Just came home from my in-laws house

[MisaGoat]

We stayed at my FIL's house for the weekend. They have a huge new house with a three car garage plus another room that is equal to another garage bay, huge kitchen, a deck with a sunroom that is as large as our last apartment etc. Basically 4 times the size of our house.

I came home to my small house and it felt so much better, so much more spacious and less cluttered.

There house has so, so much stuff in it. Despite the fact that they have moved multiple times, they have basically everything they ever bought. Including ancient spices (my son was playing in the spice cabinet). And a large storage unit rental.

I am so happy with my home, even with all the work I still see to do. We still wonder how we have so much stuff in this house.

[treeoflife3]

yeah, I always feel the same way after visiting crowded houses. Our last visit home, we stayed with my mom and I just wanted to clean and declutter SO badly. I couldn't because it wasn't my things but there was just so much STUFF sitting around and collecting dust. Their home is larger than ours but it feels a lot smaller since they have so much random unnecessesary crap. I was so glad to get home where I felt like I could breath.

my grandma's house has a ton of crap in it too, but at least she keeps it hidden in the storage spaces in the basement. Her upstairs feels pretty clean and airy. Still more junk than i'd like, but I also don't like having anything (that requires dusting haha) so she is probably pretty normal in her upstairs living space.

[zoebird]

my mother loves to decorate and loves "knick-knacks." she buys things that are really nice and unusual, and look great, but seriously, it is *so much stuff*.

i'm the opposite, and she doesn't get it. oh well.

[zebra15]

DO NOT get me started on my parents house eerrrr ummmm mansion.... ummmm 3600sq ft PLUS finished basement equals over 5k sq ft

[justmeandmybrood]

zebra, wowsa!! That is A LOT of space!

I can relate with the large home with much clutter = closed space...my MIL's home is very large but with the tons of furniture, frames, other knick-knacks, stuffties, more furniture and more frames, it feels very closed-in! I am not the type who likes a sterile house (that would be my Dad, lol!), but limits are good My MIL only a few months ago asked for no more "stuff" (now who knows if she has stopped contributing to her own issue), so now I get her perishables, like gourmet choco-covered strawberries, for presents

[Amys1st]

My brother and his family have a huge mcmansion with 5 bedrooms, like 5 rooms to watch the tv in (not including the home theatre in the bsmt) etc. Its decorated to the max. It looks nice, but its way way too much for my brain. We have a neighbor in a similar house. Another neighbor calls it decorating with a heavy hand. Its not really clutter, but its just stuff IMO.

this past weekend we had heavy rain and several houses (incl my own) flooded. We threw out about 20% of what was in the basement which was mainly toys. I wanted to get rid of them anyhow! We are not collectors, savers of things etc so it was business as usual by Sunday evening. OTH, my neighbor who has lived in this home for 40 plus years had tons of old furniture, a cash register from the 50s, stuff upon stuff in storage in the basement. It looked like a flea market out in front of their house of what had to be thrown out.

We do not keep clutter around, have pretty roomy closets etc but I still do a declutter every quarter or so. If we didnt I cannot imagine how much stuff we would have!

I do not like going into houses where there is so much stuff, its way too much energy whether decor or clutter. Watching the show hoarders is like getting my teeth drilled without pain killer.