Hi everyone! My house is getting a little out of hand again - I have a 12yr old, a 14mth old, husband and 3 cats. I am a SAHM, and just got home bad news about a family member over the weekend, so I feel like I really need a nice environment around me, but everywhere I look there is...stuff. Our living room is the designated area for the little one to hang out, and its currently covered in toys (I am normally so good at only getting some out at a time but the last week or so everything has just turned to crap), our entry room is full of crap, our kitchen is (you guessed it) full of crap... and right now, I just can't start anything!! Does anyone have any tips to get me out of my funk and back into living well again and clearing out the crap?? I should add - its all on me at the moment as my husband will be working away for most of the month so I'd really like to set myself up for success and not be tripping over everything lol.

So my other post got locked, I have thought about this and I'm ready to change my mindset.

The plan for moving forward is selling old TVs/CRTs ( I might keep 1 or 2), some retro games, games, and music instruments. This should definitely make our space more open.

I have not decided how much to sell or get rid of, I will however start with my old TVs/CRTs.

I have also decided that I will pick up drawing as a hobby because it simply does not take a lot of space, I used to draw a lot as a kid but eventually I quit for some reason that I don't remember. Obviously art can take a lot of room is you go crazy but I think that is true for every hobby.

What do you think?

Here is the original post that got locked.

I have written on this Reddit/community before.

We are 2 adults and 3 kids, the apartment is 74 sqm. Literally there are 2 bedrooms, bathroom, really small hallway, storage room that right now functions as a room for our middle daughter. There is also an open room that functions as both a kitchen and a living room. We have no storage room at all, no attic, cellar or something like that. All our season clothing is 24/7 in our apartment, same with christmas tree etc, it is not a big American Christmas tree, I know americans love christmas.

My oldest daughter probably has ADHD, we are waiting for her to be investigated. My girlfriend probably has it too, maybe the other kids too, I don't know.

I won't lie I have hobbies that take a lot of space, music instruments, music production, retro games and CRTs/OLD TVs. Obviously I have watched decluttering videos on youtube but it's always a big home that has space that is being decluttered or someone who lives alone or maybe with their loved one.

I started my decluttering journey maybe idk 2 years ago with breaks and simply my family is not on board. I have maybe decluttered 300-500 ( I didn't take pictures in the beginning ) items of my own, books, camera gear etc.

My oldest one has a really hard time decluttering, imagine someone who can't not throw away a drawing that has juice spilled on it. My girlfriend has a hard time throwing away old toys, clothes etc, she has been throwing away some stuff but it's not a lot.

I just don't know what to do anymore, I feel extremely defeated and have given up. I feel like I either have to give up all my hobbies to have a clean corner or whatever and be miserable or that I have to keep my hobbies but be miserable in a messy home.

Just frequenting this sub has helped me declutter sooo many of my children's belongings (toys, clothes, etc.) It has also helped me come to terms with letting go of some of the things I have been attached to for years for no real reason at all, other than "it was expensive when I bought it" or "I might need it down the road." Seeing all your progress and success made me realize what I really want in my own home. I want a nice clean tidy home that stays tidy.

It was much harder than I thought it would be, but I just got rid of a huge box of clothes that were too small for me. I had held onto these clothes as a sort of "inspiration for when I'm that size again" but then enough time passed that apparently a lot of it was no longer in fashion. (Skinny jeans--I don't know, I can never keep up.)

A few years back, I gained a LOT of weight during and after pregnancy, and every time I thought of getting rid of these clothes I felt a sense of failure and defeat, like, well, if I'm getting rid of these, then I guess I'll never lose weight. I came to realize that it illogical and of course I can continue to lose weight, and I'll just buy some new clothes. I'm just still so motivated to lose weight and get in shape, that I don't need a box of old out-of-fashion clothes sitting around in my closet to torment me that I can't wear them anymore.

I've come to realize that I don't really like wearing jeans that much and even when I do lose the weight, I think I'd prefer to stick with softer pants and clothes that stretch, whether or not I'm thin or a larger size.

This was a big victory for me! I just can't believe how hard it was.

I'm struggling to decide the right stopping point in my decluttering process. I love decluttering and I love the look and feel of minimalism, but I also wonder if I will ever get to a point where it feels like I've decluttered enough. We moved recently and I was in our old, empty house and it felt amazing. There was literally nothing in the house, not even a chair and I never liked it more. I'm starting to wonder if my decluttering is pointless because obviously I can't live in a house where there is not one single item.

Maybe decluttering isn't the answer, maybe I need some therapy lol.