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I’ve thrown out and/or donated many items from my dad’s home, and he lives there still. Most of it he knows about, but there is some I have done without his knowledge, things I’m very sure he’ll never miss that were obvious trash. Like old newspaper clippings from fifty plus years ago, he hasn’t looked at them and doesn't remember they were saved anyway. I look at this as making his environment easier for him to live in and making it a bit easier on me when he either doesn't live there anymore or passes away. Most people accumulate far more than they realize and paring it down definitely makes you feel more accomplished. Be sensitive to your parents wishes, but at least organize the stuff they won’t part with so it’ll be easy to donate or trash later and out of the way for now
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I'm not in the same position as you but I do have a family member who tends to have difficulty letting things go. In our case I've found that sifting through the piles and separating it can help to pare down quite a bit. Start with the stuff that is really obviously past it's useful life and can be discarded - those inevitable stacks of foil and plastic containers, clothes no one has worn in years etc - it's probably better that you just go ahead and deal with that stuff without asking. It's the perfectly good, even new but never used items that are more difficult, sort those with an eye to whether you can donate or sell and pack them into totes or boxes to deal with later, if there is space you might designate one room to keep these.
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I know how you feel all away around this!

Two and a half years ago my boyfriend of 15 yrs and I moved into my mother's house, which is my childhood home and the house I will inherit. My parents had enough stuff to furnish another house and my mother went out and bought things (that she never used) after my dad passed away. Actually my boyfriend and my stuff is in a storage unit because there was/is no room for it. Like your parents, my mother would not give up anything! I found the clutter draining my energy and depressing! And more over, I too didn't want to get out of bed! There was no room for us at all.
The feeling, the thought of going through their things ( yes you read correctly, my mother kept a lot of my dad's things) felt so wrong! I can't even find the words!
However, I changed my thinking! 1) Living this way was/is not healthy on any body. Not only does it drive your emotions down to no mans land, but it just sucks the life out of you. To move this to get to that. Looking for something that got miss placed...oh wait, it didn't have a place for it! Most of all, you can't really clean anything, because you either can't get to it or stuff was on it! So it becomes a physical health problem too. 2) I am going to inherit the house with all the crap inside as well. I had to ask myself, what will I do when mom passes? How long is it going to take me to clean this big house out and get it liveable for my BF and me? What should I keep? What can be donated? What can be sold to help with repairs? Because the house got full no body could do any repairs in it! These are questions you need to start asking yourself.
First thing I did was pick a spot and cleaned it out. This spot for my boyfriend's work apparel. Our bedroom was cleaned out before we moved in, however, that stuff was all over the house. Secondly, because we use our basement as part of our everyday living area ( which was full except for a pathway. We started with the basement. My mother doesn't use the basement that much. Stairs have become hard on her. We just start to go through stuff and put things into totes. Didn't ask and didn't say anything to mom. Here's why? She would just say, I am going to use that some day! I want to hang that picture on my wall ( there is no place to hang it on her wall). We couldn't even get to our bathroom in the basement! After we put things into totes we stacked them in one place. Yes, we threw away anything that was broken and can't be fixed, unusable. After my mother seen what we did she went into shock her anxieties went up, but I took her to the totes and showed her here are your things., and I expain that we couldn't get to the bathroom or dad's paint room, now we can! She said, " oh well that will make it easier for--my BF name." "It looks so much better!"
See where I am going with this.?
By the way, we are down to 2 of those totoes! I had her go through them. You start off with small things and you explain and keep explaining how you and hubby need your space. How you can't keep living this way! Give your feelings a voice. Also, tell them that you want to do it with them not to them. You have to get them to see your point of view.

Because humans are good at adapting to their environment they feel everything is good that way until you show them a new way!

I am not saying to do a huge clean up in one hit. Nor am I saying to disrespect them. It's a little at a time! You will be surprise how much they won't notice things missing. I have notice and did some research elderly people have tunnel vision. ( most of them)
As far as they pay the bills, offer to pay and to do some of the repairs. Even if they are just small repairs!


You have my deepest condolences. I for one know what you are feeling and going through. It is hard enough to see our parents decline, and try to take care of them, but to live in a house were you feel uncomfortable, and the walls are closing in on you makes it that much harder--unbearable!


Good luck!
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anonymous522911 Jan 2019
I discovered 2 years ago that my mother seldom threw away twist ties, milk bag clips, rubber bands, aluminum pie plates...you name it!
She also has more pots and pans and bakeware than anyone in our family needs. She will only wear familiar clothes (things she's had for 40 to 50 years) and both parent's clothing are full of holes, underwear included.
There are books and magazines from ages past with print too small for me to read now. Financial records going back 10 to 20 years. And this is after my brothers got together some 10 years ago and completely cleared out the large, packed attic!
There's canned food and cookies/crackers in the cupboards with Best Before dates of 2005.
I did a big initial clean up when we moved in 2 & 1/2 years ago, trying to consult them on things to be sorted out. My father didn't care about much, but my mother balked at EVERYTHING. She couldn't part with the bathrobe that was so ripped and torn she struggled to locate the right "hole" for her arms to go through.
You seem to understand better than some members of this forum what I'm facing, and I appreciate that. Part of the reason I've put off doing any more organizing, is that I've been so focused on respecting my parents values and possessions. But I see no option but to start donating or disposing of things they'll never again use and won't miss. I grew up in this house, live here again and expect to spend many years to come here. It's time it actually felt like home to me again. Thanks.
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Hi, Anjolie. This is a tricky one, isn't it?

Something that resonated with me on this forum when I first discovered it is the advice that caregiving needs to be a two-way street, a give-and-take, a partnership. That would seem to suggest that you ought to be able not to live in complete chaos as you take care of your parents and live with them.

Would your parents actually notice if you cleared away some junk? And is it a health or safety issue?

My dad doesn't have cognitive issues at this time, but I have definitely gotten rid of a lot of items that I know he has no use for any longer without telling him. For instance, his second bedroom closet that used to be stuffed with a million size medium jackets that he can now no longer wear is now is a home health supplies closet. He has no idea.
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