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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 had a good declutter of the bookshelves. 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.
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. Plus, sets of the first edition Harry Potter books sell for a lot!
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.
If you fancy reading more digital books, you might like a free 30-day trial of Kindle here (this is my affiliate link).
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.
Ornaments – who needs them?
I never thought I would be the kind of person who liked ornaments. 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. Finally, there were just too many and 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.
Family heirlooms
Furniture and family heirlooms are harder to declutter. Sometimes we become attached to certain items because they are passed down. Even though we don’t use them or have room for them at the moment, it is hard to let them go because they have great sentimental value and we hope we will one day.
We certainly have some pieces that we have kept over the years, that have been stored away and brought back. For example, we own an old Windsor armchair that was handed down from an auntie that I am so glad we kept. It lived in the shed for a while until we found a place for it to live.
If you aren’t lucky enough to have a dry space to store larger items, you could explore a company such as Magenta Self Storage.
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 was sold on Facebook Marketplace, an old shredder gathering dust and a big pile of magazines.
My plan is to spend a little time sorting 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 bin bag in the hall to collect all of the items I get rid of.
Anyone else finishing 2020 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
Both mum and I use the libraries rather than buy new so when the libraries closed we used the lockdown to read books we had received over the years but had never got round to. When the lockdown eased we swapped some that we thought the other might enjoy with either a “pass it on” or “send it back” when done!
One of mine has just moved out so I’m trying to get my youngest to do a massive declutter during half term this week, in preparation for shifting his stuff into his brother’s old room! 😀
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Oh, good luck with the declutter. I expect a fair amount of nagging will be required!