Hoarding...not just on TV

Byatt

Hiya Hannah, I live in a tiny cottage with very little storage, strike that, no storage really. It's chaos here, I'm living in a skip! the slightest thing added just makes it look worse and lately I feel like giving up. I won't because people are so supportive on this thread, and I have moved a cupboard thing from downstairs to upstairs as it doesn't fit anywhere but upstairs...today.

I'm not very brain healthy right now so can't seem to write what I want to say, but someone here will have some fab advice.

Fuses? what are they for?

BH, my daughter often says "I have NO food in", so I go around loaded with stuff and open the larder and the freezer and it's bulging!!

xxx

SpikyHedgehog

valk_scot wrote: »

I have been thinking about how to approach my attic. I feel the main floor of the house is approchable, it's broken up into zones/rooms after all and within each room there are smaller areas of different sizes and difficulty. If I just want to do a little bit I can sort ot a drawer or a shelf, if I feel energetic I can go for a whole cupboard.

But the attic is more daunting. It's 45' long x 15' wide and it's pretty full. I'm not saying it's a complete shambles, there are distinct collections of things like the six big cardboard storage boxes that hold the collection of handmedown school uniform, sports clothing and other clothing for DD for example (needs sorting), the tent canvas area (that has to stay, it's vital), the Playmobil end (which I'm just intending to ignore for now tbh), Christmas things and decorations (need sorting), other toys and Hornby (need sorting), a huge amount of back paperwork for my OH's old firm (needs sorting but I can't do it, OH won't though), old PC and camera equipment (ditto), a vast collection of household stuff like curtains, bed linen, duvets etc (definatly a target area to reduce by 50%), my craft things storage, (which I DO use and turn over regularly but which need a tidy out), the luggage store area (which also needs a sort and cull) and finally the sleeping bag stack, which does get used. Oh and beside that there's a pile of old pictures. In fact on top of this reasonably organised system there's also a fairly random layer of ither clutter too, not to mention five spinning wheels (I teach this, I need them), a loom and four vintage sewing machines.

Actually on my mental trot round I've answered my own question about how to tackle this massive mess, haven't I? One zone at a time, same as the downstairs. And to hang onto the new filter which is not "Do I like this and/or is it possibly going to be useful one day?" and replace it with "Do I need this and am I going to use it?"

It's still a massive job though. Not to mention I then have to bag it up, drag it down the Ramsay ladder and then down another flight of stairs after that to the utility room from whence it either goes into the bin, the dump pile or the CS pile.

Oh yes, have I mentioned the utility room? Bikes and bike stuff, camping equipment and tents, gardening equipment, gardening supplies, the laundry area in the corner and the second freezer. It is only 12' x 12' but has a 20' high ceiling, on one side there are 12' high shelves and the bikes and wheels etc are hung on wall racks. It is stuffed, trust me. Organised but stuffed. It's a whole major task in itself but one I need to tackle asap, I'm giving up my allotment in November and at least some of my vital gardening equipment will have to come home with me then. So I need to derichard the utility room so as to be able to have room to keep the genuinely useful things.

I am feeling positive about this though. Usually I feel overwhelmed by it all but even the small amounts of progress I've made already have sharpened up my desire to do all this. It's easier too with a more strict set of rules as to what you dump, isn't it? It's like having been given permission to get rid of things.

Do you think you need to start on the attic yet, or could you put it on the back burner till the rest of the house is more under control, unless you need to get some down, such as the Christmas stuff? I'm not saying forget about it, but make it part of the plan to take the lower levels of the house first, so you have more room to sort through it as it comes down.

Valli

just to translate, for those others of you with teens

'There is NO food in the house' = 'There IS food in the house, but not what I would like. What I really want is biscuits, or chocolate, or crisps and pop'.

Well I have just bagged up some hardback books for the CS - I've read them. One was a xmas gift in 2000. *fling*

less to dust!

I have also thrown, into the recycling, books I was given for xmas when I was 9 and 11.

Jettycat

Valli wrote: »

just to translate, for those others of you with teens

'There is NO food in the house' = 'There IS food in the house, but not what I would like. What I really want is biscuits, or chocolate, or crisps and pop'.

Also, in a similar vein when my DD says "I'm hungry" what she means is "I don't want the meal you have cooked, fruit, yogurt, or any other healthy snack you are offering me, I want chocolate, biscuits, cake or sweets"

MrsChaos

Valli wrote: »

'There is NO food in the house' = 'There IS food in the house, but not what I would like. What I really want is biscuits, or chocolate, or crisps and pop'.

Or in the case of my DS1 'There is food in the house, but it requires thought and preparation/cooking. What I really want is something ready-made that I can just stick in the microwave/poor hot water on.'

valk_scot

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

Do you think you need to start on the attic yet, or could you put it on the back burner till the rest of the house is more under control, unless you need to get some down, such as the Christmas stuff? I'm not saying forget about it, but make it part of the plan to take the lower levels of the house first, so you have more room to sort through it as it comes down.

It's not the kind of attic that's just used for dumping things though, I use part of it for prep work for my crafting and there's a fair bit of coming and going in it. Also it's not just a question of bringing things down from there to throw out, there's several things that should quite legitimately be stored up there anyway except I need to make room for them, also there's things up there that I'd like to find and bring down into circulation in the house so I can throw out the ones that are in use atm. It's also not just the sort of attic which you go up to a couple of times a year, it has a big stable Ramsay ladder so very easy to trot up and down several times a day. I've even been known to dry laundry beneath the Velux windows, it's so handy.

thriftwizard

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear... went upcountry to help DS1 move flats today, from his student accommodation to his first "real" flat, and somehow we've come back with a gigantic desk, which we're going to have to "mind" in the garage for two years! A quick explanation - what he does is music, and this is his vastly-expensive mixing desk - not the electronic equipment, but the actual physical desk that it sits on. His new bedroom is quite small & already furnished, and he's managed to fit all the kit on the desk that was already there; the flat's not big but the storage & layout have been very carefully thought out to maximise its potential, so the desk that was already there was far from a flat surface on legs, & will do the job perfectly adequately. But having spent a small fortune on the original desk, he'd rather keep it in case the next place isn't so well-equipped...

Add that to an influx of genuinely-worthwhile & very saleable stock, and I'm beginning to drown again... but at least two out of the three big items I had on Ebay have sold and should be gone in a couple of days!

whitewing

Hannah,

When I started I found it easiest to set a target, e.g. 50 items, or whatever I can get in 20 minutes/half an hour etc. Then, get them gone before you start on the next pile. It's getting stuff out if the door that counts as that gives you less to tidy/clean, and then more room to sort out the test. Rather than ebaying stuff (which - I avoid ebay if I can - I assume means uploading photos and writing descriptions and waiting for someone to buy it), could you start by decluttering some of the unsaleable stuff? Then you will have a visual difference that will keep you motivated as you continue with the stuff that takes a bit longer to deal with. That's just an idea - you may feel that money rolling in helps maintain the momentum.

HannahIOW

Thanks whitewing, trouble is, I bag stuff up for the charity shop and then the bag gets shoved in the spare room as I don't get many opportunities to take stuff there.... does anyone know if they are open on bank holidays?

whitewing

In our area, Tesco, Asda and other supermarkets all have clothing bins in the car park (open 24 hours) supporting various charities, so does the recycling centre (more restricted opening hours), and the fire station. We donate to these if charity shops aren't open as we tend to do the decluttering of clothes when shops are not open.