Hoarding - A New Start

ostrichnomore_2

I had a lovely couple of hours clearing out yesterday. After a bit it got to the stage where it looked worse than when I started and I was worried I was just 'churning' and I just wanted to sit down and give up!so much stuff.....it gets overwhelming to even look at sometimes. But a strong cup of tea and a stern talking to got me back on track, and now it all looks good and I had 5 carrier bags of stuff to bin, and 1 bag of stuff for charity shop, so it worked ok in the end.

I cleared out and organise the 3 drawers in my bedroom (again!) of all the random tut that I dump in there, dealt with a backlog of post, and tackled part of the heap of clothes that I don't really wear and the ironing pile. (Iron as I go, which means that basically I have zero clothes hanging in wardrobe where they belong!)

Lost weight last year (ongoing) so I was very happy to dispose of anything that is now too big, and really really happy to find some nice things I couldn't wear before as I was too fat for them, but now fit. . Dumped several things I needed to stop wearing (even if I loved them) because they are really tatty/stained/torn/moth holes in one case.

Got about 1/5th of the clothes pile done, and also did a load of ironing and hung in wardrobe. If I do that every weekend then in a month that cupboard will be empty and I will just have nice things that fit me hanging in my wardrobe. Sounds daft, but I keep opening wardrobe door and thinking 'oooh lovely clothes' as I'm used to just heaps and piles in cupboards. Bad habit I let myself get into. I'm quite excited about waking up for work tomorrow and being able to just reach into the wardrobe for my outfit with no hassle - a lovely pair of trousers that were brand new still with labels - I'd never worn as it was too small when bought (grrr why?) - and a favourite blouse I haven't worn for a couple of years as I'd 'outgrown' it, and has now been rescued from the midst of a 4 foot heap of random clothing.

decogecko

Hi all

LIR your DH sounds lovely.

I seem to have hit an impasse in terms of my battle with the richard. My room of despair is still as was, although minus some items that I've freecycled.

Because my house is looking much much better and is so much easier to clean, I'm finding it easy to 'ignore' the carp that is still in the chest in my lounge, the drawers in the hallway console, in the cupboard in the sun room and the shed. They are out of sight, but the nagging feeling that I should sort them keeps whispering to me.

I just need a kick up the a$$. Maybe I'm just worried that when I've sorted everything I won't have anything to do with my time (sounds mad doesn't it???)

Sorry for waffling

Deco x

lostinrates

I don't think it sounds that mad tbh. Perhaps it's time to start thinking what you want to do with some of your spare time and space?

decogecko

I am enjoying the space I've created, the house feels more homely.

I'm not sure what I want to do with my time and I think that's key to my problem.

I enjoy knitting and trying to learnt to crotchet via facetube. I also like walking but I do these things anyway.

eandjsmum

Hi Long time lurker here

Can I join in. I am a hoarder ,so is my OH. I dream of a clear uncluttered house .

My OH is from a familiy of hoarders. They never thow anything away even newspapers.

They have even kepy all his old toys!.
This is worring as they are getting older and at some time their house will have to be cleared. There is no room here!.
I decided to try to declutter last year I had some sucess but with 4 of us in the house the stuff keeps comming back in.
Last week I decided to try again. This time with baby steps so two carrier bags were taken to a charity shop on Thursday. I have a black sack ready for collection. I started with my sewing stuff in the dining room and moved around the room. The room doesn't look any different and my OH is making comments which is dishartning as he is worse than me. Things have also been going missing suspect that DS has taken them but can't proove anything . OH says that I have lost them. I tried to sort out the bedroom . I did chuck out some stuff but it still looks cluttered and cant put all my christmas prezzies away.

I do find it easier to work on one thing at a time.

My sister would come and help me but we will end up fighting as she will look at my stuff and say you have 6 of those you only need one choose which one and get rid of the rest. I then cant cope with this so we row.

Its so bad that I won't invite my brother over he brings all his crap with him and my OH goes through it all and says we can use this cant we?. So I find that it ends up in the house.

Have to go now as cakes to bake .

and maybee chucking out to do

VJsmum

Thanks to you lot I have just tackled the bedside chest of drawers OF DOOM

I have chucked more old bits of tissue than I could possibly have imagined :eek::o; a really carpy old bra; and some poundshop reading glasses with a broken arm (!!!!!!??). I have sent 5 (yes FIVE) old pyjama t shirts to charity - the trousers have long since gone but someone might use the shirts as I obviously am not. Am in the throes of tidying up the bedroom after it being the christmas period dumping ground.

I find this thread gives me permission to throw things.

blossomhill_2

blossomhill wrote: »

DD could probably swim the Channel so will not forget that she learnt to swim anyway as she swims daily

After I wrote that I realised something ... and went straight upstairs and threw out a swim float and a swim noodle - both bulky things that should have gone a decade ago! LBM - Writing it down helps! Writing it here helps both me and hopefully someone else! So get writing folks!

Also found a bag and some skates in the same cupboard that went along for the ride too

Fear of what you will do after the hoard is gone ... common theme ... feel the fear and find out! As Byatt found when we discussed this before ... enjoy asking visitors to your home .. if you like walking you could become a Walking for Health leader ... or make your own YouTube tutorials instead of watching others ... so much potential being wasted by us being defined by "things"

eandjsmum - you need to explain to your sis that you know you have 6 of each but you need her to come and idenitfy ONE that could go for now (and maybe a further 2 for you to think about when she's gone)

ostrich - I am glad you have got your clothes the way you deserve, well done

decko - why not photograph the drawers of doom and tackle them on you computer screen - you still don't want to have to say "don't open that drawer when anyone's here"

pleasedelete

I think plastic storage boxes are the curse. I used to put stuff in them and think it was tidy but basically I was just keeping crap I didn't need. I now have 1 Halloween box, 4 Christmas and 1 Easter and nothing else at all in boxes. So no keeping for a rainy day when I might just need it. It is very liberating. Each child has 1 box as well with favourite toys, cards, pictures etc etc. that is it.

1 box with stuff listed on eBay. If not sold goes to the car boot box.
The old empty boxes (dozens ) are mostly gone. A few are in the garage. Stuff for an annual car boot goes in them- anything not sold gets dropped at oxfam on the way home. Once it goes to the garage it NEVER re enters the house.

I have cleared a few relatives houses. The junk in boxes is just depressing. I have told my mother it is her duty to shift her junk whilst she can to save the burden on the poor relatives ! (said partly in jest and taken very well as she hated clearing the houses as well). She had 1000 candles when she moved a few years ago.

whitewing

For those dehoarding craft supplies, last year I gave loads of paper etc to my DD's nursery. Some I'd had for millions of years. They'd used most of it by Christmas and were very pleased.

[Deleted User]

ah names from my youth were Derry and Toms which had a roof garden in the middle of London and as a small child I went with Mum to Kensington High Street I think it became Bibas in the 1960s.I can remember going up in this big square woooden lift with a man who was dressed like a general and had a long ribbon of medals across his chest (he was the chap who operated the lift and he had a moustache like Stalin) I thought he might have been his brother when I was little) I assumed he had won the medals for saving the lift from the german bombs during the war for some reason :)Weird what you think as a child isn't it .Well my hoarding this year is going to mainly be cash as I want to stash the cash towards the future I have a wee bit tucked away but I want to increase it as I don't think the end of the recession is anywhere near yet.
But decluttering junk is also large on the agenda, mostly paperwork at the moment but it does seem to accumulate so I am going to be ruthless and get shot of unecessary rubbish and streamline my tiny cottage so I have a bit more room