Our Community Cares: De-cluttering unwanted gifts!

Susan Taylor wrote into Starts at 60 with a query… And we think a lot of you will have been in the same situation as her! Read her question and share your advice in the comments below…

“People often comment at my house – gee you have a lot of stuff! Others say – I feel comfortable and at home here. Yes I have a lot of “keepsakes” “little signs” -funny & sentimental, ornaments (dust collectors). My dilemma is – how do I get rid of the “stuff” that others have given me, as gifts?

Right now I politely say, thankyou, then wonder where the bloody hell do I put it and oh, I don’t really want that. I’d really like to purchase my own knick knacks if I wanted them. Would they miss them next time they visit if I discarded them? What would I say? My house is very eclectic. I love old furniture that I can up-cycle or repurpose BUT a pink cat soup mug with pink lid, novelty salt & pepper, folk art signs? It all adds to the clutter. One gave me a cone shaped pottery (ugly) mask from overseas. I dusted it for many months wondering what to do with it. It’s now in the garden with a succulent growing from it! That person is not impressed, but what else should I do with it? She had no answer.

Glancing at a display table right now, there is not one thing I bought for myself. Yes it’s “cluttered” with ornaments, huge glass vases (no room in cupboards) and thunder rocks! How do you deal with unwanted gifted nick knacks?”

What do you do with the unwanted trinkets and nick knacks that you’ve been given? What is the polite protocol? Share your ideas in the comments below…