DECLUTTERING.....?

[Crocus]

What is it to declutter? I asked myself this morning. I've, at long last, decided to sort out all my UK magazines, those that are not yet sorted and packed away neatly on the shelves in a walk in cupboard. Country Homes and Interiors all together with the latest editions on top. Also the other magazines, 25 Beautiful Homes, Period Ideas, Period Living, Country Living, all neatly sorted and packed away. I just kept the latest on my bedside table as I'm still "studying" it.

Which brought to my mind the thought of decluttering. What is I did this morning, did I just sort out, packed away, or did I declutter? Doesn't declutter means to get rid of almost anything and everything visible?;)
In that case, thanks but decluttering won't work for me then. I like to see a magazine here and there, a vase with flowers on a table, a teenager's schoolbag, a cup of coffee waiting, a CD waiting to be played, or whatever, even a bit of everyday dust somewhere etc.

Can Mr Declutter/minimalist and Miss Home get married and live under one roof?? Who will stand back, give in, or will there by a compromise? Can there be a compromise?

What is declutter? Can someone perhaps tell? :cool:

[buecherwurm]

I think to declutter means to get rid of some of the stuff that has accumulatd over a longer period (sometimes years). I'm at the moment trying to declutter my desk. Which means sorting through all the papers throwing away some, filing some others and maybe finding an unanswered letter etc.
I really should declutter my sewing area as it looks a mess at the moment, but then, I might need some of the stuff next week.........

[Crocus]

Morning BW, but it's so difficult to get rid of the stuff - as you've mentioned, one might need some of it next week.........:cool:

[dragonfly]

Can Mr Declutter/minimalist and Miss Home get married and live under one roof??

Yes but not happily. I hoard and OH is a minimalist and it causes a lot of arguments.

[Ivy]

I use decluttering as self therapy. De-cluttering (for me) means for example emptying the spice cupboard in my kitchen filling all spices into glasses, discarding tasteless ones or those who have gone past their shelf life and suddenly discovering that I have about 20 sachets of baking powder but really no Vanilla sugar... De-cluttering a room always includes a trip to the recycling centre because otherwise the clutter would creep out of it's new home re- cluttering the place in no time. I try to follow the theory what you didn't use during the last two years you won't be needing for the next 20 ( except special things like Christening gowns or so that are only used at very special occasions) so put it away for good.Doesn't alwas work but sometimes.

[Crocus]

I clean my grocery cupboard once a month, throw out, fill up, whatever needs doing, cleaning it out, so I guess that can be seen as de-cluttering. xx

[franbee]

Clutter is generally used to describe the stuff one has lying around. You may feel, like I do, that you are happy with your clutter, but not everyone likes it, and it is often seen to be a BAD THING. A cluttered house often goes with a cluttered mind, and decluttering can free you from worrying about your stuff.

[Ivy]

According to Feng Shui you can actually improve your wealth, relationships and even sleep by de-cluttering your home. I tried once to de-clutter my "money zone" (top left hand corner of your home seen from the main entrance ) and all of a sudden a person who owed me money started to pay me back! Don't know if it was coincidence or if it really worked.
The trouble is the room in question in this house belongs to my 18 year old son .. do I need to say more??

[Pippa]

Ah, decluttering, something I have been doing for nearly 4 years, 2 full skips, numerous trips to charity shops, the dump, given away or put on freecycle. I have started on the furniture now and two huge built in wardrobes the next to go, have taklen apart as much as I can, someone coming to take rest apart. I feel better and better the more 'stuff'I get rid of. I hope to get the house down to just what I need to live on a day to day existance, the same goes for the fridge and food cupboards, enough for the week and no more. I have stopped buying, meat, cheese, alcohol and bread. Ryvita keeps better than bread and I do not miss the other stuff - if it is not in the house I cannot eat it so have to be a bit more inventive with the lentils! I can recommend not having clutter around although not a minimalist, I do not do ornaments or dust collectors.

[Crocus]

No Ivy, you needend say anything more, having two of those (18 year olds - boys) I know exactly what you're talking about.........

Hi Pippa, you've done really well in the de-cluttering department, wow! Perhaps I should take your tips and advice on board and start de-cluttering here as well. It will have to be a balance between a everyday usual home with 18 year olds, a husband who loves hoarding, me too but not as bad as he, and getting rid of all which haven't been used in the last year or two. I don't think I will ever be able to switch to being minimalist, it's just not me, but understand that getting rid of the nonsense and the unnecessary can be quite liberating!

My house is not cluttered or having things lying around making it untidy and a sore eye, I can perhaps add, but being married 33 years and accumulating as you go along, there is a few things that can go now. Just not my UK magazines please........

I've already sorted the linen cupboard, having stuff from when my mum moved to the retirement village, also stuff from when my sister downsized from a 4-bedroom house to a 2-bedroom flat. I was given some bed linen, tablecoths (Irish Linen) etc. xx

[dragonfly]

I love clutter and can happily live with it. I find the most interesting homes to visit are the ones with lots of ornaments, pictures and interesting stuff. I think hoarders are very interesting people even if they don't have tidy minds.

[Crocus]

Hi DF, I'm somewhere in the middle perhaps. I don't like minimalistic, but don't like clutter as well. xx

[dinger]

I like a bit of clutter around makes it feel like home.

[Crocus]

Hi Dinger, yes I agree actually. A little bit of clutter is comforting in a way. xx

[jazzactivist]

I am a bit of a decluttering fanatic, while my OH likes to keep his clutter and lots of it! I like nothing better than a good clear-out and the times when I have given away items and then wanted them, or even had to buy them back from the charity shop are legendary in our house! If I suggest that he has a de-clutter, OH always reminds me of the time when I decided that I was never going to make all those jams and pickles or make do and mend stuff and so I gave away my little hoard of self-sufficiency books to a friend of ours. Now I have to grit my teeth every time that she raves on about the latest thing that she has made or tells me what useful books they are... I did try to get them back once by asking if she ever reads them but, unfortunately, she does - over and over. I am slowly replacing them when I see them, but the copies that I find now are never quite as good as the ones that I had. My advice is to de-clutter, but never get rid of your long-standing passions, even if you have temporarily gone off them.

[Crocus]

There are some things that I just won't be able to get rid of Jazz, like my UK magazines for instance. I just won't be able to part with it, also not my interior decorating books. I haven't got loads but the few I have I will hild on to. Especially my Kevin McCloud book - I just adore it! Of course there's always sentimental stuff, inherited items from parents, in-laws etc. xx

[jazzactivist]

Surprisingly, we don't have any sentimental inherited or family things displayed in our house. I don't have any as when I left SA I was just a young woman with a backpack and no space in it for anything but the essentials. OH collects lots of books and CDs, and we both buy paintings and art, but he doesn't have much from his family either - one photograph of his granddad and friend when they were young and a set of ebony African carvings that his uncle inherited. We don't even have any family photos around. We have built up a few of our own sentimental items eg a commissioned painting of our dearly departed dog, and framed photos of places that we have visited throughout our married life. In our previous houses we planted commemorative trees and plants for special events, but they are still there and we are here! It must be a bit strange for other people to come into our house because their aren't any of the usual comforters that other people have that show the history and relationships in their family or milestone events, just thousands of books.

[Crocus]

I must admit I'm somewhat sentimental. My MIL has given us FIL's beloved and much worn hat. He always wore a hat, because he was very fair skinned and the sun at times made him ill. This hat now hangs in the entrance hall. xxx

[jazzactivist]

I think that it is lovely to have mementoes like that, crocus. We just don't seem to have any. Neither of us is from families that like sentimentality, so unless we are happy to house MIL's vast collection of Bramley Hedge items (which we aren't!) then we have to create our own memorabilia.

[Crocus]

It's usually the little things which count, I've found. Like DIL's hat for instance, and my mum's jewellery box. It has no value other than sentimental value really, but the fact that it belong to a mum or a dad pushes the value up quite high. I still have Jaco's pencil he last wrote and draw with in my purse and wil never ever part with it. xx

[sheddie]

Well because of our new boiler being fitted we are having to declutter.....oh my what you keep!X