Comments On Article: Sneaky Clutter

GDonna,

At Christmas one year I made note of any of the decorations I always ended up not using - tabletop decorations, ornaments, door hangings, any of it that I used to put out for the holiday, but no longer do.  I put the no-longer used items in a large tote and instructed my kids to pick a day to come go through it, and I made sure we set the date and did it.  I told them to take whatever they wanted out of that tote, and the rest was being donated.  They each picked out about a shoebox-worth of items, and let the rest go.  I see them using the items in their own homes at Christmas and it makes me happy.  

I plan to do that with non-holiday items next - stuff we have had around for years but don't really need or want anymore, especially stuff from closets.  I was reminded of doing this with the Christmas items when you wrote about putting things in totes. 

Many of us store away special decorations and bring them out to celebrate seasonally or during a holiday.  Donna, your idea of storing items in bins reminded me of a past aquaintance, who stored decorative items in a trunk.  These were not seasonal decorations.  From time to time, she would put away some items and bring out others.  Many were art pieces or antiques she didn’t necessarily “use” but loved having out from time to time.  She said it gave her the enjoyment of having  the things in her home without the overwhelming sense of too much.  It also gave her a change of scene that she thoroughly enjoyed creating.

I tend to have a fraught relationship with paper clutter.  Once a week I try to attack and straighten the pile that lives on the dining room table.  It gets sorted and stored in a basket in our spare room.  From time to time, I go through the basket and allow the important documents to stay and the rest gets shredded or recycled.  

I do like things to look tidy and like they were intentionally placed there.  Right now, I have my sourdough starter out on the kitchen counter as well as pretty bowls of our last tomatoes from the garden brought in to ripen.  We always have a large, glass jar of oatmeal out on another counter along with the toaster and my better half’s beloved coffee grinder and espresso machine.  I have old crocks out on another counter by the stove to store long handled cooking tools.  The dish drainer is out most of the time.  I do put it away for company.  I don’t mind these items being visible, even though the kitchen our small house is open to the dining and living areas.  To me, they are just a part of my working kitchen and somewhat of a cosy comfort to see.

Carol C

Grandma Donna wrote, 

Becky Sue K, I meant to tell you that I really like how you organized your drawers with the see through tops. )

Carol C, your acquaintance storing some of her items in a trunk reminds me of my mother and how she stored seasonal items and would change out the house in different seasons. She kept a trunk full of wonderful items that she would change out items in the house.  I always enjoyed her creativity and she also added a special touch to shelves with delicate trims at the edges of the shelves.  My mother and her family had a very difficult time during the great depression and my Grandmother remained frugal but after the great depression and then world war 2 was over, my mother enjoyed doing many of the things she wished for such as pretty clothing and hair styles.  She added the special touches to the house and we ate on nice dishes and pretty tablecloths. :)

I was born in 1979 in Australia so I don't know what Kiddles are! I love the sound of the items you have in there!  I have a bag full of letters my friends and I would hand around in class, cards and posted letters.  My first baby shoe and some other small things. I think I will create a jar like this, because as it stands, they're all shoved in a tub with my photos and I only drag them out once every two or three years to have a look and hap upon the bag of memories.  I'm inspired!  Very personalised and fun decor that is clearly a convo starter.

Fantastic article as usual. We do our best with decluttering, but, as you mentioned, things ebb and flow. We've done a great job of simplifying things, especially with three small kids. However, the kids receive so many small plastic items that need to be periodically donated, and our counter often accumulates paperwork. 

Anyway, thanks again for sharing your life with us.

Grandmom Donna:  "We are going to clean and box up items that we are not ready to make a decision on to get rid of, and we will put these items in different size, large and small clear totes or boxes with a list on each tote, what is in the tote and have it "donate ready" for us or for our Children."     Thank you for that idea!  I think that is a great idea!  That way it's already presorted with information about what the item is and possible value if they want to sell it.  I think that's the least I can do for them as having to deal with your parents estate is really emotionally and physically draining at times, at least for a sentimental person like me!

Sara M: Thanks for the suggestion of Through Lucy's Lens.  Interesting videos.  Also good thoughts on downsizing.  I am not there yet as I like my home, and I am married to a man who refuses to move....so, lots to think about.

It’s not Saturday, but I’ve been thinking about this topic today and thought I would share what my husband and I have decided to do.

I want to keep the extra things I know we will need to buy later, but I also want to be able to get to our items easily, and in the past few years as I’ve been ill things have started to feel cluttered simply because I haven’t been doing the usual organizing.  We’ve decided to go room by room and decide what we will put in each storage “area” .  We are thinking about what items need prime storage and which can be put away in harder to access areas.  Everything we keep has to fit in the space we have — that is the main focus.  We can keep what fits which includes being able to easily access items

I plan to move some things out of the Danish secretary desk we have in our living room, which is a lovely piece of storage furniture, in order to have a place for my handwork basket and some books.  I realized I rarely go to the items behind the sliding doors, so I will move those things.  The thing I use most from that area is a label maker, but 99% of the time I’m using that in the kitchen, so I will move it there and put the extra label tapes in my craft room.

The extra/unopened bedding is going to be prepared for long term storage and placed in bins that will be in a shed.  I used to do it this way but when we switched up how the garage is used I lost this storage space.