out in a hurry and of course everything got thrown away indiscriminately. If they'd kept just a few things properly stored then they would have been salvaged.

Now I have children of my own it would be really nice to look back on some of my old school reports, books etc...MIL kept OH's and they certainly make interesting reading!

So what i'm trying to say is...as others have said...it's better to keep a few things and actually appreciate them than keep too much and be overwhelmed by it...now if i could just follow my own advice i'd be fine!

Linda32

I know what you mean, I don't have children but I still have my posters from my bedroom wall

We have boxes in a corner of the loft where they live.

I don't call that clutter, its just stuff you want to keep.

phizzimum

a friend of mine scans all kids' drawings and then stores them on a little memory stick...keep meaning to do that too!

that way you could change your wallpaper (on pc, not wall!) each week and enjoy a different drawing

MrsTinks

Not meaning to be ungreatful but I recently found an old box of stuff that I had made as a kid... I kept 2 or 3 things and binned the rest... I've been taking it everywhere with me since my mum gave it to me when I left home and never once looked in it... Mum has a couple of pieces from each of the kids that we've made, but mainly they have photographs of us... They take less space too
You can't keep all the works of art sadly so pick your favourites... and dispose of the rest

scuzz

How old are your children?
Ok I was 21/22 when I did this, but I took charge and ditched a load of my old school exercise books. My mum wanted to keep them, but I tore them up and threw them out. I saw no point in keeping them

Maybe see what your children would like to keep for future reference?

Now I have the problem of sorting through what work related "keep sakes" I want (need) to hang on to. As I work in the media, I go to a lot of places and have a vast variety of press passes and bits and bobs from shows etc:rolleyes:

Good luck with the sort out

Garnet_Gem

I read in a de-cluttering book that if you wanted a memory of some article but hadn't the space to keep it, then take a photograph of it and keep the photograph to remind you. Also, if you collect holiday souveniers, make it something small like a keyring then put them all in a large bowl. you can get the memory of the holiday without taking up loads of space.