The monster clear out (declutter update)

As long-time readers of my blog will know, we’ve (my wonderful girlfriend and I) been decluttering our home for a while now. There are many reasons, but creating more space, living in a less cluttered home and it being easier to clean all rank highly. It has been a huge change in our lifestyle.

We’ve also sold a number of items as part of the clear out effort, but more often than not we give items to charity. For instance we are about to give hundreds of comics to charity, that I’ve collected for eighteen year, but not recently. I don’t read them anymore, and they’ve been sitting in boxes for years. I occasionally borrow a graphic novel from the library, but enjoy the written word more, than comics these days. So I decided I wanted the space, rather than to keep items I don’t use.  The comics are from the 60s onwards, but most from the 90s. I could possibly sell many, indeed I researched a few and they are worth money, but I’m going to give them to charity instead. I’ve got a few annuals from the 60s somewhere, which I might keep, I’m not sure.

Last month a van was hired and a kitchen cupboard, two bedside units, a small draw unit, a bookcase, a table, computers, computer cases, monitor and other items were disposed of. Could we have still used any of these items? Indeed two computers were 2Ghz+ speed machines, but we’ve changed over to laptops now. The only sacrifice being graphics performance due to the age of the laptops, resulting in a computer game not running properly, but the benefits being more space and mobility. The benefits outweigh the negatives.

I sacrificed a future electronics hobby, as I had been collecting parts, but as I don’t have much spare time currently, and won’t do for quite a while, I realised all the parts were just taking up space to probably save twenty to fifty pounds in the future.

The whole process of clearing out items has meant a change of mindsets. Could I use this item one day? Probably. Will I use it soon? If most likely not we consider why we are keeping the item. I’m not saying we’ve not made mistakes. I regret getting rid of a stamp collection in the past, and the other day I realised we no-longer owned a wifi adapter I needed!

However for each mistake, which is inevitable during a massive clear out, the benefits are more than visual. For example when you consider purchasing items, you think twice. Do we really need this? For example we brought a tumble dryer late last year, which was a tough decision, but was only possible because we had created the space.

Also how we store items has evolved. Instead of random boxes in a cupboard or on shelves, we’ve invested in containers the same size to replace many of the old containers. This enables us to maximise the space available.

We’ve found that illogical it might be, but often when you remove items from your home, it hardly feels like you’ve made a dent afterwards. It is only through the continued and focused effort over time, that we feel it has made a difference. However the decluttering journey is far from over, but there are some items we don’t plan on ever giving away.

With the world becoming more connected, it is easier to buy and hoard items that are rarely used. Sometimes buying items stops you from getting fresh air, spending time with others and makes your home feel small. Our home feels larger, less cluttered and is easier to clean. Plus we feel good about the items we have donated to charities, helping others.

The results of our efforts have been incredible and worth the effort.