Sunday, January 9, 2011

Clutter Control



Clutter is in my blood, Sista. It is. My mother has cupboards filled with mugs. 6 shelves of mismatched coffee mugs and drinking glasses. She has three closets of clothes. Most of which she does not wear. She displays almost every pic she has been given. With all this she lives ALONE in a tiny bungalow. Did I mention that her pantry cupboards...ummm, there are 5 different official ones and others that just have food randomly placed within....could feed the village she lives in. As long as past due salad dressing wasn't a concern for her fellow villagers. Seriously. I am not making this up and it's the tip of the ice berg. So, there ya have it. Clutter is in my blood.

For the past month or so I have been working on decluttering our home. I have purged my closet and do so every time I do laundry now. Maybe I should have only 7 everyday outfits. Wouldn't this cut down on laundry too?

There are now only 7 tea towels and dish clothes in their appointed kitchen drawer. One a day.

The sideboard has been purged and extras delivered to Good Will.

Same with the kids craft cupboard, yet it is still too full!

Too small children's clothes have been shared with friends and Good Will.

Kids toys have been sold, given away and 3 bags out of sight because no cute little creature would put them away! And you know what? They have not asked for them once. NOT. ONCE.

Even people. A person or two who feel toxic to me. That I don't receive warm-fuzzies from. This is extremely hard but necessary. A lot of tears, a lot of swearing and a lot of validation from others and this clutter control keeps on ticking.

Kijiji has been my friend in helping with the clutter control quest. Selling my clutter to add to some other poor saps clutter! No, not really. These castoffs will be another's treasure, right?

It's become a slight obsession, although by the state of my home one may think the opposite. It's still an unorganized mess!


Reading material is Life is Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets, 10001 to Reduce Clutter, It's All Too Much, and so on. Now it's time to put all this knowledge into action so that's where Kijiji, Good Will, friends and family have come into play.

There's so much more to do and it's daunting. Oh! *sigh* I wish I could channel the Fly Lady. Or my sister in law. She is amazing. Their home is show home like, yet has a family's touch. Nothing extra and spotless. I need to hire her to come into my home and instruct me on what else can go.


What about you? Tidy, organized and habit following? What are your tried and true secrets?

Messy? Lived in? Clean? Too many goodies for your space?

How does your home environment make you feel?

Apparently, mine doesn't quite inspire me as I look to my right and see a folded basket of laundry that needs to be put away, a basket of the kids toys to find their way to Man's World, and a couple of dishes on the counter.

Tell me your deepest darkest clutter control secrets. I need help with this clutter gene!

2 comments:

  1. Bravo my friend! You are inspiring me. YOu now the 'gene' is strong at my house too.
    And the kids...they spread it 3 times faster than I can pick it up.

    Sorry I have no more insight other than to agree with you. And the kids don't miss any of the junk I put away either.
    Keep up the good work!

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  2. Oh I don't know, from the glow of the coffee maker at 3:22 am, I can see a clean layer of dust on the kitchen cabinets, save for the swipe I just made, just to see if it was my eyes playing nasty tricks on me, sadly no, apparently they need dusting too!

    As you know, clutter I can't do, grew up in it, to the point I think my Mom gets anxiety when I tell her I'm coming forna visit. Oh, I can leave some rooms, like the den, he made it, he can clean it! Right? But eventually it eats at me and I do it anyways! The bane of my existence is the basement and maybe the garage, but the van is parked in there so I can ignore it for now. But how fun is this, the kiddies were all (4) playing last night after dinner in the basement and I went down, got on the plasma car and rode around picking up things I could carry! Thankfully there were no adults to see, must have been hilarious, but I got things picked up! Don't spit your coffee out reading this by the way.

    What do I do, I try to put everything away in the evening. It is my treat to sit quietly after the house looks OK. Not clean, but tidy! And that is where it seems to sit most of the time! You know till a friend wants to come for a playdate and I then panic sets in and I debate mopping the floor. Then I say, she loves me for who I am, not my house! Right????

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