Clutter

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m a collector… more accurately, a hoarder. I grew up rather poor, so keeping what little we had was just a way of life for me. So, once I realized why I hoarded, I was able to confront the issue head on and begin the decluttering process. It’s almost a sort of healing process that occurred when I took the time to figure out what led me to a fear of letting go of things, and with that, was able to look objectively at what I wanted to keep, and what I could live without.

My partner made a pretty good argument about what to keep and what to donate or toss. Ask yourself, “Have I used it in the last six months?” If the answer is no, then ask yourself, “Will I use it in the next six months?” If that answer is also no, get rid of it. If you are not sure if it will be used in the next six months, keep it, but toss it if after another six months go by without needing it.

There are exceptions of course. Sentimental things, like pictures and baby blankets that obviously wouldn’t fall into this category. But home décor items that you haven’t used for five years, should definitely be in the toss or donate pile. If it is a family heirloom and you want to keep it in the family, either find a place for it, give it to another family member who might appreciate it and display it proudly in their home, or if you have kids who have a certain fondness for these items, designate a plastic tote for them and place item in it to be given to them when they move out. While this last suggestion does mean long-term storage, keep it to one plastic tote per kid, and it won’t be too much of a hassle unless you’ve got a dozen or more kids, in which case you’re screwed.

It never fails to amaze me how quickly stuff gets acquired. I recently did an overhaul of our bathroom, taking everything down and out to give it a good scrub down. So, with that, I will try to give you the breakdown of the decorative contents:  

• 12 candles of various sizes, shapes and colors, with various holders
• 6 framed pictures not on the walls
• 4 framed pictures on the walls
• 4 decorative containers of homemade bath salts
• 3 bathroom rugs
• 3 various sized monogrammed decorative towels
• 2 plants in decorative containers
• 1 scented oil burning lamp
• 1 hanging fish air-fern planter, with no fern
• 1 frosted votive candle holder filled with Q-tips
• 1 old baptism/holy water bowl (I only recently figured out that is what this is)

Now, if this doesn’t seem like a lot to you, let me also say that this bathroom is 5 feet by 7 feet and has a pedestal sink, toilet, 2 x 2.5 ft counter-height cabinet, and a full sized bathtub. Needless to say, you couldn’t look anywhere in this bathroom without seeing or running into something. So when, after cleaning it, I decided not everything was going back in. I took a long look at what we had, and quickly decided what I could live without being in that room. Now this is the current decorative contents of the bathroom: 

• 6 candles, all in shades of blue
• 3 bathroom rugs
• 3 various sized monogrammed decorative towels
• 1 framed picture on the wall 
• 1 plant
• 1 frosted votive candle holder filled with Q-tips
• 1 old baptism/holy water bowl with the hanging fish planter inside

Okay, so the baptism/holy water bowl and fish planter I could have lived without, but I love them, so they stayed. The six framed pictures above the toilet I could live without, even the one with the two little girls, one whispering into the other’s ear, who stared right at you while you urinated with surprised looks upon their faces. Okay, so I still think that one is funny, but it was time to say goodbye to them in an effort to declutter at least one room in the house.