| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| jema |
DeclutteringI think I'm adding this to my new years resolution list
Have just totally cleared the loft, a prerequisite for some overdue work on wiring and insulation. There is a lot of junk that came with us from our old house 7 years ago, it was in the loft there and now the same worthless junk was in the loft here 
I bet many people here would have to admit to the same? |
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| Northern_Lad |
I still have two cans of red kidney beans that I got when I moved out of parents nearly 4 years ago. I think I might leave them if I ever move. | ||||||
| mochyn |
I have a similar problem. Just looking for the time/impetus to do some clearing... Then I can fill up the space with new stuff! | ||||||
| sean |
We're quite good about this. I say we, but I'm a bloke so I'm rubbish at it, Mandy however is good at doing a periodic: "Is this useful or beautiful? No, then why are we keeping it." Which keeps things under control. | ||||||
| Northern_Lad |
How've you survived? |
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| gil |
Just out of interest, how do you (Jema) and other Downsizers define :
a) clutter b) junk c) useless Would you be prepared to give examples ? Probably different for everyone, depending on their situation... I'd say that Clutter is something visible that takes up space and has no regular, practical purpose Junk is something you don't and most likely won't use, but someone else might, either on view or stored away Useless is something broken, or waiting to be mended (but you really know never will be), or for which you have no current or foreseeable purpose, and maybe noone else in their right mind would have either. |
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| monkey1973 |
My loft is a real state. The problem stems from the fact that we have a very small cottage and storage is limited. Whilst this keeps us very disciplined with what we have and keep in the house there are times when we are not ruthless enough and resort to popping the stuff in the attic. Over six years this has started to accumulate considerably.
I do intend, this year, to gut the place so I can place chipboard down and add more insulation but I hate working up there due to the glass fibres that abound the place. I only need to spend 10-15 mins up there and my throat begins to get scratchy and that's with a mask. |
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| sean |
By the skin of my teeth. |
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| bernie-woman |
We cleared our loft last summer - on one of the hottest days of the year
I still struggle to get rid of some stuff though - we currently live in a 1960s house but I used to live in a Victorian house and much of the stuff in the loft is from that house and as we don't want to stay here for ever I will not get rid of it in case we buy a victorian house again - I bet I end up taking stuff from this house though with me which will go in the new houses loft too 
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| mochyn |
We can't use our loft: it's small and has bats at one end and bees at the other. | ||||||
| gil |
But what is this 'stuff' that you refer to ? What do folk put in their lofts ?
My main problem is paper - photocopies of journal articles etc, various drafts of my own past work, current work-in-progress, past project documentation (gets boxed up when done). This chaos is mainly confined to my study. Old curtains that don't fit the windows here are bagged up in a cupboard just in case I move somewhere they do. Most obvious junk = 3 pushbikes in the outbuildings, which I intend to repair at some point. |
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| gil |
likewise, but just pipistrelle bats.
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| sally_in_wales |
We refused to start putting anything in the loft when we moved here, partly becase we both knew how much was in our parents lofts, and partly because we reckoned the ceilings wouldnt take the weight. I'm so glad now, we are terrible hoarders and its one thing knowing the house is packed, if I thought the loft needed sorting out too I'd go even more bonkers | ||||||
| sally_in_wales |
We refused to start putting anything in the loft when we moved here, partly becase we both knew how much was in our parents lofts, and partly because we reckoned the ceilings wouldnt take the weight. I'm so glad now, we are terrible hoarders and its one thing knowing the house is packed, if I thought the loft needed sorting out too I'd go even more bonkers | ||||||
| jema |
Some of the stuff that has gone is: cards from our wedding 18 years ago, newspaper cuttings from past campaigns , read a classic there "Never in all my years of reporting including in Lebanon and Beiruit have I seen such scenes..." 51/4" floppy disk cases. Some old computer bits. Old carpet. A very scruffy backpack. The list just goes on, it ain't freecyclable. |
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| bernie-woman |
The stuff in our loft is some furniture, two boxes of ornaments, photos and pictures from my grandmothers. Research archives and all of my past teaching notes, vinyl records, some books, three amps, and that is about it |
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| monkey1973 |
Stuff =
Inherited curios. Kept for sentimental value although will probably never see the light of day in the cottage. Christmas decorations. Work stuff. Although I've given up my job I've kept a hold of all my technical literature just in case I end up back in the career. Old computers, laptops, tv's, record players and radios. This stuff I know can go elsewhere. Old ornaments and purchases from holidays and the like. They used to grace our shelves in the cottage but have been relegated for more beautiful stuff. These can probably go also. I'm sure there's more stuff up there also but I've now broken out in a cold sweat so I'll have to stop thinking about the task ahead now 
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| Bugs |
I'm much better at getting rid of stuff than him; then again I have to be because I appear to have some kind of compulsion to acquire kitchen equipment and books. I can't bear ornaments, don't wear jewellery, don't buy clothes for fun (at least not for several years), don't like gadgets much, and am not very sentimental, as a result I don't really think I own a lot of junk/useless/clutter but anyone coming in to our house looking for a floor might think differently.
In terms of "stuff about the house that takes up space and hasn't been used recently"...books! (fiction once read is given away or goes in to the loft to be resurrected one day); clothes that are too scruffy for day to day use or giving away but still fit and eventually come back out for gardening/decorating/dog walking etc; useful rereadable magazines like TKG and CS (not decade old car and PC magazines like some people I know and love); some kitchen equipment we don't have room to have out all the time including the missing in action pasta machine; the rest of it is his, as far as I know. |
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| Northern_Lad |
Typical - women just have any soul when it comes to keeping things.
What about that rubber number...? |
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| Bugs |
That's work, not fun. |
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| Northern_Lad |
You're doing it wrong then. |
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| Bugs |
I've had no complaints. |
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| mochyn |
Just don't get this thread and the Charity shop one confused! 'Stuff' form the loft should go TO the charity shop, not come FROM it... | ||||||
| Northern_Lad |
Are you suggesting that TD got Bugs from a Charity Shop? 
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| mochyn |
Moi? How could you suggest such a thing? | ||||||
| gil |
they're not valve amps by any chance ? I know at least one person who would add them to their collection (of valve technology awaiting repair)...
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| Bugs |
Well they don't just churn the likes of me off a production line you know, you have to hunt round carefully. And Mochyn, there was I thinking you were such a nice girl. I'm shocked, and distressed. Can't trust anyone round here.
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| Jonnyboy |
I'd guess that they're amps with an 'L' in front of them. |
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| bernie-woman |
they are music amplifiers for the rock god I am married to - what are valve amps??
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| mochyn |
Just ask the old chap! |
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| gil |
but do they work ?
Valve amps are the early kind that existed before the digital age (i.e. they are analogue, like valve radios, computers, mikes, etc. - they don't convert the sound/signal into binary form). Still made / used now, for the specialist / aficionade / pro / high end of the market, particularly recording studio work. The vinyl vs CDs 'which sounds better ?' debate is an extension of equivalent debates about the technology used to record the sound in the first place. see here (but don't if you're into that kind of thing, it'll only make you want to buy some or hoard what you've already got !) www.electricstuff.co.uk |
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| ele |
valves are pretty 
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| marigold |
When I moved in here nearly 20 years ago I had few possessions and resolved never to put anything in the loft. But gradually the rooms filled up and "stuff" worked it's way up into the loft, especially after my Dad died. About 5 years ago I did a big clear out and turned out two hatchbacks full of stuff that wasn't worth taking to the charity shop  .
It only took me and a friend a couple of hours to sort it out and do the tip trip. Whe I got back from the tip, walking into the house I had an odd sensation of a big black cloud having lifted . I also sold about half my books and gave a lot of stuff to charity shops. I can recommend it as a very liberating process.
Of course, being by nature rather a hoarder "stuff" has built up again, but in about 4 weeks time I'm moving (and to a smaller house!!) so another decluttering is going to have to take place pronto! And not just of the loft.... Loft-stored "stuff" in my case is books, Xmas decos, the computer boxes, fans used in the summer, bagged up soft furnishings, fans that are for summer use only, the doll's cot my Dad made for me over 40 years ago (I will never have a use for that, but no way can I bin it or give it away), the cat carrier, left-over lino, several unoccupied wasps nests, defunct header tank for the old CH system, some Utility chairs that I WILL restore one day..... That's all that I can remember, no doubt there's other things .
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| jema |
I still have the black cloud, as we are probably about 3 trips to the dump away from sorted. But I agree it will be quite liberating. | ||||||
| bernie-woman |
I think my OH may be a budding amp nerd like you gil 
- I emailed him earlier to ask him if he wants those ampy things still in the loft and the other two in the garage - his reply was - some of those are collectors items
So the answer is yes they work and no you can't have em
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| gil |
not necessarily
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| wellington womble |
Mostly in our loft is us, as we converted it. I don't remember it being full of stuff, though. Whats left of our loft is full of records that himself won't throw out (even though we don't have a record player) skis and ski boots, christmas decorations, suitcases and a few other odds and sods, like bedlinen, which will come in handy some day. every single time I try and declutter, I find a use for what I've just got rid of. So I don't bother anymore. there is a lot of stuff around waiting to be dealt with - like knitting wool, and fabric, which some people might call clutter, but I'm just waiting for my free time to catch up with them.
Books are not clutter, and I am not throwing them out. Ever. Full Stop. Period. What do you mean three roomsful is excessive? |
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| Nanny |
clutter is the stuff kept for sentimental reasons that you can't bear to part with and feel you still want to display somewhere if you can - this is mostly female stuff and gets removed and eventually disposed of when the female suffers from the spring clean nesting syndrome
junk is what men mostly keep......bits of things that need repairing, pieces of wood that are too small to be of any use but he won't burn, lawn mowers that don't work, piles of screws and bent nails that he will sort one day, tools that are broken or need oiling or de-rusting usless...see above i have managed to get mr nanny to go to the tip 3 times with loads of his junk this last couple of weeks..........what is it about men that they cannot bring themselves to throw something away.............it is almost like they are attached to their junk physically "you never know when that might come in handy!" is the answer i get mostly trouble is when it would come in handy he can't find it because of all the junk in front of it 
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| jema |
Well we made another dump run today and have been losing a fair bit of stuff via freecycle
Things still seem more of a mess as so much is still being sorted  but there is a lot more empty spaces 
Plus clearing the loft meant I could get some decent "site lights" up there and do some much needed electrical work a lot more safely. So two birds with one stone really. |
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| Andy B |
He right, old valve amps are fantastic things. All that most muso's are doing with new fangled digital stuff is trying to make em sound like old valve amps. Daft really !!! |