Mrs Bellchambers, daughter Lilly and husband Jay are living in the house his grandparents built and she says there's still old furniture of theirs among the clutter of ''bits and bobs'' that have piled up over the years.

But with a young child and another on the way Sally says they “definitely need to have the garage back to make room for this next baby otherwise the poor kid’s going to be sleeping under our bed”.

The Bellchambers are not alone in having an abundance of ''stuff'' they’d like to get rid of. On October 25 Canberra families are being given the chance to “liberate their cupboards, garages and attics” in the name of reuse, sustainability and community enhancement.

Garage Sale Trail co-founder Darryl Nichols said that “garage sales as a category have never been that well organised, outside a cardboard sign on a telegraph pole or an ad in the classifieds”.

The national Garage Sale Trail is an opportunity for Australians to hold a garage sale on the same day, as well as advertise their items online. It’s free to register and bargain hunters can browse items for sale in their local area. In recent years, schools, community groups and other organisations have also participated as a way of raising money.

Mrs Bellchambers says she has an ''eclectic'' mix of goods, including antique furniture, unwanted presents, old clothes that they have grown out of, sports gear, plus a lot of duplicates of items that she and her husband were too attached to throw out when they moved in together.

“You combine two houses when you move in together and you get attached to things and don’t really want to let them go,” she said.

According to a survey commissioned by Garage Sale Trail, two-thirds of Australians aged 18 to 64 say they have “too much stuff at home and not enough space for it all”.

Self-confessed ''world-class accumulator of stuff'' and Garage Sale Trail ambassador Wendy Harmer believes the things we own should be “made, purchased and owned with care and a conscience”.

“Shopping is a bit of a national past-time. Any rainy weekend, that’s where everybody is, at the Westfield.'' Harmer hopes people will be more aware of where their purchases come from and “stop buying crap”.

The rise of ''redistribution markets'', of which the internet is enabling new methods, is leading to many Australians making informal local purchases rather than through conventional retailers.

“Sustainability wise, one garage sale doesn’t make a difference but on a larger scale of thousands of sales it can be quite effective,” Mr Nichols said.

Registrations and other information can be found at garagesaletrail.com.au. Garage Sale Trail will be held on October 25.