How To Unclutter Your Home

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Most of my family and friends (and quite a few on Facebook) know that my little bedroom has been decorated and I have been trying to have A Big Clearout with the hope of a tidy house making a tidy mind.  
Collecting (hoarding) “stuff” we know makes for a stressful life. By having too much, it becomes clutter and mess around us makes for a mess inside our heads and we can’t think straight or even at all in my case. 
The sorting of this room has been an ongoing project since moving into this house erm … 7 and a half years ago. The room did have to be changed from an office/ junk room to a bedroom and back again during this time and I have been poorly and my grandchildren always mess it up and the dogs leave hairs all over and it’s been a bad winter and … ok, yes it’s time it was done.

I made sure I had a good long think about this before I started… and looked at some “advice” that is widely available online.  
Seems the first step is to admit you have a problem. OK that’s easy - I have a problem. I have too much STUFF around me which is making me feel cluttered and I can’t think straight to sort it.
The next suggestion threw me a little as it said to buy a book called Unclutter Your Home by Donna Smallin. My room in question has many books. As have all the other rooms in the house, except the bathroom that is. Leaving books in the bathroom too long makes them go limp. Now books are one of the things that cause clutter – so others tell me. I don’t agree of course. Clothes, pots and pans and too many ornaments are clutter, but books could never be. That goes for the ones that have been read loads of times and the ones that have not yet been read (by me).  I have a feeling that Donna Smallin is wanting to sell her book more than she wants me to de-clutter my house, anyway.

Other suggestions range from imagining what disaster would befall me if I got rid of something, to begin by tidying out the car. I would be as well not to do either of these things as 1) I will become paranoid about impending disaster and 2) if I start on the car I will not have time in this life to do anything else.
So, I am sorting things into “stuff which I don’t use, don’t need and should have been thrown out or given away years ago” and “stuff that means something to me and no matter how new or old they are, or whether I “need” them or not I want them”. These are the things that are I will keep, put on shelves or in drawers tidily, naturally.
There is a final suggestion to reward yourself with a bunch of flowers, a candle or a book. The first two sound like more clutter to me, but a book ? 
Now that sounds a good idea.





Comments

Anonymous said…
I too am a hoarder - it drives my husband up the wall! So I wish you every success with de-cluttering - come round & do mine when you're finished!
7 February 2011 at 05:17
Lolli said…
I ma having to go through the same painful process, complicated by having to finish off several DIY projects that were started (by me) and never finished. If I want to sell my house (and I do!) I need to get it in order. The plus side is that as I have got to de-clutter anyway I don't need to worry about some of the rooms when cleaning. I just leave them till their decluttering day and then pack everything I want to keep straight into boxes for removal and bin the rest! Way to go!!
9 February 2011 at 19:03
Lexia257 said…
Sally, I could probably sort your house out in very quick time with no problems at all.It's that phenomenon that doing someone's elses "work" is no where near as difficult as doing your own.
Of course,most of your books would hsve found a new home at my place, and your treasured memories might be in the bin - funny old world isn't it ? ;)

Good luck Lolli with the house move. Sounds as though you are well and truly SORTED !
10 February 2011 at 02:33
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