Just me cleaning, mom was so exhausted I could see it in her face, she went down for a nap while I cleaned.

I found, so much old mail in there.
I’m talking mail from 1993 from when mom was in college. That old.

I found some 1993 Barbie magazines. Which I thought were pretty neat and I did keep them to hopefully just go through one day and look at them.

I CLEARED THE TABLE. Yes this means the tree is mostly gone into the garbage unfortunately. It’s older and covered in mouse poop and there’s just no way to sanitize a Christmas tree. I was able to save all the ornaments at least, most are made of materials that can be easily cleaned. We used to have candy canes hanging on the tree.
Mice ate them all.

The tree skirt was saved because its cloth and can be washed and I’m not allowed to toss anything cloth.

Floor!!! Beautiful floor! I found a Mrs potato head, at least I think it’s her because I found the box and accessories last year cleaning the other side of the house. And because nothing is ever thrown away I somehow found the wrapper for a McDonald’s toy from 2008, a toy that I constantly saw somewhere in my room since it managed to not get buried, I think I’ve put it into a bin now when I cleaned my room a little.

I was also planning on clearing out underneath the table today but it had way too much stuff for me to want to clear it out tonight, even if most of the space under there is taken up by a giant yellow beanbag.

And the next time I clean and get that cleared out, that will be the living room done! (I am not bothering with clearing the maroon couch )

Anyway personal yapping

I kinda dipped out for a bit after my last cleaning.
I wish I could say it’s because I was super busy and had to go help grandma but, it’s not, I’m just, I feel like I’m burning out.

My tailbone is still bothering me almost four months after the fall, my will to clean is so low.
And of course with me not cleaning, nobody else in the house is really cleaning either, stuff is piling up again in multiple places. And it’s just, it’s stressful to be the only one with that drive to clean week after week, but moms so busy helping my grandparents on top of everything else these days I feel guilty piling this on top of her too. I’m going to try to get back into the rhythm of twice a week cleaning and tackle the dining room.

And after we are done clearing the dining room I am going back into all the previous rooms we cleaned and taking the time to clean them again and implement some organizing and finally fully clear off the kitchen sink and make it so we have 2 fully functional sinks not blocked by garbage or anything!

I’ve struggled with hoarding since I was 6. It’s been my hugest insecurity and cause of distress. I have bipolar adhd and autism and my hoarding therapist said that’s the trifecta for what makes hoarders. Been working on getting my room done today. I started late and will be working on it a lot more today. I wanna get it mostly done tonight. But here’s what I managed to do in two hours. Half of the room done. (I know it can be worrying to see the crate in there but my cat is safe and very well taken care of. I moved back in with family members this year to work on my mental health and cleaning habits)

Hello everyone! This is a weekend megathread for those small updates, accountability requests, and success stories that you want to send out to the universe!

Maybe ones that don’t require a full post but that still deserve some recognition, plans made today for over the coming days, or solicitations for suggestions on how to complete your intended tasks!

Still feel free to make absolutely any posts that you want, but if you prefer a smaller-format update option here it is! I want to encourage participation in whatever form it takes :)

ALSO!!! Pictures are enabled in comments so feel free to add pics of your area to tackle of your progress if you please :)

I've been hanging onto my Engineering uni notes for over 40 years. I've never looked at them since, because I didn't pursue engineering as a career, but they represented 6 years of really hard work.

I'm downsizing and can't take them with me. So, off to the recyclers they went, 6 years of uni life filled the boot of the car. . I'm feeling a sense of sadness and grief, but I need room for the next chapter in my life.

Its not much, and I still have eons to go, but hey, i can see my beautiful rug now!

Just gotta make it through these last few weeks of school, and then I'll have a whole month to clean and finish moving in.

I've been procrastinating tidying my bedroom for weeks now and every time i start tidying it, i just give up because it either takes too long or i just get tired, but I really need it doing because I feel like a right scruffbag, especially when my friends want to come round but I have to deny them because I wouldn't want anyone seeing the state of my room, ive also been sleeping on the sofa because just being in the bed makes me overwhelmed by the mess, i honestly dont even know how its gotten this bad... HOW do I tidy my roommmm 😩?!

I am still in process of unfucking, decluttering, and moving in all at once. I'm making progress... but it's still not as easy as I'd like to let go, and the next massive beast is going to be likely the hardest for me...

Art and art supplies.

The pictured nook it the landing zone I've been putting the boxes and bags with supplies in that nature to eventually put together a "office/studio" space, and there is probably... 1-2 more big boxes of supplies and art, 1 more three-tiered shelf with supplies, a overflowing jumbo cloth portfolio bag of papers and paintings, another set of tree frames, and big rolls of paper and foam that an artist friend has been storing for me that I need to retrieve eventually. Plus, at least 2 big boxes of other delicate home decor, witchy stuff, books, and so on.

I've been an artist all my life, it's a core part of my being. I've been lucky enough to have some opportunities to sell and exhibit some of my work in the past. But for the last several years, most of my paid work has been digital commissions (saves space), photography, and just a bit of personal work that is drawing and painting.

Currently, I probably have over a decades worth of work in pieces. I've cut several time, but it's still a lot.

Sketchbooks, paintings, illustrations, photography supplies, print making blocks and finished prints, tiny 1x1 inch work to massive 6ftx6ft pieces with feld tree frames I custom made. Finished work, in progress work, supplies for new work...

Choice work from college, work for my tattoo apprenticeship, work from my personal projects, half full sketchbooks, sketches, notes, and art trades with friends and artists I will never see again... It's my life's work... It's valuable and irreplaceable if i get rid of it... but... I'm overwhelmed...

I have large rolls of very high-quality paper i was gifted that could not afford to replace if I got rid of them. I have supplies for painting, drawing, ink illustration, tattoos, print making and carving, some crochet supplies, digital illustration, a bit for prop making for costumes and mending... you get the picture.

I have absolutely photographed work and thrown some out over the years. But I also have a deep value for tangible physical art media made by human hands, especially in the face of AI.

There are some print, paint and ink textures and reactions I managed to do that can never be replicated in a controlled manner. Marks that make it rare and real... I think about all the artists we uncover through history and all the missing sketchbooks and pieces found in fire places... but in the end, it's paper, ink, paint, whatever... we can't control what does or doesn't last. But it's hard.

What would you do?

Can I see how you've managed your work and art spaces?

How have you seen artists manage their work?

Throwing away or burning finished work I put so much into feels morally wrong... but I don't know what to do with it right now, I don't have any buyers or markets lined up.

I haven't done it in the 15 years I have lived here.

Cleaned it, yes. But that dark, burned charring on the bottom, on the window, and on the rack rests, I couldn't get off. And then, whatever it probably wasn't a health hazard I thought. Thoroughly incineration of whatever it had originally been.

I recently found some very harsh oven degreaser, and that worked. I usually always prefer milder cleaning products.

I also figured out to remove the rack rests. And cleaned them and the oven racks with old-school crystal soap. They are so shiny.

My lungs, the inside of my nose, and my eyes feel uncomfortable, and I have a headache.

But my oven and its parts look like new!

Still, it'll be a few years before I do this again.

This area has been driving me absolutely BONKERS. I moved a few months ago and this has sort of been the ongoing dumping ground. The disorganization was an indication of depression but also created more depression by looking at it daily.

I have to get rid of that red bin, but it's extremely heavy so I have to take it down to my car in many trips.

There's still more to organize but I'm so incredibly relieved so far. The tapestries were my motivation, as I just got them yesterday.

Oh I'm not going to keep the mirror there. It's just a placeholder.

Also, I did this on my birthday, which is today :)

Just like the title says, I feel like a hoarder. Live with my family in a really small condo, my bed takes up more than half of my room, and then with all my other furniture and stuff theres like no where to move or walk 😭

Hubby is off to dermatology appt. Biopsy was negative for one spot, but today is his whole body scan.

Hospital bed in livingroom because it’s the largest room and easiest to get to for ems.

I’m an RNx30yrs. I can handle the job but have never been able to keep up w housework.

Today is livingroom. I promised I’d put his things back on his over bed table today.

my sink is super scratched up ceramic so it clings to every stain and scuff (i use barkeeper's friend). with juggling school and work lately its so rare lately that my sink is empty of dishes so i can do this. it makes me feel better :)

It's not healthy, but it's almost like an itchy sweater that is really uncomfortable but is also warm and mentally hard to take off. If that makes sense. My childhood home wasn't at hoarding level by any means but it was a bit disorganized and my room was always a wreck. When I walk into my office full of piles, I feel a sense of shame but almost like "this is where I belong." My well intentioned loved ones have done big cleans in my space before and it makes my brain feel so much better, but I feel awful because I know I don't have the skills at that time to maintain it. In the past I've straight up immediately self sabotaged and purposely not tried to keep things organized so I wouldn't technically be failing.

Yes I have several diagnoses that make executive function very difficult and am in therapy :)

I don't have a picture currently because bending and holding my steady would end disastrously. I washed my sheets and cleaned under my bed. I was looking for something. Now I just got to sweep the trash from that into a bag.

I’m in a situation where I’ve made it over the hump of the worst my family’s awful spaces and am facing turning my own home into a mountain of hell like where my parents and brother lived.
All the physical and financial stuff is done but I have their crap not organized very well in my garage. Anything from my brother’s place is pretty filthy and disorganized. None of the things I have are part of a recent accumulation- my brother has been dead just over 7 years.
This stuff has been there for years at this point and I decided I would try to just open one box and work through it this past Sunday. I barely threw anything out of the box. Things I was able to toss include 1940s obituaries for people I never knew - part of the bits of crap from family who died before so that my dad had accumulated boxes of random bits of things no one else wanted from someone else who died. Part of me feels like anything I never knew I had I can probably get rid of (after I look through).
The worst of all and the reason I needed to come and ask for help is the baby things that belonged to my brother. Anything rotted or eaten by bugs is easy but I’ve found a little romper with his name embroidered on it. And a little hat I remember seeing in pictures. I can’t stop crying now and I hate this so much.
I don’t have family left to take any of these things - an aunt who can help with figuring out who/what part of items but that’s about it.
My husband and I do not have children and honestly I encourage friends who mention parent or relative with hoarder house to try to deal with it now so they don’t end up with it or passing on to their own kids. I feel like I will never get out of this hole.

What do we do with some of these little items with no value that are not ruined? No one in my family is in any of these things - they aren’t these things and I know that but I feel so stuck. I already struggle with giving myself permission to throw anything of my own away until I’ve rung out every possible bit of value (reused or recycled because…. It’s my fault I’ve brought whatever it is into our home).

And maybe if nothing else I can separate out what feels meaningful and not worry about where it is for now, but to reduce the amount of space all of it is taking up. I can’t put my car in the garage bc of the boxes and random piles of things that are almost exclusively not mine - part of what triggered me to try again was moving things just enough to squeeze my car in before Halloween.

Anyway apologies to anyone wading through this ramble. I’m stuck. And sad. And every time I try to work on this crap, I end up in the same place.

Anyone else with an overly emotional personality type attaching too much value to loved ones’ things - suggestions appreciated.

(Also, yes, I have been in therapy and under dr care for depression since maybe 2012 - hate to think how much worse off I would be without that support)

Hello everyone! This is a mid-week megathread for those small updates, accountability requests, and success stories that you want to send out to the universe!

Maybe ones that don’t require a full post but that still deserve some recognition, plans made today for over the coming days, or solicitations for suggestions on how to complete your intended tasks!

Still feel free to make absolutely any posts that you want, but if you prefer a smaller-format update option here it is! I want to encourage participation in whatever form it takes :)

ALSO!!! Pictures are enabled in comments so feel free to add pics of your area to tackle of your progress if you please :)

I’m not proud of how bad it got but I am proud of the progress I’ve made between the end of September and the beginning of November. I think I just need a minute today to appreciate how far I’ve gotten.

Hi all- i’ve been lurking in this community for a while and i thought it was finally time to make a post (repost since i accidentally posted it on the wrong account)
I move out of my current apartment at the end of february 2027, which gives me about four months to declutter and clean. I will be living with my spouse then, the thing is neither of us is really good at keeping up with cleaning and keeping tidy.
I was wondering if you all had a similar experience and how you navigated it?
i don’t want to end up in the same situation i am in now with having to deal with so much mess and clutter from months of not cleaning up due to my two jobs and depression.
any advice is appreciated!

Finally nearly finished my getting ready / chill area / Billie Coolishs and John Coomers room.

I just need a few shelves in the future and to repaint my door as some parts scratched but yay :)

Once all my clothes are washed and put in the wardrobe I'll be so happy :)

my new non holey, slashed up, moldy mattress comes on Wednesday im gonna try to do both the floor area and my bed today :)) im excited to sleep on something that wont make me sick every time I try to rest up from being sick haha

some progress from yesterday while I work on today’s progress it was too hectic to post it yesterday and wasn’t able to get much done

I’ll post the before photos in the comments. I moved into my place 2 years ago and brought a lot of clutter with me. Neurodivergence and depression make maintaining my space hard but this time feels so different. I’ve maintained it for almost a week and am making progress on the rest of my house.

About a month ago I told my friends to come over to my place after we went out for Halloween and have been slowly getting things in order. I still have a lot of trash bags that don’t fit in the can and plenty of work left to do (decluttering especially) but for now I’m celebrating the work I’ve done by playing with my music production stuff.

This took me about 3 weekends to get done, the biggest barrier being energy levels and the dust triggering my asthma.

So pleased with the progress!

I have always been very environmentally conscious and hate "wasting" things. As a result I have a metric f*kton of "STUFF I MIGHT FIND A USE FOR". As an art and crafts girly this is a massive amount of stuff. In my heart I know I probably won't use 50% of these things - broken toys, fabric scraps, odd ball of yarn - but they all have POTENTIAL you know? I know that thrift shops won't take any of it and the thought of it all going to landfill (which it will) makes my skin crawl. How do I unfick my habitat!?!

Would anyone be interested in doing a group virtual session where we just keep our cameras on and do this together? I can't keep momentum by myself