Pre-Christmas is the perfect time to get rid of lots of accumulated stuff. I find decluttering very cathartic – there is nothing like a good declutter to feel like you are back in control. How good it feels to simplify your life. Less stuff means fewer bits to clean for a start!
You too can simplify your life with a good declutter.
How many books can one person read?
Books! In the past we had so many. Even though I seem to be constantly getting rid of books, they soon find their way back onto the shelves. I was really brutal last time I decluttered. We had so many gardening books that neither of us ever read. I cleared almost all of them. I got rid of around half of the paperbacks as well. Some I sold and some I just gave away. You can sell books through Music Magpie or Ziffit (if you use my referral code – I0LMLPHCY – you can earn an extra £5).
I kept all of the girls’ Harry Potter books. They are too much a part of their childhood to give away. They still read them now when they come home. I also kept all of my yoga books. I am not teaching currently, but I hope to in the future. I need them for inspiration when I am planning lessons.
I also kept some classic novels and other books I am likely to come back to. If I am honest, though, I could do without any of them; I just like having a shelf full of books in the house somewhere! I am a part time minimalist…
I read more books on Kindle these days but I still like an actual paper book. I can’t see this ever changing but I think you can simplify your life with fewer books and a good declutter.
DVDs: a thing of the past?
Earlier in the year, one of my daughters pointed out that we had a shelf crammed with DVDs but no working DVD player. What madness! They have all been donated to the charity shop or sold now. We watch the TV or Netflix instead.
I have kept a lot of the CDs but still donated about 50% to the charity shop. We both listen to CDs in the car and still haven’t got into downloading music to our smart phones.
Again, you can sell your old CDs and DVDs through Music Magpie or Ziffit (with my refer a friend code for £5 extra cash – I0LMLPHCY).
Ornaments – who needs them?
I never thought I would be the kind of person who liked ornaments – how trashy! Then I developed an obsession with chickens and, before I knew where I was, I had shelves full of little china chooks. Every Christmas and birthday everyone bought me more. They had to go! I have been slimming them down for some time.
I have also found myself drawn in middle age to a shabby chic look. I am turning into a stereotype… Pretty floral plates vie with teapots, cups and jugs on the shelves of our two dressers. I have also developed a taste for bunting.
In the sitting room, this has all been removed. I will keep the dresser in the kitchen but one is enough. As I clean the house each week I find myself examining the remaining ornaments and sometimes saying goodbye to them as I go along.
Have a good declutter and find some empty shelf space
Also removed from the sitting room – a Wii that hadn’t been used for at least two years, a vintage sewing machine that I plan to sell, an old shredder gathering dust and a big pile of magazines.
My plan is to use my week off at Christmas to sort through some of the drawers and cupboards downstairs. I do this fairly often but it’s amazing how ‘stuff’ constantly finds its way back into them. What is the point of keeping lots of things that are never used? We may as well sell or donate them, then at least somebody else might appreciate them. I am keeping a binbag in the hall to collect all of the items I get rid of.
Anyone else finishing 2018 with a good declutter? See my guide to selling on eBay if you need to get rid of some of it.
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Julia says
There’s nothing like a transatlantic move to force a good declutter!! 😀
Ours was 6 years ago now – the kids just brought one tub each of their favourite treasures, otherwise, everything went!
Also decluttered when moving abroad in the first place was my TV soaps habit! 😀 Having been away for so long all TV viewing has pretty much been decluttered from my life now!
Feel so much better for it! It’s not just physical things that can choke you!
Margie from Toronto says
De-cluttering is an ongoing process in my home. I have sold, donated or gifted a LOT of stuff over the past couple of years – but – there is still more to be done. My last big move was when I switched locker storage space with a friend a couple of months ago. I needed a spot that I could just walk into rather than climbing stairs first so when she moved I switched. Her spot is only about 2/3 of the size that I had so that forced another purge and now I have the tidiest, most well organized locker space in the whole building! 🙂 Believe me – we can see into each other’s lockers as they are just wooden slat walls & doors and it is unbelievable how many are just full of items piled one on top of the other. The super told me that many people move without even emptying their spaces – they just leave it all behind! What a waste!
A couple of weeks ago it was magazines – sent a whole pile to recycling so that felt good and every year when I switch wardrobes I go through my clothes so I am doing really well there.
Books are another matter – I tried a Kobo but prefer a real book. I have been making good use of my local library so that has cut down on a lot but – if I’m being truthful there are probably close to 100 books in a certain bookcase that I still haven’t read as yet. My reading project for 2019 is to cut down on the library use and work my way through some of these books on hand. Once read, some will go to friends, some will go to my social club book exchange table and some will be donated for my Church’s annual Spring book sale – some I will keep. I may also look at selling some as they did cost a small fortune in the first place!
I’ve never been one for too many knick knacks and I hate a cluttered kitchen counter so I’m doing well there. I want to enjoy what I have and feel comfortable in my small apt. but I don’t want to feel overwhelmed by my “stuff”. Most of my friends are going through this process themselves – or have had to do it for aging parents (which will really make you reconsider what you keep) so this is a very timely post!
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I never understand why people keep things in storage for years and years. If you don’t need it after a year you don’t need it at all!
Jean Scholefield says
I like to have a declutter every winter but this year my daughter has been living here and storing all her stuff. She should be moving out by March so hopefully I can have a really good declutter then.
Gillian says
I have been decluttering (mainly) clothes over last couple of weeks and (to my shame) got rid of FOUR large suitcases full of stuff so far. I used to sell my items on ebay but haven’t got the motivation for it anymore, so most items have gone to charity shops. It’s a satisfying feeling to open drawers and know exactly what is in there now! I got a copy of Marie Kondo’s decluttering/storing book from the library and would recommend a skim-read of it. I found it v useful even although I found some of her thinking quite kooky, based on Japanese culture practices and Shinto-creeds I think.