Clear Out

[jackie j]

Right
airing cupboard done.
Pickle cupboard done.
Vases taken from top of unit put in cupboard with pickles and glassware done.
Some of my books sorted, read ones in box for car boot done.
Still lots to do but will wait for OH to come home and sort his books.
Need to get a shredder for paper work, last one broke and it was an expensive one.
Ironing will always need doing !!!!
I feel better already.

[bramble]

Don't fall into the trap of putting things up into the loft or attic. We moved into our house as newly weds. We are now here a little over 40 years. Over those years we had three children. I kept so much of their childish belongings because i was so sentimental.My three kids have now grown up, married and left home. Did they want to take any of their childhood treasures from our attic? No way were they going to clutter up THEIR homes with rubbish. So i was left with all the clutter. About 5 years ago i hardened my heart and got rid of the lot. We now have a little clutter of our own, but only a little, as i won't be making that mistake again.
Regarding toolos under beds. The beds in our home are down to the floor with drawers underneath for storage. No room for anything under the beds now but drawers to store your blankets if you want to.
Good luck and don't waver. Once you start to clear out it feels so good.

[Nicos]

So i was left with all the clutter.

Yep..my attic is full of school /Uni clutter- and DD says her Uni stuff is too modern for her Lakeland home!!!

I've kept all their toys for my grandchildren...cars/Barbie dolls/Lego...I'm not stupid!!!...well..if either of them decide to start a family??..no pressure kids!!!!

I'm dreading sorting out our English home if we decide to sell/rent...but I have to remember that it was ME who wanted/needed to keep all that stuff in the attic!!!

[Rhona]

Ah... Bramble.. I am my mother's daughter. She has two attics full of of our school books, toys etc. I'm glad actually as there's a lovely old doll's house and several tons of Pippa Dolls (who else played with them?) that I will get to play with again!

I can't imagine that I'll want to throw away a single thing of our little baby girl's, so we're going to need to move to a much bigger house...

[pipscariad]

I'm glad actually as there's a lovely old doll's house and several tons of Pippa Dolls (who else played with them?)

Oh, I did! I had about 6, and the horse, and how I wish I still had them for my little girl - she loves to hear about them. Don't know what happened to mine - I blame my big bro's, who chucked loads of stuff away when they emptied mums house. Have you seen the price Pippa dolls fetch on ebay

[di]

We're both hoarders & proud!!!!O.K it can get a bit messy,& if I ever felt the need to dust it may well take me a week(at least!!)...but it's our stuff,we like it & it may well come in handy oneday.
I so wish my mum hadn't taken it upon herself all those years ago to de-clutter all our childhood bits & bobs....many an hour & £ could have been saved on Ebay getting replicas.
As for the garage....at present it's crammed full with baskets of various sizes & cellophane,which maybe after a few more christmas's will all be used up & clear a bit of space for the car!
Jackie the mess is obviously getting you down,but wouldn't extra cupboards be an easier,less heart wrenching idea???

BTW~Rhona,I loved my Pippa dolls.

[crazy_red]

Er, all this sounds so familiar!

I hoard, I don't 'do' housework and I'm allergic to ironing (honest).

In fact, I think I might have originally have had a third, middle child when I moved in here, cos there's a large age gap between the two lads who do appear from the depths at meal times....

I find it doesn't bother me because I know that somewhere out there in the multiverse are parallel realities where I am the perfect housewife/neat freak/ mother (of two, possibly three) .....

[jackie j]

I wouldnt mind if things were tidy, I think this has come about because I am doing housework for a friend and she has a lovely 3 bed modern house and the rooms are bigger, the batroom is lovely and tiled. My hose would be lovely if we spent some time and money doing it up. We had a new kitchen about 6 years ago and its never been finished all that needs doing is a couple of tiles and the step fixing and a bit of paint on the ceiling and its quite small, the breakfast room has never been finished it has a large airing cupboard that also has dishes etc in, as this leads off the kitchen it is the same colour blue and white, the hallway is a disgrace with a downstairs loo just inside the door desperatly needs ripping out we also need new doors and windows before they fall out. The dining room is just untidy and I asked OH about sorting out his books cos he never reads them and basicaly he said no cos he reads them yeah right when !!!
The front room is ok just never got finished the bay window didnt get painted the curtain rail is broken and now needs decorating again.
We have four bedrooms, one big one with bay windows as I said the window has loads of OH stuff in it and I would like to refresh it, its very dull grey carpet OH's choice with yellow and blue curtains that have seen better days. My daughters bedroom should be bigger but the previous owners decided to put the very tiny bathroom there by taking away space so its only a box room size and nowhere near big enough for her junk !!! she doesnt like getting rid of things and has only just begun to let me and she is 12. The other two rooms are box size rooms as well and the one at the back should be the bathroom as it was a seperate bathroom, loo and landing knocked into one to make a bedroom. Years ago we started to do it up but ran out of funds so last year we remortgaged to buy OH a decent car pay some debts and buy new windows but OH spent more on the car so no new windows, we could afford to remortgage again if the climate was better.
After christmas wether OH likes it or not my BIL is going to be taking out the downstairs loo and he and I are going to start decorating the hall, we bought the flooring at the same time as the breakfast room so only need wallpaper and paint. By the way the house is terraced and over 100 years old.

[Nicos]

Sounds like 'nesting instinct' to me Jackie:!!!!!!eek:

[lynda66]

jackie ....... i reckon once you get the sorting done, you should go get a tin of paint, and just get on with it ...... get up early pull everything into the middle of the room, shove those old blankets over stuff, and you can get one room done in a day ...... often just a bit of paint helps to brighten your mood.

obviously your OH isn't going to help, so it's down to you ...... maybe when he sees you're determined he may actually help ........ check out your local councils grant schemes too, sometimes they can help with the cost of windows ..... or even do them all.

you can do all those little jobs that need doing ..... you just need to be determined

[jackie j]

I'M determined alright but the decorating is going to have to wait till after christmas now OH used to be so good at doing stuff and getting it done in record time but I think since he has been diagnosed with diabeties he finds it tiring after being at work all day. I have lived here for over 20 years and I keep thinking it would be easier to move !!! When the boys lived at home it seemed to be tidier.

[crazy_red]

Hi Jackie,

Will you accept an apology for my flippancy earlier

It's obviously making you really down and frustrated.

I only joked about it, because I feel my own situation, which is very similar, is beyond my control a lot of the time and its the only way I can cope .

Do you have one of those skills trade (LETS, i think) going on near you? If so maybe you could find a decorator to 'trade' with.

I wished I lived closer, I would come help!

Even doing one, small job each day is an achievement when you feel snowed under like this, so don't give up hope

I have a few ideas which might help, may I PM you?


Red

[kirsty b]

O know how you feel jackie, to a degree. Yes, we may be getting better at throwing out our crap than we were, but its the half finished decorating jobs that make me more depressed than anything. Our living room is done, all I need are one pair of curtains in there. My hallway is a disgrace and I am embarrassed when anyone comes round because that is the first thing they see.
When I want something doing, I don't bother discussing now, I just crack on. He works nights and he will often get up to find something has changed during the day while he has been in bed. ( I wouldn't do anything drastic without talking to him first, but just general sprucing up I just get on with)

He will help me finish a job once I have started, he's not bad, just very laid back and admits he doesn't see the house the way I do.
This thread has got me thinking though, instead of sitting here chatting to you guys, I could be roughly sanding my bannisters to provide a surface for some new undercoat. Like lynda says, a fresh coat of paint is very uplifting.
I'm off to find some sandpaper.

[yoanbob]

what a can of worms you've opened here.
our house is very small, especially upstairs, and we are both natural horders and naturally lazy! bad combo, especially when the house needed so much work when we moved in.
I have got much better at getting rid of stuff, and I've also got much better at being bossy and OH has got better at doing what hes told.
I clear out the bed room every 6 months as we dont have room in the wardrobe for winter clothes and summer stuff, so anything that wont fit into the big plastic box for the loft gets taken to charity, thats fairley easy, books get freecycled about once a year.
the rest of the time I use a list system for both of us, every friday I set out realistic tasks for us both, whats left on the list has to be done evenings during the week, everything goes on the list from stripping wallpaper and removing walls too cleaning bathroom and sorting out the weeks mail.
it works if you keep on top of it which can be hard somtimes.

the left over jobs from "finishing" a room drive me mental and I have been known to delibratley make him feel guilty, for example, I waited 3 months for him to do the wiring in the outhouse, he didnt want me to do it but I knew he was a bit scared as hed never done it before, so I started it so he be home in time to find it nearly finished, It worked he then went on to move the sockets in the kitchen that I wanted doing. It hurts his masculine pride and he gets a spurt of energy for a while.
so tonight he will come home to find his 6 month pregnant wife has moved the dishwasher and on her hands and knees sawing the tiny bit of skirting off so we can put it back on the wall properly, Ha, I dont do it often but I think 3 months of asking is enough and it allways works.
Also when he gets somthing new for example he got another new brown cardi for his birthday (he must have 6 or 7) I make him throw out an old one, he hates it but really, how many brown cardis does one man need? its not as if I dont keep on top of the washing.

[jackie j]

No offence taken crazy red didnt even think you were saying anything out of context it tkes a lot to upset me, and yes you may pm me.