My excess 'stuff' is books. Periodically I go through the shelves and ask myself: am I going to read/look at (I have a lot of art history) this volume again, or will my children be interested in it? Sometimes the answer is no, and it gets put in a pile to be donated. It's not quite Marie Kondo's 'does this spark joy?', but it's along the same lines.

Have you used/worn/looked at the item in the last year? Will you actually use it in the future, or does it have important family associations that you want to pass down? If no...out it goes!

Best way I know is to move. LOL. I moved 3 times in 16 years...and finally learned not to keep so much. Never really missed anything that I got rid of either.

I prefer my MIL's perspective WHY do they think just because we are getting older we no longer need/use/appreciate our STUFF. The key is knowing what you would miss/need. Having spent my life moving every 5yrs or so it is not a chore to rid yourself of what I don't need. BUT having said that I have TONS of stuff and yes I use it all at least once a year.

There's a happy medium. I was at Costco with an acquaintance, and her husband died 12 years ago. She was waffling over the decision to buy the paper towels or not. I said For heaven's sakes make up your mind, they won't go bad. Just buy them. She said she didn't have room for them.

She has every paper, every piece of clothing, every book, his office is exactly the same as when he had it, she hasn't purged a single thing of his.

That's not a good thing Jasdip, I am not that bad....I hope. Most of my husbands stuff is gone but not totally, probably never will be.

Uptown - you're right about moving. We had been in our previous house for 37 years and it was fairly large. We downsized and moved 3 years ago and I am pleasantly surprised that I haven't missed any of the items we gave to our children or friends or donated.

But just how do you begin this process? its overwhelming!

I've downsized my home over time. I start small, like a closet, and look through everything in it. I ask myself when the last time I wore that item, and if it's been awhile, or if I think I'm going to someday, I get rid of it. I don't keep anything "just in case." Any of the "just in case" stuff goes. Because if I haven't worn it recently, or looked at it, read it, etc., I'm most likely not going to. Downsizing your living space doesn't have to be done all at once. Start small, like a closet. It will feel good to rearrange it, clean it out, etc., that you'll want to do more. I don't hang onto anything "just in case." Because that day will never come.

Getting rid of carp that I'm never going to use feels so freeing.

Echoing sephia_wa here - pick one area and start there. Once you've decided what needs to go; get it gone immediately - don't let it hang around. I can say that it has been a VERY rare occurrence that I've ever regretted letting something go.

I remember years ago hearing spend ten minutes cleaning out something every day. I need to do this.

I have long lived by the motto, "When in doubt, throw it out." In 64 years, there have been maybe a handful of things I'm sorry I got rid of. And I've done just fine without them. I believe it's the nature of material things to be passed along. That shirt you don't wear, that vase that stays in the cabinet -- these things could brighten up someone else's life.

I"m watching it right now! First episode. I love Reese Witherspoon's wallpaper. I am obsessed with downsizing and "editing" my belongs but can't seem to get over the hump. I'm attached to things that belonged to my grandparents.

Its kinda getting me motivated, I need to watch more but I'm on the last one.

Not to sound cold or mean, but sometimes I dream about clearing out the attic and one side of the garage which are both full of stuff my husband hoards-old skiing, canoeing, running gear that he will never use again, paperback books from his youth, boxes full of who knows what. Now, I do not wish him gone, but oh, I have plans for someday. However, with my luck, I will go first and he will fill up the limited I space I use. ;-(.

As a librarian, I hate that rainbow books trend they love. While my current home library isn't organized, I would never organize my library that way. Being a librarian and seeing how having overstuffed shelves full of books patrons would never read made it more difficult for them to find something they'd want, made me more ruthless about culling my own possessions. I'm not a minimalist by any means but I do enjoy organizing and going through stuff. Right now I'm organizing my family's photos, which is complicated by the fact that I can't tell my and my sister's baby photos apart.

As a librarian, I hate that rainbow books trend they love.

Amen, as well as the related trend of shelving books backwards so the spines are towards the wall and you see the page edges instead. Books as 'decor'...just say no.

I do have some books arranged by color, usually within their genre, because I'm visual. I remember my books by color. My son just arranged his bookcase by color because he's in a studio apartment and he finds it a less chaotic look in a small space. If course, his 6 boxes of books in the corner are in not much of an order at all except by genre, but at least the boxes are all the same color.

In both cases we aren't using the books as decor, we are just trying to make order out of chaos. But no backward spines! Oh, I also at one point organized the board games by color and loved it.

Tcufrog, we have trouble telling our boys' baby pictures apart! We have to rely on the outfit and background lol

I watched the first two episodes of that show The Home Edit and wasn't impressed. I do agree that the name is good and the thought process of editing storage spaces is always a winner for me :) However, I found the show itself to be the typical HGTV type show that revolves around the principal characters and their made up drama's rather than the actual organizing process. This show isn't for me.

As to the editing process itself? I just went through a significant change and actually sold or gave away most of my lifetime possessions. Had to trash some items, but really not many. Most were sold via the many available apps online. The items I have remaining: a few clothes and lots of art :) For the most part, I found the process freeing, but there were times when it was emotional and hard to let go.

I had never heard of this show until I saw this post the other day. Today I decided to watch a few episodes to see what they do. Now I understand why a 40-something, super organized friend posted a pic of her daughter’s bookcase arranged by color. I can see this working for getting kids to pick up after themselves. As an adult, not what I’d want. I looked at their IG posts and saw one where they suggested to organize your phone apps by color. Gave it a try, got frustrated, then organized my 5 pages of apps into alpha order, with the first two pages my most used apps. We’ll see how that goes.

I put my apps in topical folders such as games, shopping, navigation and streaming audio. The folders are in alpha order on the first page. Rarely used apps are on the second page.

So for me the highlight was Reece Witherspoon's wallpaper and then I was done. I found it kinda boring. And, I was unable to relate to many of the clients including the Kardashian with all the little toy cars.

Okay, so I just turned The Home Edit on. I see what you mean about the rainbow books. I don’t do THAT. Yikes.

Edit: now I have seen two projects, Reese’s and the doctor. Both their closets look exactly alike to me, same size, same window, same closet system.

..... how does that saying go?

"You won't see a U-haul behind a hearse."