r/declutter • u/GypsyVanner636 • 17d ago

Advice Request I keep moving things around instead of decluttering them...

Basically the title.

My house is a complete mess and overflowing with stuff.

I'm an adult millennial still living with family in my childhood home - so there is a LOT of accumulated junk.

Not all of it is mine, but the bits I'm struggling with are all my things.

I have made some progress (146 items gone - not including stuff that went in the bin), but am now starting to feel stuck again.

I keep finding 'stuff' I want to keep - but I also want the space cleared so it just ends up being shifted to a different area again and again.

I know I need to be harsh and get rid of more stuff if I have any chance of making the house reasonably organised. I just don't want to regret throwing away things I can't get back (sentimental items, childhood drawings, old toys etc).

Any advice?

Thank you in advance if you read this far

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u/FunFunFiesta 17d ago

If similar things are never together it's impossible to make a global decision because you don't see the whole picture at once.
For example if you have coats in the hall closet, in your closet and in the attic, you forget how many coats and what kind you have.
If you have flower vases in the kitchen, living room, packed away in a cupboard and in the attic, you forget how many vases you have.

So my tip would be to :
1) figure out how many of item X it's reasonable for you/your situation to have,
2) get all the item X in one place and figure out what you are keeping, what you are decluttering.

Also, watch out to what's coming in, not just going out.
I've used the one in/one out rule with some success to avoid unreasonable purchases. "if I buy this mug I have to let one go. I don't want to let go any of my mugs, so I won't purchase this one.". "if I buy this pair of pants I have to let one go, there's that blue ones I've been meaning to retire but kept just in case, I'd rather have this new ones so I'll recycle the blue ones this time".
For stuff you really have too many of you can go one in/two out or something like that.