On Monday- after having a fantastic lunch with Ms. SassyNerd, I had a 5 hour drive back home. I listened to 'ITS JUST TOO MUCH' by British professional organizer Peter Walsh (entertaining accent btw). Remember the TV show on TLC called Clean Sweep? Yeah - that's him. This 'in-your-face-approach' walked me through the process of organizing and letting go of the crap in my house - room by room. I'm lucky in the sense that I live alone, so any mess that is there was made by me. Others are not so lucky, since the clutter is coming in from multiple people. This audio tape covers the language and phrases you can use with family members to keep the arguments to a minimum.
A word on CLUTTER. My home is clean and neat - on the surface. But if you start poking through the drawers you'd probably think to yourself - "why in the world does she have this
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| My hallway closet has been organized, and frequently used items placed together in bins. See the empty space? Errr, I should probably change out the shelf liner. That was there when I bought the home 6 years ago. Bin 1 - new drugstore/cosmetic items. Bin 2 - nail polish, remover, cotton, clippers. Bin 3 - Spa stuff (facial steamer, masks, muds). Sunscreen was grouped together in a box (there was 4 brand new bottles!) Bottom Shelf: linens and towels (still in the laundry room - awaiting the purge process). |
After listening to his words of wisdom, I immediately started purging at home. I have a huge garage sale pile building up downstairs - and yesterday spent 5 hours alone on the dressing room. No - it's still not done, but should be with another hour or so. I've already found things I've forgotten I've had, and the purging process has been exhilarating. It's like once you start - you can't stop.
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| Drawers were purged mercilessly. This drawer hold my tights - and organized using a Christmas Ornament sorter. Yes - I have a tight problem. You should see my sockens! |
The biggest 2 points made in the book. ONE: things in your home should represent something you love and honor - so they are given a place of prominence. Items you don't love, should be REMOVED - this includes inherited items you feel obligated to keep, other peoples items that you are storing, and anything else that does not serve a purpose. TWO: envision what you want for the room. How do you see yourself in this space, and are the contents supporting or taking away from that intent?
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| The north view of the dressing room. Better....but I still want to get rid of the shoe rack (I'll get an over the door rack instead). My yard sale next spring is going to be HUGE. |
The #1 reason people hang on to their stuff is because, 'They (or someone else) paid alot of money for it". The ANSWER? Chuck it - it's costing you more to store this stuff in your home, and is taking up precious space. Not to mention the added clutter is a source of anxiety. Ditch it - either give it away, throw it away or box it up for you massive YARD SALE.
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| This West facing wall in the dressing room is a giant silver peg-board, and holds all of my handbags, scarves, belts and crap. This still needs to be purged, but shouldn't take long.... |
I feel like I could write a 10-page post on this topic. With New Years around the corner, and the the pending influx of unwanted gifts (generating more clutter.....) - consider you own personal space, and the items you've selected to reside with you. It feels wonderful to have a clean and organized space - even if they are spaces hidden behind closet doors and drawer fronts.
Thats all for now - I'm off to
xoxo
Michelle
Interested in listening to this amazing audio book? I found mine at a recycled book shop for $15, but you can find it for cheap on Amazon ($10!). Warning - it will make you purge everything and will change how you look at 'stuff'.
6 comments:
Very interesting post and good luck with your de-cluttering!
I Declutter every 6 months it drives Hubby insane as he always wants to keep everything.
Oh how I wish I could come be your "organizing assistant"! I would LOVE that. Just finding the best home for everything...
I think the most difficult thing for me is that I can keep my stuff organized, but then there's Hubby and Punkin's stuff, too. And stuff that I think is goodwill fodder, Hubby wants to keep.
For example, we don't want to get rid of any baby stuff yet b/c what if we have another one or what if a friend or family member needs it? I DO NOT want to have to go re-buy all that stuff!
i need to get this asap. matt and i have such little space, i need a better organization system
I really really need to do this. For me, it's paper. We're drowning in the stuff.
Thanks forgetting me thinking about this. We list in such a small place, we can barely even decorate. I'm gonna have to think about what I can do to make our place feel even a teensy bit more spacious.
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