What do you class as clutter?

[Kirk]

Clutter = just about the entire contents of the house.
I know that a large amount of it I have not used and even seen in 10 years.

[JanieB]

About 4 years ago my then "business partner" felt the need to clean out my bank account. Most of my furniture and belongings were in storage at the time and her antics meant I couldn't pay the the storage bill. I couldn't even afford to hire a van to get my belongings out of storage. It took me several months to get back on my feet again and in the meantime the storage company sold my belongings.

I saw them for sale on the local auction website. I presume that a lot of the really sentimental stuff like photos was just skipped.

I'm pretty fatalistic about it now, it's all gone and there's nothing I can do about it. There are only five things I would really like to trace and get back, my great great grandmothers sampler, the desk my grandfather made for my mother when she matriculated, my room box, the dining room chairs that go with my dining table which was too big and heavy to go into storage and my education certificates which I can't get copies of.

I have a very empty house and it will take several years for me to refurnish it. I think I was a hoarder but nowhere near as bad as my late partner. The first thing I did after he died was to dispose of his huge column of newspapers behind the front door!

I do, however, have an observation about the not looking at something for a year thing. There are some things one doesn't look at or for from year to year but need to be kept. House deeds, wills, birth certificates etc.

[gardening_gal]

Janie that would have really angered me tbh. I admire your ability to be pragmatic about it.

I had a Beatles boxed set of vinyl singles many years ago. My Father bought it as an investment set for me. I looked after it carefully and never even played the records. Then one drunk boyfriend helped himself to the set one night, took it home with him unbeknownst to me and played the records. I got the set back years later, one of his family members knew this was an important set and was disgusted at him so they got hold of it and passed it back to me.

Of course by that point it was pretty much bin material. The records and case were ruined, ripped, alcohol stained etc etc.

This is nowhere near the level of your betrayal but I do understand how infuriating someone else's actions can be.

[JanieB]

Ah. That was something else that was in storage, vintage records and tapes. The original vinyl of South Pacific and a jam session the Beatles made at the BBC studios that was never on general release. It was given to me by my eldest son as a birthday present. He's a sound engineer and worked there and was also the sound engineer for the second Band Aid record.

[Sheneval]

I have read nearly all these posts from the start and am delighted to find I am not alone - over the years my Family History information has developed legs and spread throughout the house - I did make an effort to clear some of it but just like Topsy - it grows and grows - By sheer chance I found the minutes of Monkton Library which started in 1838/9 and my 2xggfather became the 2nd librarian in 1839 till 1841 - he was a Committee member till he left Monkton in 1861 so he is on every page. I have a copy, (not the original), of one of the books he bought for the library back then - it is like reaching out into the past - I need to scan the lot and dispose of the paperwork but it would take me years - nevertheless I must make a start but should I commence with my books or DVDs first?