How often do you declutter? Do you wait until you absolutely need to purge the junk to make more space?

I certainly don't have a sink full of dishes like that, but I really do need to get rid of the junk drawer(s). 

I don’t like clutter so I declutter my home at least once a year. In additional I frequently empty a drawer/closet and get rid of anything I don’t need.

I think the article has a few good tips.

and pretend it isn't there.

There are 5 1/2 people living in my house. DS had his own apartment for 2 years and moved back with more stuff than he had before, and his longtime girlfriend. Our basement looks like it's on an episode of hoarders.

There's nothing I can do about it right now, so I ignore it.

*Shrug.* There are more important things to worry about in life.

I would never leave a pot (even empty) sitting on a counter edge like that! We keep a bag going in the garage that we put clothes and items in that we want to get rid of and then let the charity pick it up or drop it off at one of the bins when it is full.   Stuff that doesn't belong to anyone here is given two weeks to go home before it hits the bin.

We are constantly reorganizing, our front door is always full of shoes, we try to limit the space to two pairs per person (but still that is 14 pairs).  when it is time to tidy I pull out a few laundry baskets and load each person's shoes up and they bring it to their room.

I also found that I was keeping stuff I didn't really need (clothes that I was sure I would fit into soon) so I put them in bins and labelled with the month/year and every six months to a year I purge through the bins.

Just this May.  Prior to that May 2004.  Prior to that January 1979.

Those were major purges.  Otherwise pretty much continuous where recycling is available.  Consequence of that was that- until the 2004 move, there was no place to recycle other than the local Catholic Church, and we had a huge mound of stuff to take to the dump.

I swear I will do a better job of it in the new place!

One thing I heard is  that if you want to put something away or move it to a new area if it takes less than a minute, do it right away.  Works for me.

and I need my cooking stuff but messy/ clutter makes me cranky!

But summer time is not the time to stress about it...Summer time at our house means that the stuff the kids had with them while away at University/College need a place to be stored at before returning with them in the fall.  Yes a lot was moved in DS` new digs for the remaining school year but a lot also made it here.  The problem for DD is that she had to be moved out of Residence a full week before getting the keys to the apartment she`ll be sharing this coming September.   While we have taken a few trips there since to clean and measure , most of her stuff is still here.

DH also has a hard time letting go of items . He is getting better but even after 2 previous yard sale (where people were trying to give me more money than asked for as they felt that they were robbing us) the garage is still full . Yes a lot is with items for DD but in a year when she transfers back here to the nearby University (if everything goes to plan) the stuff will come back! 

Until the kids move on I feel it`s a losing battle but it`s ok.  We will survive.

 

because I have a tiny place
I do keep it under control

3 really good things to have in your plac
a file cabinet
a shredder
a good vacuum cleaner

but I try to at least once a week go though my stuff and toss what I don't need
and I shred anything that has my name on it

Bell keeps sending me promotional stuff and I did call once to complain and it stopped but now they are doing it again

I have always been one of those people who constantly puts things away when I am done simply because I am usually living in a small place

I also have too many clothes but I know I have to go through them and give some away

after just moving into a larger house...it doesnt seem that big after seeing all our boxes & totes & bags of STUFF sitting on the basement floor.  I dont even know where to begin.  i am doing 5 things at once..& i am NOT a multi tasker !

i know i need to de-clutter, but i did that BEFORE the move.   oh dear....

Good times.... 

We just do not fit into this little house!

Trust me, it never does until you unpack.  At first it looks almost frightening.  ;-)  I've been in situations where I've barely been able to walk around the boxes and I've wondered how I could possibly fit 'all that' into this tiny space, but somehow, I always make it work.

one box at a time. Was thinking..... (because we need to de-clutter in a serious way) is to have one or two empty boxes in the room where you are unpacking. They can be for a garage sale or give away for the things you thought you needed but don't and further de-clutter your new home. 
I am always amazed when we start packing for a move and only have the essentials out how it makes me feel- calm, I can breathe and move freely, feel really organized cleaner. 
Then I wish I wasn't moving.....just all the stuff in boxes. 

Now that my life has changed, again, I can't keep up with it, so I've quit worrying about this.

people are taking advantage of you and are using your home as their storage room. JMO.

edited to add:  It would be one thing if you had a basement, attic or garage to store all this stuff in, but this stuff is being stored in your living space.

I think you should give some thought to getting all these people together and to divide the cost of rental storage and store all this stuff there. Truly I've no idea how you can feel put together with that much stuff in a small apartment. 

I guess I believe in Feng shui enough to truly think that it’s important for Chi (universal energy) to flow easily throughout your home, and that is impossible in a over-stuffed or cluttered home. Clutter drains your personal energy.

IMO, when GreenSleeves was saying that she feels calmer when her stuff is in boxes, I think she was feeling Chi/energy without really knowing what to call it.

 

Just in case you are interested.

"What is Chi, or Universal Energy in Feng Shui"

http://fengshui.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/chi.htm  (IMO, a very interesting subject.) 

agree with you Freebird2, couldn't say it though. My daughter used to think she could pile her stuff here (she moved in & out so many times), I got my husband to pack up all the stuff & bring it to her, so she could decide what to do with it. 

or Chi. It has been proven over and over without a doubt that we all feel better with less clutter. We feel better near water or in nature. I always feel uplifted after a few hours at the beach or river.
Our home at the moment is in a state of Sha Chi and we really need to address this.  Someday's my concentration is pathetic and I know why.
If any posters have a friend or relative that lives with clutter and darkness they know what that feels like and how they feel when they get out of that environment.
I've witnessed many people buy bigger and bigger homes because they think they've outgrown their smaller homes but if they'd get rid of the 'stuff' instead of buying a bigger place to store it it would have made more sense. 
Spending more to have more room to store stuff that ends up being added to is a viscous circle for a lot of people.
 

If this situation was permanent, I'd agree with you, but it isn't.  Only a few years ago, I was living in a two bedroom apt. and I still had a fair bit of my kids' stuff towards the end.  They had been in transition, but by then were more settled.  At that point, I said it was time to pick up their stuff and find room in their own places for it.  And they did.

My place might be a little cluttered, but it's also filled with life, love, and laughter, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I will never have a perfect showplace, but I find those a little barren, anyhow. Plus, like you, I have other priorities. When I'm on my deathbed, I know I won't be lying there wishing I had spent more of my life doing housework and decluttering. My household is busy and happy, and so am I, and I know the time will pass soon enough and I will no longer need to have so much stuff stored. Some of it, I've saved on purpose for when my kids move into their own places. My older DD will sharing a house nearer the university starting in August, and she'll be taking some of the furniture, dishes, pots and pans, etc. But if she wanted to stay, I'd be happy to continue to put up with the clutter.

I also have a few things I've saved for future grandkids--baby gates, a portable crib, a doll house, some special kids' books, etc. When the time comes, I want this to be a place where the kids feel comfortable, and where they can enjoy themselves.  I live in a home, not a magazine photograph.

Thanks.  :-)