DeCluttering: Inspiration, Success Stories, Tips

[Hopalong]

An extraordinary series of art photographs that show women more or less imprisoned by clutter (or also by their compulsion to create perfection).

Suggestion: Try opening a private window in your browser and see if you might get through!

Last resort: A digital subscription is really cheap, and I think for this piece from the magazine, worth doing even for one month. It's my primary news source, plus I also love reading wise, compassionate Carolyn Hax.

hugs
Hops

[Meh]

A friend of mine was more or less a hoarder, she was so ashamed of her room/closet/storage/garage etc. she wouldn't even send me a photo of it, she said there was stuff covering the entire floor. Well that was probably 8-12 months ago. Something changed and she got motivated, she chipped away at it and it's mostly cleaned and organized except for one corner of her closet. She has a lot of useless trinkets and silly stuff in my opinion but it's her stuff and her life. Anyhow she radically did clean it up. It's possible to go from being uninspired to inspired. Changes do happen in people.

[Hopalong]

Thanks for that heartening story, G!
I feel so good for your friend.

Inspiration taken!

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

I was just pondering the epiphany with Simple Progress as a mantra that hit me yesterday.

It occurred to me that I have been unconsciously associating decluttering with perfection, presentation and polish. My mother's anxiety over appearances. Not with a happier, more peaceful, more contented life. I believe one can have beauty without the HGTV set design.

So if I'm making a decision about something, I want to be asking myself very friendly questions like:

--will it feel good to take care of, arrange, clean or store this item? (Some things, Yes.)
--will it feel good to donate this item? (Many things, Yes.)
--will it feel okay to discard this item? (Painful for green reasons, but sometimes needed.)

Asking myself in a very friendly way what my OWN preference is...not an organizer person's, or Marie Kondo's.

Small shifts in awareness but I'm glad. Simple progress. Very friendly questions. Being my own guest.

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

So, can't remember if I shared that I made a big decision to spend some $$ on a professional organizer. I think I did.

Anyway, she came yesterday and in two hours, bedroom is 90% cleared and tidied, I can see the gleaming wood that's been obscured for months -- antique cedar chest, maple dresser, side "boudoir" chair, more. She took away a huge bag of donations, a box of books and a radio/speakers set. And she's a lovely person and nice to chat with, too. We'll have appointments a couple times a month until the whole house is purged, edited, and back to the peaceful, cheerful and very happy-looking place it was before the pandemic sucked out my will.

I think my broken brain is slowly coming back online!

hugs
Hops

I'm really really happy about this.

[lighter]

I'm on board with asking for help with decluttering spaces, Hops.   YAY for you!   It's easy for organized souls to walk, sans any personal attachment to our stuff, take things out of our hands, make piles and carry them off.  I find they  move so quickly, it overrides almost all the angsty pain of making decisions and letting go.  The clean clear spaces left behind feel like sunshine after years of winter, IME.

It's interesting to relax into being very kind to self and ask what's behind it, but..... I don't really need to know why my brain is broken in this way, truth be told.  It just is. 

The problem then become..... how to notice when the patterns creep back in, wrestle them to the ground and banish them with systems......
paper flow baskets one keeps up with, something comes in, something must go out, etc.  That kind of thing.

I'm so happty to read you're finding joy in clear clean bedrooms spaces this holiday, ((Hops.))

Lighter

[Hopalong]

Thanks, ((((Lighter)))). It's a really big happy deal to commit to this process all the way.

Maintenance. YES. I noticed with her boss who came to evaluate and also with her (though she understood it more quickly) that they're both excited about new containers, closet systems, etc.

I explained that my #1 goal is DEEP PURGING. If we do that first, we can then organize or systematize what's left. But also that it might turn out that I'll be using cut-down cardboard boxes and similar DIYs for organization, rather than new lovely baskets. That's just about $$. Pretty containers in view but simpler solutions whenever possible.

Figured out that if I save up for a stacking washer/dryer set, I'd have half a big closet to use for shelves. As opposed to having gardening junk sitting by the door.

Yippee.

hugs
Hops

There's an old song...."I'm so excited, I just can't hide it...."

[lighter]

Good on'ya for committing, Hops.  I hope you end up finding space to organize your garden pile and every other pile, but know..... I'm comforted by my garden piles and containers.  It's easier to garden when I see and can find my gardening tools.  Same with food and cooking items.... and clothing. 

So, figuring out how to shift into putting everything in it's place (out of sight) creates anxiety for me.  Out of sight, out of mind, in my case.  That might be something you're dealing with, as well. 

As my mind shifts to the truly organized spirits in my life...... I come back to the importance of balance, again and again. 

It's OK to need things at hand, but maybe brackets on walls and movable baskets that always find their way back to their home.

I haven't mastered it, so let me know what it looks like if you get there first. 

Looks like you will!!

[sKePTiKal]

Hopsie, I suspect your kitchen isn't any bigger than mine. Right now, mine feels like an overflowing dumpster of clutter!! (Not for long... I'm tyrranical about having space to work!!)

My secret is clearing all the flat surfaces. Yes, I do organize tightly sealed glass jars & boxes of tea around the wall side of the counter top and above the overhead cabinets. Everything has a "home" that has proven to work with how I cook and the limited space I have. Cooking utensils in a drawer; baking utensils & odds and ends in another flanking the stove. Silverware next to the sink (makes it fast to put it away) just below the dishes in an overhead cabinet.

Every once in awhile; and I'd say rarely; I realize it would be easier to keep things in different places. And I have permission to shift some things like the past few weeks - temporarily - while I'm baking.

The real monkeywrench in my usually organized space is living with another person who is still trying to find space for all his "odd bits" of gear, tools, snacks, etc. And even with established "this is your space" places... he still can't find things and fills up every available open flat surface I make.... harrumph!  (Secret: that's how I KNOW he's home!)

It's helped that he understands how the clutter makes me anxious - and that the threshold can vary. But we've been so busy lately I am cutting both of us some slack because in the scheme of the world right now, it's JUST NOT that important.

Hope you & Pooch have a Merry Christmas!

[lighter]

My brother keeps all his flat spaces clutter free...... they're "for tasks" and not for storage.

I have to admit.... clean clear space to work and live feels amazing.... feels better than having everything at hand, taking up flat spaces. 

Balance..... it's a thing: )

Happy Holidays to the board!

Lighter

[Meh]

I went to an estate sale today of someone who I think became elderly and her family had to move her or something to a different location. There were over-priced tresures of hers. Things I should like. Lots of yarn for knitting etc. It's really just the trinkets she amassed.

The estate sale happened to randomly be ON THE WAY to a storage unit I was going to check out. Online the mini-unit said it was $30 a month. When I got there the staff person at the desk told me there was a fee for starting it and an insurance fee etc. and it would be $100 a month in reality. Bleh.

Basically, if you have the PLACE and SPACE for stuff you are using then I guess keep it and use it before you're too old to use it anymore.

I'm just shaking my head. I don't want to de-clutter. Like I just don't want to sort through my stuff one more time and not NOW.

Do I need this? I might.
Next thing. Do I need this? I might.

Okay do I want to pay $100 to store this thing for one month. No, not really. Will I? Ugh. will I though?

[Hopalong]

I share the UGH, Meh. It hurts to pay for stuff storage.

Something that really really stuck with me from one simple-living book I read is that if you keep something because you MIGHT, in a low-percentage circumstance, be able to find a use for it in an undefined future, means it costs you twice:

--thinking about it is a brain drain
--not really having a clear purpose or regular use for it is a brain drain
--just owning more than you can fit in an easy footprint is a STRESS
--add cost to it? Ugh.

Extra unimportant stuff is like a phantom appliance that just sucks down bits of your energy, even unconsciously. Extra stuff = stress, is what it boiled down to.

I'm still fighting it but completely believe that. I want peace more than convenience.

hang in there
Hops

[Meh]

Went to another yard sale today out of boredom, stress, procrastination, curiosity.

She had lots and lots of tablecloths. LOTS of them. She sewed so she collected all this vintage fabric.

Again I bought nothing.

Looking at all the "treasures" other people have hoarded that they CAN'T!!! possibly use. It does inspire me a bit.

Perhaps she sewed some great things. I bet she probably did. Still TONS and TONS of tablecloths.

Looking at stuff and thinking yeah that is some great vintage stuff and I don't need it perhaps helps me to know even more that NOTHING I own matters that much. It's a matter of purpose and use and that is it.

[Hopalong]

That is a liberating leap of faith, imo, Meh.

For me, it's like reminding myself that I WILL BE OKAY (without thing X). Subliminally, anyway. Thing X, Y, Z doesn't cushion me from anything that'll happen anyway, and meanwhile it makes my life simpler and gentler not to add them into my living space.

Woo hoo. Spring helps me, too. With windows open and fresh scents insisting on spring no matter where I am, easier to shed stuff.

hugs
Hops

[Meh]

I think when a person is staring at the stuff it makes it harder. If you were to go on vacation for 1-2 months would you even miss your stuff? I don't because I guess I all I have is junk, plastic speakers, some stinky shoes. Some too expensive text books that are worthless in reality and a bother to resell.

As long as a person has food, can get warm, can get clean and bathed, can sleep and get rest then these things are the basics. Mostly what I do at home is cook, sleep, wash my hair, turn my computer on.

To each his own.