This is some of the boxes of stuff I have packed already and there are a lot more to come!
The pile at the front has three equal sized piles behind it......
I see this move as the perfect opportunity to only take what we need or love and shed a lot of the things that are simply and often mindlessly gathered over the years. Mr D however is not of this mind set. We seem to be battling over every single item including five (one broke) hideous plastic garden chairs bought almost 25 years ago!! Books he hasn't looked at for approximately 20 years are being taken because he likes the look of a shelf of books. Now I would love a library corner if we had the space, but we don't so I have passed on almost all of my books to the charity shop except gardening, craft, DIY and some cookery books. Our bookshelf will look rather one sided with a predominance of sporting autobiographies!
My eldest daughter, who's room is in the loft, has been doing a sterling job sorting though years (she is not far off 24 and she has three younger siblings) of memorabilia. She came up with the brilliant idea of photographing the more interesting items and will then make a photo collage on her laptop. I even suggested that we could make a memory photo book for each of our children. I am 100% convinced that they would rather be presented with a photo book than three plastic crates of tatty paintings and slightly battered paper mâché puppets when they move into their own homes!
Sadly I think we will still have a loft and cupboards full of stuff that won't be looked at for another 20+ years. I have done the best that I can despite constant resistance, but I am planning on having another sweep through when we get to the other end in the hope that a few more items might be donated to charity.
How do you all feel about stuff? I know I'm not particularly sentimental which helps. Mr D however doesn't even have a photograph of himself as a baby from his childhood, which I think adds to his need for keeping hold of stuff. Would you have sympathy for Mr D? He could do with some backup!
On another front, Jet seems to be turning a corner. He is having his stitches out this morning and is a bit brighter. Hopefully we may have found the correct antibiotic to nail the infection this time! When he stayed at the vets on Saturday, they didn't put him in a kennel. He was so quiet anyway that they brought him a blanket down to one of the treatment rooms and he lay there instead so he could have visitors and fuss occasionally :)
The cat however disgraced himself again by peeing in the ensuite so he is very much on his last warning!
Packing up and moving is great for a clear-out! Because we were Forces we have moved house so many times and each time managed to off load "stuff." BUT...... I cannot let go of my children's soft toys! They don't want them and I haven't opened the black bin bags in which I store them for donkeys years - I just cannot get rid! So I have a certain amount of empathy with your other half! As for your kitty - my cat last week peed on my daughter's duvet. Hasn't done it before and hopefully won't do it again. Only a teeny idea why she might have done it - she adores my daughter and spends many hours on that bed but daughter is at Uni so comes and goes randomly. Might be unsettling? Good Luck with your cat - maybe the boxes are changing the feel of the place. Have you tried Felliway Plug-in? Costs the earth but may help.
ReplyDeleteI did wonder about that Felliway stuff, but we have spent £1000s at the vets recently and I couldnt bring myself to fork out any more! I'm hoping he will settle when we are moved in - all those fields and small rodents to catch!
DeleteSorry, I'm with your husband on this. I was told once many years ago not to get rid of chairs as you can never have too many, although I would draw the line at a broken one. I have battles with my husband too as he is not as sentimental over stuff as I am. He would have a minimalistic home whereas I prefer cosy. Hope you come to some sort of agreement or compromise.
ReplyDeleteJoan (Wales)
The compromise seems to be - I get rid off all of my excess stuff and he keeps all of his!
DeleteI would get rid of everything that is not beautiful or useful (or both) .... but then you knew I would say that didn't you ;-)
ReplyDeleteI understand the need to hang onto things for some people, but even they tend to find a huge sense of release once they do let go. Photo books for your children sound like a really good idea.
I'm so glad Jet has taken a turn for the better ..... and your cat will have noticed the disruption (and boxes everywhere) so will be sent marking (peeing) in a bid to keep the place smelling like home.
If he keeps making the place smell like home, it might continue to be his home!! He spends a lot of time next door anyway.
DeleteI'm hoping that when we move, Mr D might think again about some of the items.....the loft there is MUCH smaller than ours.
I'm with the clear out mob. My brother in laws saying is 'it will come in handy one day even if I don't use it!' Drives my sister MAD. :0)
ReplyDeleteI can empathise with her!
DeleteI'm not sentimental about most stuff. We've moved house many times and decluttering has never been a problem for me. Our bookcases are full of husband's and son's books but I only have about 6 paperbacks. The only items I have which are 'valuable' to me are photos and a few baby clothes/toys. As I get older, I feel suffocated and tied down by material things (and it's just more crap to dust around!!). However, I understand that not everyone is the same.
ReplyDeletePoor Jet - hope he feels well again soon. Hope the move goes smoothly. Tip from moving so often: pack a separate box with kettle, mugs, tea, coffee and pet bowls (I had to fill the kitchen basin with water on arriving at a new house as the pets were gasping and I couldn't find the pet bowls) and focus on getting your beds made up first. Then, when you've had enough and you're exhausted, you can fall into bed and resume unpacking the next day.
I have to say I feel like it am drowning in stuff at the moment. It's everywhee, but lots is for charity and some is for recycling or tip, so it will help when we done some drop offs at the end of the week. I love the feeling of a good clear out and, like you, with age am reevaluating just what I need or want around me.
DeleteWe have moved so many times thatif we dont open a box of things for 6 months after we arrive, we dont open it and it goes straight to the charity shop. We do how ever have 2 large plastic bins of sentimental things that we never open and will never get rid of. We recently gifted 3 large boxes of lego that the Mr's Father kept for him, to a friend who is recently divorced and needed some toys etc for his new place for when his son comes over. A worthy home for what is a hard time for the boy.
ReplyDeleteYour doing a sterling job. Keep going!
I think that is what I would like to aim for. A large plastic crate of memories for each of us and no more! I will keep slowly ridding even after we've moved. I like the idea of 'time bonded' storage :)
DeleteI'm in the get rid of it camp I'm afraid. Hubby has two sheds and various other places where he keeps stuff that might come in useful one day......it never has and it never will. I would love to bin it all.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that Jet seems better-x-
Funnily enough I'm ok with stuff in the shed as it's mostly practical or potentially useful, but in my home it's another matter entirely partly due to the fact I have to clean round it all!
DeleteWe moved in March and before we sold up, I skipped a lot of stuff. The big stuff was easy, the smaller stuff less so. We haven't unpacked everything yet as we have alot of DIY to do but when we do I will be going through it again and donating as much as possible - if I haven't needed it in 4 months, then perhaps I'll happily give it up... but then again......
ReplyDeleteYes we will have a fair amount to do in the house so I won't be unpacking for a while.
DeleteKeep strong and only keep what you can use or makes you smile :)
Hope you are sitting down, and I apologise if people have heard my views on this before. Ha! I took the opportunity to have a fantastic clear out before we moved. My kitchen was packed up for a month at least before we moved because of losing our buyer. Because of this I know we can survive as a family with 4 plates, glasses, knives, forks and spoons, you get the gist plus a couple of oven to table dishes but we don't now we have moved, howevever we are not over run with unused crokery.I read a book called Stuffocation before we moved and it encouraged me to sell my wedding dress and our second car. It talks about spending time on experiences and not money on stuff, plus other things but that is the idea. It is a fantastic book and would recommend it. As far as the boys things are concerned I keep their school reports and some pieces of work but not everything. Jon tidied out his shed before we moved but he keeps lots of things 'in stock' so we do not have to buy things, in order that we can make do and mend. Nearly finished! We are not very sentimental but I do take some photos of the boys when they do stuff. I clear out the boys' rooms twice a year, time coming up with hols upon us, as one of mine is a bit of a hoarder but is definitley improving. I'm not even that bothered about having things that belong or belonged to my parents - it is enough to deal with your own stuff let along inheriting more. Rant over.x Glad Jet seems to be on the mend.x
ReplyDeleteYou're approach sounds very like mine. Less stuff, more living!
DeleteAfter moving my books to another room after the flood of the basement just over a week ago, I am of the mind that before they are moved back I am going through them. I really do have too many books!!
ReplyDeleteMind you I say that now and when the time comes I could end up just putting them all back in.
God bless.
I would love a library wall if we had space, but in reality we don't and I will probably not re read the books anyway, so I have only kept the reference books I use most frequently
DeleteSadly we moved around a lot as we were in the forces so we were constantly getting rid of things that with hindsight I would have liked to have kept. Glad to hear Jet is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally I miss things I have got rid of, but not for long!
DeleteMy general rule is , one in, one out. But there will always be the exception. I have a few things that I have carried around over the years and they are keepers. I have a memory case, airways hand luggage size, and that is it. I sometimes regret the odd thing that I have jettisoned, my way of dealing with it is to ask myself this. If I replace it where will it go and what will go out to make room for it. My Mother was a pack rat and it was a nightmare going through her things, I do not intend for anyone to have to do that with mine.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's not long since I went through all my mums stuff. She wasn't bad though and had already had several clear outs which made it an awful lot easier. My aunts house (from the post 'a blast from the past') will be a whole different ball game!!!
DeleteI have things that are meaningful to me and of course things I use regularly. We just moved a couple of months ago with over 20 years worth of stuff. I donated several things and when I found out my dad and sister would help with a garage sale, that helped take care of some more. My husband does have a tendency to hang onto things, however, this move helped him make many decisions he had been pondering. We also moved into a house that was a bit smaller than our townhome, which also contributed to letting go of several items. Good luck. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteIt's been an interesting process seeing our different approaches but I am definitely less sentimental!
DeleteSix years ago we downsized and got rid of loads of stuff before we moved, again after moving we got rid of more. It's the best thing we did, life is much better with less stuff. On the plus side we have not replaced anything, go for it.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep trying!
DeleteI'm sure the cat is stressed by the packing and movement going on around him/her and will straighten out at the new place. I was lucky in that I was able to move what I knew I wanted to the new house and more or less put it in place. Since I was downsizing, I didn't realize how much I need to get rid off. I took load after load to the CS. Sometimes an item would get put in the keep pile until close to the end and then I knew it still had to go. Tough to do, I know.
ReplyDeleteOur local charity shop has never seen me so often!
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