Hoarding...not just on TV

bishboshbluebell

my mum is a strangely organised hoarder! She stuffs things behind multiple sofas/tables then covers them with old bed spreads - it all looks neat and tidy, but the furniture rather than being against the walls is way out in the middle of the floor! So far, from the front room that she never uses i have thrown out about 7 bin bags stuffed with old smelly torn pillows and duvets. At first I tried asking if I could throw stuff away. She would always reply that it might come in useful. Now I chuck loads of yukky stuff out on the quiet. I fill up a bin bag or 2 and say that I'm putting it under the stairs to keep for later - which I do - for a while. There can be no time scale for this - it really does take a lot out of you. All her drawer bases are broken because she stuffs so much into them. I even found an old nursing bra (mum is 87!) - i don't think she ever threw bra away! Slowly slowly i'm getting it done - I have no other family to help - so I pace myself and do what I can, when I can. Love and best wishes to JoJo and all xxx

calicocat

WANNABE.........................i would definately have taken the blanket box too , i love boxes of any type.
BYATT.....................you never know what will appear through a cat-flap , i havent got one myself (too many odd people putting stuff through them these days), anyone wants to leave me something they just put it trough the door or hand it on the handle. But hey go for it , if you live in the northeast watch-out !!...i could be just round your corner or passing your house.;)
No de-richarding for me today house wise , but did do a bit in the car which is more like a travelling bin on occassions. I got two bags of rubbish out before i came to work , what prompted me to do this is one morning giving a lift to a few people to the end of the hospital , the girl in the back seat looked almost scared to sit down (its not dirty just losts of stuff ) and she sat on a few bags of crisps setting off various loud bangs :rotfl: which i thought was funny to be fair , but have played this in my head since reading this thread and have tidied it.
What i really need to attack is the cupboard under the stairs as amongst other things like 13yrs worth of redundant tins of paint and four xmas trees , cat boxes,garden stuff,barbecues,garden chairs,a chest of drawers,ladders........god knows what else is in there. This will be a whole days operation though so will have to plan this, and whenever i have done it before it gets me down and i cant decide what to keep and what to throw so it all ends up back in there. When i do this it will have to be on a very 'strong ' day.
As i have moved a few times i also have stuff in my mums loft, and my ex's loft and garage now that i come to think about it:eek:.......this is worse than i thought , 37 cuddly toys for a starters in mums loft....what for ???, three sewing machines, a rocking chair,and cheval mirror at ex's and thats just the garage.

Hell maybe the reason i dont think i am a hoarder is because i hoard stuff in other peoples houses and keep mine fairly tidy !!

lostinrates

Declutteri is so much easier when forced to for the builder' s access.

I have got rid of the manky cat beds i keep in the outside utility for the feral cats (they cannot sleep there during the build anyway and its summer, and i have a nice dog kennel outside they use more now, and i will keep an eye out for a couple more of those which i can fill with straw to make nice snug and less junky sleeping places.

Tupperwares with mis matching lids two boxes gone, two more to sort.

An old baking tray which a rat has used as his dinner plate. Broken plastic boxes, another brokwn lawn mower (the other two potentially fixables are in the barn, but i don't want too much richard building up in there either.

I have urged dh to reconsider keeping the boxes things came in (like the new and not expensive vacuum, it will never be returned anywhere.

Our car was full to the brim when we went to the tip and the easiest to clear room has only two things leftt in it, the second easiest is empty, the third easiest almost empty.

Tomorrow i am aiming to launder and sort through the HUGE pile of vet beds. We only have two dogs now.

GreyQueen

calicocat wrote: »

What i really need to attack is the cupboard under the stairs as amongst other things like 13yrs worth of redundant tins of paint and four xmas trees , cat boxes,garden stuff,barbecues,garden chairs,a chest of drawers,ladders........god knows what else is in there. !!

When I moved into my previous flat I "inherited" a whole shelf double-stacked with cans of paint, mainly gloss and some floor paint. Some of it clearly matched the flat and as I was el skinto, I was very pleased to see it. Howsomever, when I levered the lids off the cans to see how much stuff was left inside, I discovered that out of 20+ cans, only 2 were usable, the rest had set solid. It's made me very wary about hoarding paint in general. That was a massive clear-out day.

Today I have created some "junk" which was a bag of couch grass and bindweeds and took it to the green waste section of the tip. Feeling good................keep up the staunch work, everybody.

System

What i really need to attack is the cupboard under the stairs

The space under my stairs is a mess too but its all stuff we do use that i dont like on show.

littlegreenparrot

I've been following this thread for a few days, and definitely have some hoarding tendencies myself. Every so often I have to be really strict with myself - if something hasn't fit me in 10 years just how likely is it I'll lose enough weight to wear it?!

I'm also very bad with books, and I can understand why people struggle to get rid of them, it just seems wrong - and you certainly can't throw them away.

It might be worth having a look at the Book crossing website - you register the book and get a code, then pass it on to someone, or release it into the wild for a lucky person to find. They then have a great book, and if they go on the website you can track where your book ends up. Its very MSE, you can also go hunting for other books that have been released in your area by other people.

I love the idea of books being released into the wild to spread the joy : )

Byatt

littlegreenparrot wrote: »

I've been following this thread for a few days, and definitely have some hoarding tendencies myself. Every so often I have to be really strict with myself - if something hasn't fit me in 10 years just how likely is it I'll lose enough weight to wear it?!

I'm also very bad with books, and I can understand why people struggle to get rid of them, it just seems wrong - and you certainly can't throw them away.

It might be worth having a look at the Book crossing website - you register the book and get a code, then pass it on to someone, or release it into the wild for a lucky person to find. They then have a great book, and if they go on the website you can track where your book ends up. Its very MSE, you can also go hunting for other books that have been released in your area by other people.

I love the idea of books being released into the wild to spread the joy : )

I haven't heard of that site, but like you I love the idea of books being released into the wild.

Since moving here I have got rid of hundreds of books, some sold on Ama$on, some to another site, fleabay and CS, plus given away. I have one shelf full now of books I just can't part with.

All this talk of understairs cupboards has been a revelation for me as I realise mine is very tidy and organised. I hate the thought of cupboards being a mess and have never been one to to just shove things into them. So what the heck does that say about me??? My wardrobe is tidy too.

It's just everything else on the outside that isn't! :eek: I do wonder what a psychologist would make of me.

Nothing done today, I woke up and really didn't want to face the day, so haven't.

Moorhen

I have really been inspired by this thread and all the wonderful people on it.

I am decluttering my house one small bit at a time and I have made the rule that something has to leave the house every day.

Time to tackle the tupperware cupboard.:)

lostinrates

Byatt wrote: »

I haven't heard of that site, but like you I love the idea of books being released into the wild.

Since moving here I have got rid of hundreds of books, some sold on Ama$on, some to another site, fleabay and CS, plus given away. I have one shelf full now of books I just can't part with.

All this talk of understairs cupboards has been a revelation for me as I realise mine is very tidy and organised. I hate the thought of cupboards being a mess and have never been one to to just shove things into them. So what the heck does that say about me??? My wardrobe is tidy too.

It's just everything else on the outside that isn't! :eek: I do wonder what a psychologist would make of me.

Nothing done today, I woke up and really didn't want to face the day, so haven't.

I am one of those peopel that cannot stand messy cupboards and would rather have the things away away in the right place.

Dh is one of thosepeople that see cupboards/drawers etc places to stash stuff, as much as they can, and in no categories or order.

I think each works for some people, ut both types in one house leads to organisation break down. I feel that the drawers and cupboards become almost a pn undefeatable o go zone, where as he finds my un hidden messes....daunting.

MMLS

No de-Richarding at all today. Still wading through stripped wallpaper which doesn't exactly motivate me and anyway it's hard to get up the stairs at the mo which is where most of my stuff lives.

Despite giving myself a good talking to along the lines of 'you've spent a small fortune on magazines...no more...STOP' etc, I bought 3 today. Craft magazines are not cheap - one was almost £8 - and somewhere down the line I'll be getting rid of them too having not made any of the projects. I think that magazines serve the same sort of purpose as my lists. While ever I'm buying them (not even necessarily reading them) there's all sorts of possibilities ahead and when I write lists there's the possibility that I'll complete what's on them. Anything rather than tackle what needs to be done I suppose.

On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is only having possible hoarding tendencies and 10 being like Jojo's mother, I'd put myself at around 4 but I think I'm heading higher. My dad is a lot worse. Maybe a 6 and I've recently found out from my sister that she is worse still with more obsessive behaviours than I have (she lives t'other side of the country from me and we don't see each other often) so it is something I have to keep an eye on.