Hoarding - A New Start

Byatt

SJ, no-one washes the dishes as well as I do. Honest...

It's so exhausting.

Goldiegirl

suzitiger wrote: »

Ooooh wow what a good idea to make boxes out of old greetings cards, I am going to do this then I can hold on to a few of my fave's with justification :-)

I thought it might be useful to post a picture of my greetings card box, to give you an idea of what it looks like, to provide inspiration



Its got a hexagon shaped bottom, with six sides curved up towards the top. I think the cards have been stuck on to another piece of card to make them stronger and the front of each card has a thin sheet of plastic for protection. It's all stitched together with fancy stitching and lined with a pink satin fabric.

I'm very fond of this box, I mentioned that my nan gave it to me. It's about 40 years old, so it's probably quite dated - you don't often see floral cards like that anymore. But, modern cards could easily be used in various colour schemes and shapes.

It I wasn't so carp at crafts I'd give it a go myself.

A lot of us find it difficult to let birthday cards go, so it would be a use for them, being turned into functional objects.

---

Oh, did some one mention control freakery ...... I have that in me as well ! :rotfl:

My husband is very capable of doing things himself, but he does have to suffer my breathing down his neck to make sure he's doing things right!

nightsong

amyloofoo wrote: »

My decluttering is coming on very slowly, but progress is progress so I'm reasonably happy. I've managed to find loooooads of clothes and shoes that still have (expensive) tags on, so am steeling myself to venture onto eBay again. I listed 7 items last week, 4 sold and 3 paid... so it's better than nothing but it's an uncertain reward for the work involved.

All the best to everyone, reading your stories has really helped.

Ebay is a bit hit-and-miss, I agree. I'm happy to do it as a sort of casual, very part-time thing myself - don't want to get stressed.

I've found, and apparently research has shown (amazing what you can get a research grant for!!) that items starting at 99p sell better and achieve higher final prices, in general, than auctions starting higher. I think the psychology is that once people see someone bidding they are more likely to want the item too. Plus you don't pay a listing fee.

Also, I have got a bit more serious about the photo I use. In the past I would photograph things on the kitchen table, but realised that it looks a bit as if they are on a wooden floor -maybe not ideal. I found an old length of dark pink taffeta and now use that as a background. It makes quite ordinary items look rather luscious! I should think velvet would work very well too. I have definitely noticed higher prices as a result.

The ebay board on here is extremely informative but I agree rather scary!

tattycath

Well, I have managed to sort out my 'post' box. It was over flowing with 'stuff' and now I have a bin liner full of shredded post and half a bag of booklets etc to recycle.
I know it's only a small thing but at least I've made a start. Last time I 'sorted it out' most of it stayed in the box

nightsong

Hi cath, I'm new here too - you'll find everyone wonderfully helpful and supportive here

I loved this. Just about sums the whole hoarding thing up

tattycath wrote: »

I buy magazines if they mention decluttering on the cover... then I keep them and the clutter

Goldiegirl

nightsong wrote: »

I've found, and apparently research has shown (amazing what you can get a research grant for!!) that items starting at 99p sell better and achieve higher final prices, in general, than auctions starting higher. I think the psychology is that once people see someone bidding they are more likely to want the item too. Plus you don't pay a listing fee.

That's very true, although there's another school of thought that says if something is priced at a figure that seems too good to be true it can put people off bidding!

I think the best thing to do is to experiment with auction start amounts and start times, and see what yields the best results. Once you hit on the magic formula for your type of item, stick to it!

Brighton_belle

Goldiegirl wrote: »

A lot of us find it difficult to let birthday cards go, so it would be a use for them, being turned into functional objects.

I sense the risk of aspirational crafters hording cards with the intention of 'oh but I can turn these into a card box'...and how many functional decorative boxes does one need, that's the trouble.

nightsong

lostinrates wrote: »

As we have all been so honest about the less pleasant traits that often go with hoarding, may I share another?

Control freakery. For me it's definitely connecte to the perfectionism thing and actually creates huge amounts of totally unneccessary stress for me, and me alone. Part of it, IMO, is a rag against the waste I see fro. Hoarding or over shopping parents ...particularly but not only the one that lives here now.


I notice it in only one or two other people's posts here, so doubt it's a universal trait of hoarding, but have noticed it enough to think 'this is not just me'. Which is a relief, but not a get of of jail free card.

I love how honest we can be here.

For me, it's about a reaction to control-freakery in others I think. Keeping stuff, getting more stuff and not being organised about my stuff has been a way of responding to feeling controlled. A passive-aggressive way, probably. Created in childhood as a defence of sorts, and long past its best-by date. Hmmm .....

suzitiger

tattycath wrote: »

Please help. I am a hoarder There, I've said it. Now how to tackle the problem??
I have managed to [STRIKE]de-clutter[/STRIKE] move around the contents of 6 drawers and 4 cupboards this year so far. Most of the stuff I didn't know what to do with, I just seem to move around from one place to another. I always complain of needing more storage space but i sometimes wonder if I just need to get rid of stuff.
I occasionally have 'clearouts' but that just makes a bit of space that I soon manage to fill again...
Any advice/opinions welcome-thank you

Hi TattyCath, and welcome
I hope you will feel at home here, I have settled in well after about 2months on the thread so I am sure you will too.
'Churning' is a tough one, its so easily done. I think blossomhills post will really help you with focusing on small goals rather than the bigger picture.
For me what got me going was watching a program about Richard the 'obsessive compulsive hoarder' and many things that he said, I say too. And whilst I am not anywhere near the level of Richard it made me think ':eek:, that's me!!'

sjprmc01 wrote: »

The dilemma is this: do I get together all her peppa stuff ie bedding, nightlight, cushion, blanket, wall canvasses and sell it all together or do I hang onto the stuff for a bit coz she still likes peppa even though I'm almost certain she won't use any of it again. My mind is telling me yes but my heart is saying no!

I agree with others, let her keep some things and maybe give away/sell other bits? I think if she still likes it then its not clutter yet

amyloofoo

The kitchen cupboards have been sorted... amongst all the ridiculous amount of stores I managed to find a completely rusty can of evaporated milk which went OOD at the beginning of 2010. Firstly, I don't remember having evaporated milk since my Nana gave me some in my early teens (and even then I didn't like it). Secondly, we moved in 2011 so I obviously brought this with us... why?!?

One bin bag of stuff has been slung, cupboards are now navigable - mission accomplished. Except that I still have 4 bags of shopping from my last online grocery foray that don't have a home Think I might have to store them on my little kitchen drawers thingy and put away when there's space. OTOH I now know that there's no more cupboard shopping needed for a couple of months at least! Just doing the fresh top-up shops should save me a bit of money and free up some room.