No you have not lost your mind, and it sounds more like you are getting in a much better frame of mind, and that is a perfect plan you have.

I also collected many unneeded things for different excuses but the same reason you state (thinking something was "missing" from my life) and I'm doing the same thing you propose -- except moving over a year ago and decorating this new house brought it on. Have all my accessories (except the ones I love without a doubt) packed in boxes awaiting the finishing of painting, getting reupholstered furniture back, etc., and then I'm going to bring out the boxes, have an accessorization party, and sell the rest. CAN'T WAIT! :-)

Have a wonderful time decluttering. It's most liberating.

ttodd you haven't lost your mind, you're creating space in your mind & allowing it to expand :-D

Major kudos to you for recognizing some of the reasons you collected all of the stuff you had in the first place! And for recognizing the liberating feeling you have with all of the clear spaces. Part of what I do is work with people to understand the "whys" of their clutter, and understand when it's not healthy for them. (An aside, some people really do thrive on lots of "stuff" - for them it's what makes them, their collections & pictures & books, etc., really are a part of what is beneficial in their lives - where 'clutter' is concerned, one size does NOT fit all!)

The need for accumulation that we've been living with for so long is cycling down - I hope that the end result is better mental and emotional health for many of us.

Congratulations to you, I say! :D

Sounds like a great idea. I'm doing that right now.

However, selling stuff takes patience. I'm freecycling a lot because it gets it out the door faster and easier.

Moonkat, that's a wonderful way to help people, how interesting. What do you do (if you don't mind my asking)?

Did just that after we replaced all the carpeting in the house -- first we cleared and cleaned out a LOT of stuff! Then we left lots of surface area bare as we put bigger items back in place.

Then after a "just-so-many-things-but-not-too-much" Christmas decor -- again -- left many things off the surfaces.

Mind you I did bring in a few from the stash in the garage -- but it was few-and-far-between.

Very bare surfaces here ..... even shelves look quite unfilled. There is still STUFF -- I can hardly call myself minimalist by any stretch of my vivid imagination! LOL!

But the fresh look does help me feel calmer .....

Jan

I'm reading and replying to this post because I can't summon the energy to take down, wrap and pack away the last of the Christmas decorations.

A freak ice storm on Dec. 11 left family members without power for a week, so they moved in with us. Shortly on the heels of their departure DS arrived from Europe to spend the holidays. The house has been filled with people and Ive been entertaining right through this past weekend.

The holiday decor has held up well (real greenery, pointsettias, etc.)but I feel it's sucking the life out of me. I cannot wait to get it down and to have some breathing room. I mean that both literally & figuratively.

I don't think you've lost your mind. I think you just need a little space.

It's possible that you HAVE lost your mind. You seem to have developed some kind of a split personality. Maybe you should ask yourself..."what would Scooby Doo?". :)

Seriously, I get you on the different decorating directions. My heart is always with cozy French country and DH keeps building houses with 20' ceilings and I end up with many peices that just don't fit.

Congrats on trying to get rid of unneeded clutter. Myself, I would be a good client for moonkat. I just about have a melt down when deciding what to toss and what to keep. Even when they are seemingly insignificant items.

I understand. I have some Chinese figures that I inherited from my mom. She loved them so much but me...not so much. I moved them out of my den for Christmas and haven't moved them back in yet. I think I won't. I've tried to like them, but just don't.

yup but in a good, thoughtful way. And I had a bad thought. Wouldnt it be totally cool if a whole bunch of us lived close enough to have a private gigantic swap meet of stuff? How fun is that? Oh well, lunch time is over back to work I go.

I am doing that now in the garage. It took such a beating when we were 'refreshing' the house. I finally had enough. I am lucky enough that the 'pink bag' donation people are coming tomorrow. Isn't that bad I couldn't tell you what the charity is! So I am purging and getting rid of a lot of 'stuff'! I have 2 bins of Christmas decorations I need to put into a box so they can take them. It is freeing to have space now to see and walk around in, maybe we will even get a car in!!!

Laura

Clutter is my pet peeve, so I say "Good For You!"

If you came to my house, you'd probably think we'd just moved in and hadn't unpacked all our boxes yet, but I really like it bare and spare.

I would love it if those of you with the "bare and spare" look as happytobehome calls it, would shere some photos. In fact, I'm going to start a thread asking for just that!

That would be cool if we could have a giant swap meet!

Don't worry Parma - I about have a meltdown too when I try to get rid of stuff. For awhile I would just give it to my sister to 'babysit' until I told myself that I had space for it. I used this as a 'coping mechanism' to sort of part w/ stuff knowing that I would not ever actually WANT the stuff back. Somehow sending it away temporarily (if only in my mind) worked in a way that I can't quite explain. I would tell my sister 'Now someday I may want this back' but we both fully knew that would never happen. My stuff was just 'sort of gone' in my head.

I'm keeping my serious collections such as my Ironstone, black and white photography and vintage landscapes. These things I have en masse and happily accumulate more. They are also things that I look at and stop and smile or use on a daily basis. I like a collection to be a collection - not a whole bunch of different things setting around where there are only 3 or so of. I've found myself becoming happier w/ fewer collections but much, much more in the few that I have. The things that make my heart sing when I see them.

The things that I like too much to part w/ but have definite spots when I do bring them out such as my silver, candlesticks, vases and stuff I will pack away and keep. One of the things that I want in the addition that will be added to the house we are moving too is a 'decor pantry', sort of like a butlers pantry where it is all out in the open and I can just walk in and grab what I need for the season or special occassion.

Moonkat - what wonderful, thoughtful words: 'An aside, some people really do thrive on lots of "stuff" - for them it's what makes them, their collections & pictures & books, etc., really are a part of what is beneficial in their lives - where 'clutter' is concerned, one size does NOT fit all!'.

It makes me sad to think that I wasted so much money over the past 10 or so yrs.

I'm looking forward to a clean slate when we move.

Thank you for your encouragement. And when I tell DH my plans I know that he will want to wrap his arms around all of you and give you a great big bear hug!

ttodd, you haven't lost your mind. I could use a little decluttering myself & I think you've inspired me to do some!

I'll take the pics of Paris. :)

I absolutely congratulate you on your decluttering efforts! My personal preference is anti-clutter (yes, i'm the type who doesn't even keep every-day kitchen appliances on the counter tops). Being "known" for this, i've often helped friends and family divest and organize and they're always so thrilled with the results. It's a very cleansing process - a detoxification of sorts!

Although, i admit - i've given to Good Will many many things over the years i wish i now had so i could sell them. Times are harder now ...

I've read other posts before where the person states "now that I'm older, I don't feel I NEED this stuff". I fit in the above group. When I got out of college and finally began earning money I could spend on me, I started to accumulate more and more "stuff"/collectibles. Now that I have moved 3 times and have a DH and two kids and two cats with their stuff, it gets overwhelming (not to mention too much to keep dusted). So when we renovated our kitchen last year, everything was packed away for a few months, and I only took out what I needed right then. Everything left in those boxes went straight to Goodwill after 3 months of non-use. Even when I move stuff to paint a room, only a fraction gets put back. For some reason, the reduction seems like one less thing I need to "take care of". I don't think you lost your mind at all.

"Moonkat - what wonderful, thoughtful words" ttodd, what a sweet thing to say - thank you!

I hope you enjoy your space-clearing process :)

My motivation comes from visiting my MIL. Not a surface without junk on it and I'm pretty sure she hasn't thrown away a piece of paper since 1972. Everytime I visit her I come home and declutter and reorganize. Since we were putting away Christmas decorations we gathered all those accessories, etc and called my 21 y/o nephew who just bought a house and offered it to him. He was thrilled. Told him no pressure use what you like send the rest to Salvation Army. My sister tells me they used just about everything and that it really was a great jumpstart for them. Made us feel great too.

Have you lost your mind? No, I think you've found it.

I have read that we spend the first half of our lives accumulating stuff, and the second half getting rid of it.

Good for you!!!!!!

Parma - LMFAO!!!! Sorry hun, they're black & white so they must stay W/ me!

DeeDee - here, here!!!! That's EXACTLY where I'm at in life!

Mc - my mom must be in the latter 1/2 that you mention (she's a late bloomer that one). For Christmas she gave me HER entire collection of ironstone, thereby doubling what I had. I thought DH would die when I began opening giant box after giant box of it. He said the look was because we had to drive it all back to PA from GA in the back of our truck and he was afraid a piece might get broken :0). At least I use it everyday and have a place for it. I also keep copius amounts of it as I like to have huge sit down dinners.

About 4 years ago, we remodeled our house because we needed more space for us and our three kids. We moved into a 2 bedroom townhouse for over 7 months and the whole experience ended up being very liberating. I worked on a principle of thirds: one third of the stuff we needed went with us to the townhouse, one third was packed away in a POD, and the remaining third was either sold, donated, or given away. Then when we moved back, suddenly our house felt so spacious and empty even though we only added about 500 additional square feet. As I went through the boxes in the POD, so much of the stuff we'd collected no longer appealed to me and to this day they remain packed--most were nic-nacs given to us as gifts from family. I know I'll never put them up, at the same time it doesn't feel quite right to just give it to charity. I've thought several times about tring to resell on eBay as I don't think Craigslist is a good place to sell off collections, though I've found it a great place to resell furniture, electronics, and kid stuff. Nowadays, I'd say most of the clutter comes from the kids. We have a new Guitar Hero music set cluttering up my family room. Sigh.... and I just got it arranged the way I wanted it.... but they do enjoy it.

We've gone through stages of remodeling ... from minor to major. Each time there's the needed culling of crap. Usually we give some of it away and sell the rest in a yard sale. Right now I have a room full of "stuff" from the last major remodel. I really should just cart if off to Goodwill, but I keep telling myself I'll eventually have a yard sale. I know I'll feel so much better when it's out of the house ... it's just getting to that point that seems impossible. There's always an excuse to do something else.

I say good for you. I do that every year after Christmas. The things I don't put away at Christmas time I put on the dining room table and pick different things I want to put in different places until I like the look. I pack up the rest and if I haven't touched the box in 60 days, out it goes. I get a little crazy when the house starts to get cluttered and it is true that some people need more things around than others.

RE: The swap idea-some years ago we (on the Organizing The Home forum) had a swap. We drew names and sent our partner a box of things that we were challenged getting rid of. The receiving partner could keep it, as in "other people's junk is someone else's treasure"; or get rid of it. It was fun.

I am Freecycling like crazy. The hardest part as mentioned before, is justifying the money spent. I now evaluate the necessity of every purchase.

Good luck with your project, it's worth the effort.

I wish my mind were as together as yours! I'm going to re-read this thread over and over again to get the benefit of all of the wise posters. I plan to embark of similar projects, inspired by you. Stay in touch!!
Annie 1971

If I were to declutter, it would mean I *would* have lost my mind! LOL My kids would be the first to question my sanity if they saw me putting stuff away instead of putting it out.

I have what I call 'organized clutter' which is nothing more than a lot of decorating accessories which I use, not keep in boxes. Clutter, IMO, is stuff that fills every space of the home, and can actually fill a room to the point a chair can't be found to sit on or a bed to sleep in. It's actually been diagnosed as a form of mental illness.

Now if you were to look in my purse.....;o)

ttodd, I guess I've lost my mind as well. I removed all my regular decor to accommodate Christmas stuff, and now the holiday decorations are put away. I've filled some empty holes, but I've been reluctant to put all of the old stuff back out, maybe because the starkness is a refreshing change. I was wondering tonight, "Wow, would my home seem barren to a new visitor? Probably!"

I also had a local charity set a date for a donation pickup this weekend, so I was motivated to clean out the attic while the weather's cool. I read a lot of threads in the GW "Organizing the Home" for more inspiration and "permission" to get rid of clutter. Old VCRs, unused dust ruffles and pillows, a double bed headboard....that charity hit the jackpot!

Since the drastic clearing-out was in the attic, my home may look the same, but I know I have some new breathing room.

TTodd, your mind is quite healthy. What you're describing is 100% normal, just another stage of life.

When we first set up housekeeping, we need everything, furniture for every room in the house, accessories, linens, the whole shebang. It takes years for most of us to get all we want and need, and by that time we're in the habit of acquiring.

Then one day we turn around and realize we have way more stuff than we ever need or use, we can't find anything, and we're tired of dusting everything.

We need far less stuff. Remember when your parents begged, "Please don't give us anything for Christmas, honey?"

Thanks for the push to do the purging I've been getting in the mood to do!