Hi there, I'm Angela Brown in this is Ask a House Cleaner.
This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question,
and I get to help you find an answer.
Today's question comes from a homeowner who owns an 8,000-square foot house.
And she says "I am organized I have a place for everything and everything is in its place.
The problem I have is I collect a lot of stuff.
And I have to keep moving to bigger and bigger
houses for all of my stuff.
Now, I keep having custom closets, and custom shelves, and custom design work in my new homes
so that I can store all my stuff.
Now, everything is organized everything is tidy but I have too much stuff.
How do I start getting rid of my stuff?"
Okay, that is an excellent question and it's really weird because there are hoarders who
are completely organized and they have a place for everything and everything is in its place.
And so, when you look at the home you say wow this house is neat and tidy.
But what you don't realize is that there's something weird going on in the background,
where somebody keeps moving to a bigger and bigger house.
And having custom closets and all this stuff built for all of their stuff.
Sometimes the answer is not finding more space, but it's getting rid of the stuff.
So, congratulations for recognizing the fact that this is a curable solution.
Because finding more space is not always the answer sometimes it is
getting rid of the stuff.
So first of all, what you have to do is just be honest with yourself.
What is this stuff that I have?
Do I need 8,000 square feet of stuff?
If you're one person you probably don't.
If you have ten children, maybe you do.
Now I don't know how many children you have,
and I don't know that the scenarios going on behind the scenes,
but what is causing you to have all this stuff?
What is this stuff?
Are these private collections of items that are resalable?
And if they are, maybe this is a good investment for you.
But if you're asking this question I'm guessing that you're probably trying to get rid of
stuff because now it's become a burden.
And if you're paying for custom closets and stuff these are $20,000 and $30,000 upgrades
to an already expensive home.
And so, the fact that you recognize this right now is probably a really good place to start.
So, I would start with one item I would pick one item and I would decide.
Maybe it's some books.
"Am I reading these books?"
Because if you have hundreds and thousands of books, for example, you can switch those
over to Kindle.
And they're all on your smartphone, or they're all on a laptop or a tablet, and so, therefore,
you wouldn't need all of the books.
Then you have to make a decision.
Do you want to sell these books?
Because there are websites like half.com where you can sell your books for half price and
you can get rid of those books.
You're not going to probably read hundreds and thousands of books just because there's
not enough time.
Now, if you're done with something and it's something that you used in the past like let's
say that it belongs to one of your children when your children were growing up.
maybe your kid had a doll collection.
Do you have the doll collection?
Are you storing this for your child?
And if that's the case maybe you need to have a conversation with your child and say
"Hey listen, I've got 300 dolls that you've been storing since you were eleven years old."
Maybe your daughter is now thirty.
I'm just making this up, but maybe your daughter is now thirty.
Maybe you want to have a conversation with her about
"What should we do with those dolls?
Would you like me to consign these dolls?
Would you like me to put these dolls on eBay and sell these one at a time?"
And maybe there's a way that together you can create a little business to sell off all
of the things that you're no longer using and that you're just paying to store.
Because what this has turned into,
it sounds like it's turned into a really expensive storage unit.
And if you're not using all of the items, (and if you have 8,000 square feet of stuff
you're probably not using all of the items.)
And so, as you go through one by one through each particular item.
It might be dishes.
You might have five or six sets of dishes.
And there may be sentimental value to those dishes.
Maybe one you only use on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
One might be a set of crystal.
One might be a set of fine china that came from your great-grandmother.
I don't know, I'm just making this up.
Like I said, I don't know what the different items are that you collect.
But if you have five or six sets of dishes you might be able to let three of those go.
And you can sell them either on Nextdoor.com which is the neighborhood app
where you can sell things that you have in your home.
Or you can sell them on like the girlfriend swap.
Or in your neighborhood Facebook group, or on a lot of these "Buy, Swap and Sell" websites
or Facebook groups that they have.
There a lot of different opportunities for getting rid of your stuff,
but what you have to decide first is pick one item.
And then make some kind of a plan to eliminate that item from your life.
And along with that comes the rule that you're not going to replace any of those items.
And then another thing that I might recommend is that you go speak with the therapist.
And although your life might be completely organized and well put-together, there's something
about your background.
(I don't know what it is but there's something) that's causing you to hoard all these things.
And then to find a place for them, and try to protect them, and try to…
I mean it sounds like if you have an 8,000-square foot house and you keep moving to a bigger
space, you're holding on to these things for dear life.
You're trying to protect these things.
I'm a big collector of books.
And so when I moved to my house, I did, I had a custom closet built for my books that
were air condition and climate controlled.
Because we know that if you store books for example out in the garage and it's 100 degrees
during the summer, plus humidity, all of those books will just evaporate, pretty much.
And I wanted to protect those books.
But what is it you're trying to protect?
Are you trying to hold on to something that was important to your parents?
Are you trying to hold on to something that you never had?
And you replaced it with items?
What is going on?
And I don't know the answer to that question.
But a therapist, (even only in one or two sessions,)
they might be able to help you walk through some of those things
that would release that bind.
So that you would be free about getting rid of, and giving up some of your stuff.
Because it sounds like you have a lovely home,
and it sounds like you enjoy the things that you have.
But if you're asking the question "how do I get rid of the stuff?"
It sounds like you're ready to turn a corner and make a change.
And so, I highly applaud that effort.
But I would recommend that you speak to someone.
And I would recommend starting with just one item, and then as you go through your house
ask questions like this:
"Have I used this item in the last year?"
And if the answer is "no," Did I use it the year before that?" and if the answer
is "no," get rid of it.
You're not going to use it next year or the year after.
Just get rid of it.
If you have stuff in your house that's been there since 2008 and you haven't used them
say goodbye to them.
You're done with them.
You're already done with them.
And if they belong to someone else a child, a grandparent, a parent,
somebody else that's living that you're storing those things for,
you need to have a conversation with that person.
And you need to let that stuff move on.
Say "hey I'm just not in a position to keep your stuff anymore."
And suggest that they rent a storage unit that is climate controlled.
Alrighty, so that's it for today.
And until I meet you again,
leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.
For more infomation >> Margaret Singana - Why Did You Do It (Dj XS Edit) - Duration: 5:34. 
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