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Swedish Death Cleaning
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
Must be a divine hint, but had one of this nice little clothes donation bags dropped through the door today. It is from Blesma, for Services amputees for their lifelong care. Now that's a cause worth giving all for instead of ebaying it. Much better.
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
When we first moved abroad, we rented a self-storage unit in the UK for stuff we presumably thought was worth keeping for our return. After about 10 years we couldn't remember what was there, so gave instructions to dump the lot. A lesson was learned.
Continuing in the same vein, we lived and worked in 8 countries over 42 years. We learned to live with less and less stuff after each move and in the final 3 or 4 moves dispensed with the entire hassle of packing, selling, transporting, etc. We just more or less abandoned what we possessed and bought new at the next destination. This is undoubtedly an extreme approach but great for the mind at a very stressful time. It is not quite as expensive as it sounds once you have adopted a "no stuff" lifestyle.
A female colleague whose job required changing country every 3 years or so had a modest chest in which she transported all her gear which was judiciously limited to small items. She managed to make her houses look personal and homely using her small stuff. Very clever!
TP2 (retired intercontinental vagrant)
Continuing in the same vein, we lived and worked in 8 countries over 42 years. We learned to live with less and less stuff after each move and in the final 3 or 4 moves dispensed with the entire hassle of packing, selling, transporting, etc. We just more or less abandoned what we possessed and bought new at the next destination. This is undoubtedly an extreme approach but great for the mind at a very stressful time. It is not quite as expensive as it sounds once you have adopted a "no stuff" lifestyle.
A female colleague whose job required changing country every 3 years or so had a modest chest in which she transported all her gear which was judiciously limited to small items. She managed to make her houses look personal and homely using her small stuff. Very clever!
TP2 (retired intercontinental vagrant)
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
I've got this problem at the moment, as I may be forced to leave my flat. Been getting rid of books etc but amazing how much I've accumulated in a one-bedroom flat. Current plan is to put stuff in storage 'now' but having trouble finding a self storage place in Reading that's fairly central. The one place near the station seems to have trouble with rats based on reviews. Yuck!
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
We had a storage unit once that cost £25 a month long ago. We had it for ages because it was out of sight, out of mind. When we came to move the stuff, the sofa we'd stored was so scabby, and had been free in the first place. We could have bought a new one for all the storage costs. Prevail on friends for a box or two here and there of the nitty gritty small items and only move the big stuff on the day. Unless you are disciplined enough to keep the storage unit only a short while, then it will stay there costing you as a junk 'lung'.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
Hopefully the storage costs will focus my mind on decluttering. Just wish I could press the 'pause' button on the rest of my life (which is mainly work) while I get things sorted.
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
I just found out about this concept through the minimalist lifestyle topic on Youtube. Honestly, I'm glad I'm not that much of a hoarder to begin with so I would not have to deal with this troublesome "swedish death cleaning". However, I do have a substantial amount of items that I am still clinging to, like old toys from childhood, old books, expired makeup or makeup i don't like, etc.
The best thing to avoid having the burden to do this kind of cleaning is to avoid hoarding items and buying impulsively in the first place!
The best thing to avoid having the burden to do this kind of cleaning is to avoid hoarding items and buying impulsively in the first place!
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
The best thing to avoid having the burden to do this kind of cleaning is to avoid hoarding items and buying impulsively in the first place!
What tends to clutter our house are the items that are too useful or valuable to throw or give away (to charity, friends etc), yet much much hassle to sell on ebay etc. Typically it's the nice toys, electrical items etc that were expensive when purchased but feel emotionally or financially painful to rid.
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
I recently read James Wallman's Stuffocation: Living More with Less while spending a few days on my brother's boat. A really entertaining read about why buying and keeping too much stuff makes us unhappy (and poorer) as well as being (environmentally) unsustainable.
There's a good chapter on Graham Hill's competition to design a 420sq ft NY apartment that has been dubbed the "Swiss Army apartment" and it struck me that a boat (or a RV) is a good proxy for the space and things we really need (and good design).
More space just needs filling with "stuff". I recently boarded half of our loft space and I'm already regretting it - most of the tut that went up there should probably have been thrown out or it belongs to the kids who now live in far flung places. They obviously didn't need it enough to take it so we've just become a free "big yellow" storage centre for them!
I'm a firm fan of Swedish death cleaning.
WCW
There's a good chapter on Graham Hill's competition to design a 420sq ft NY apartment that has been dubbed the "Swiss Army apartment" and it struck me that a boat (or a RV) is a good proxy for the space and things we really need (and good design).
More space just needs filling with "stuff". I recently boarded half of our loft space and I'm already regretting it - most of the tut that went up there should probably have been thrown out or it belongs to the kids who now live in far flung places. They obviously didn't need it enough to take it so we've just become a free "big yellow" storage centre for them!
I'm a firm fan of Swedish death cleaning.
WCW
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
I think the real secret to decluttering will be offloading the kids, once they each have their own flats we can have a real go rather than the half hearted current attempts.
Our problem is we also have a second house abroad (14 years now) full of stuff , some of which we took over from here. Things like all my LPs and some really good tools I would be loathe to part with, so if we ever sell both houses we are either going to have to buy a really big house which has a library, a jigsaw room and a workshop (not ideal as neither of us particularly enjoys cleaning, a smaller house would be better) or we are going to have to really become ruthless. (That means all the other half's jigsaws go but I get to keep my LPs and tools etc)
Our problem is we also have a second house abroad (14 years now) full of stuff , some of which we took over from here. Things like all my LPs and some really good tools I would be loathe to part with, so if we ever sell both houses we are either going to have to buy a really big house which has a library, a jigsaw room and a workshop (not ideal as neither of us particularly enjoys cleaning, a smaller house would be better) or we are going to have to really become ruthless. (That means all the other half's jigsaws go but I get to keep my LPs and tools etc)
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
Charlottesquare wrote:I think the real secret to decluttering will be offloading the kids, once they each have their own flats we can have a real go rather than the half hearted current attempts.
Two serious challenges: offloading their stuff - we have at least 3 guitars that haven't been played for 10 years in our newly boarded loft and two long abandoned cycles in the garage ; and perhaps even bigger - your OH - they always seem to want/need to keep the kids stuff even after they've departed for sentimental reasons "after all, it's their home too"
In the meantime, I've challenged myself to fit everything I need into one suitcase so that I can be easily decluttered
WCW
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Swedish Death Cleaning
Trying to think what was left at my mum and dad's after my brother I left home./.. it was really stuff that was left from when we were children... games and toys and maybe some records (mine followed me for sure though!). Maybe some general "stuff" like photos and books as well - mainly because once Id left home I was still pretty itinerant - I spent between Jan 1987 and July 1993 traveling and working all around the world - something like 40 countries so i wasn't in a position really to carry a load of books with me. I even left a load of stuff in a garage in Germany at a mate's because i was only going to be away for a few months... that was June 1991... I got back there in July 1993! He'd gone by then - bless him he took my stuff back to London with him where I collected it in 1994! That included a double futon!
didds
didds
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