collaborative post
It's just after Christmas, chances are you've accumulated a lot more 'stuff' than you had before December 25th and somehow you've got to find room for said 'stuff'. As you probably know I live in a small 2 bedroomed house so my levels of 'stuff' have to be kept under control (I'll try not to say 'stuff' too many more times during this blog post) so since moving in I've had to try and put a lid on my hoarding ways and dramatically reduce the amount of unnecessary things in my house. Now I'm not going to go all Marie Kondo on you and start talking about things that 'spark joy' but I am going to give you a few tips and tricks of how you can stop hoarding.
This was the result of a bit of a purge in my house - I decided if I did a declutter I could finally treat myself to some new storage furniture
Set aside an hour or so for a sort out and question why you have still have 'stuff' in your house
I used to [still do] keep some things 'just in case' because I'm absolutely convinced that the minute I throw it away, that's when I'll need it but let's be honest if it's cheap enough to replace and you haven't used it for over a year, chances are you're not going to need it. I do keep a lot of sentimental things such as cards, old jewellery and a few other things and they're the only things that I absolutely would never throw out because as much as they don't have any use as such, they do mean something to me and they hold lots of happy memories for me.
Have a system for getting rid of clothes you never wear
Hoarding clothes is often a problem for some people, I don't tend to have this issue because I do have regular clear outs of things that I never wear anymore. To try and encourage you to do the same what I'd suggest is that you turn all your coat hangers the wrong way round (so you have to unhook them from the back) but when you put them back you do it the right way round. After a year if there are clothes that are still on a hanger facing the wrong way then you get rid - if you've not worn them during a cycle of all 4 seasons then let's face it - you're probably not going to wear them ever again.
Obviously there's not necessarily any need to just throw these out into the bin - you could always take them to your local charity shop, refuge or homeless support organisation (I genuinely get the nicest feeling when I do this - in fact, I've got a bag upstairs ready to go!)
Is space an issue but you can't bare to part with some of your beautiful furniture?
It happens, we have unexpected arrivals or circumstances which mean that we might have to repurpose a room in our house - currently my second bedroom has a desk and some other bits and bobs in so if I were ever to need an extra bed in there (not that I'm planning on it any time soon, may I add!) I would need to find a place for my beloved Ikea Malm desk. It would pain me to get rid of it but if I had to put a bed in there I'd just not have the space so I'd definitely have a look at outside storage solutions like henfieldstorage.co.uk so I could store it safely until I eventually found a home for it in a bigger house.
See if you can make a bit of extra dosh
There might be stuff lurking in the back of your cupboard that you can either pop on eBay or sell on Facebook and I know it might seem like a big job but once you've got your photos taken and a brief description written it's just a case of waiting to see if your trash is anyones treasure. I sold some of Kev's old clothes the other month and took a tidy sum of about £70 so it's well worth having a go if you've never tried it before!
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