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Clutter down under
The Sydney Morning Herald has an interesting article on the study of clutter by the Australia Institute. The study found that women find clutter more distressing and are much more embarrassed by clutter than their male counterparts. The study also found that nine out of 10 Australians have at least one cluttered room in their home and the average home has three or more cluttered rooms.
The article also does a great job of categorizing clutter. From the article:
The items that constitute clutter are extremely varied and depend on the circumstances and personalities in each household. And there are several different categories of clutter, depending on the nature of a person’s “attachment”‘ to things, our research showed.
Emotional clutter has sentimental meaning but little financial value. It could include children’s toys or drawings, unused or unwanted gifts, school or university notes, or the personal possessions of absent loved ones.
Just-in-case clutter has little or no sentimental value but since it “might come in handy one day” it is kept for some time. Examples include old bills or bank statements, tools or stationery.
Bargain clutter is free or very cheap items acquired at sales, from friends or family or “by the side of the road”. Certain personality types tend to be especially attracted to bargain clutter.
Bought clutter consists of impulse purchases that never end up being used. It commonly includes clothes, fashion accessories and electronic items and is strongly linked to wasteful consumption.
I’ve always assumed that Americans were above and beyond everyone else in the clutter department, but this study shows that our friends down under also struggle with clutter. I’m not entirely sure what the statistics are for the average American household, but I’d venture to guess that our clutter problem is a bit higher. Again, that’s just a guess.
The article also goes on to offer a point of reflection useful for us all:
The alternative to cluttering up our homes is simply to avoid acquiring unwanted or useless items in the first place. Among other things, this requires a more conscious approach to shopping: buying what we really need and will use.
It also requires a healthy skepticism towards commercial messages trying to convince us to buy things that we don’t really want. If we follow these principles, perhaps we can reclaim our homes.
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20 comments posted
Posted by Marie - 03/03/2008
I am all about the emotional clutter– it is my challenge to find new excuses to get ride of it, and this does the trick!
Posted by Bobbi - 03/03/2008
Good post. Last year we had to sell my parents’ house. They’d collected stuff for 60 years and hell doesn’t describe what we went through. As the article said, they’d become resigned to their stuff. I don’t want my kids to have to go through that and I want to be able to enjoy the fruits of my decluttering so I’m going through everything now. I ask myself: would I pay someone to ship this across the country in a move. If the answer is no, it goes. I got that idea from a friend who had a friend who helped her move from England to Switzerland to California. Bobbi
Posted by whyioughtta - 03/03/2008
Amen to their two conclusions: buy only what you’ll use and try to ignore pressures to accumulate. But I can’t believe they needed a study to tell them that women care more about clutter than men…have they never entered a bachelor pad? :^) Jokes aside, though, I’d venture to guess that women accumulate more clutter than men. (I am a woman.)
Love your site!
Posted by Kathy @ Brazoscowgirl - 03/03/2008
I am so about emotional clutter and just in case clutter. I fear I will need a piece of paper. The bad thing is when I need it I won’t be able to find it!
Posted by lana - 03/03/2008
I’m kinda curious as to why you (Matt) would guess that Americans have more of a clutter problem. Do you think we’re more prone to impulse shopping or emotional clutter or what? I don’t get the rationale behind that hypothesis.
Posted by Matt - 03/03/2008
Lana,
That hypothesis is purely based on the overall wealth of America. More disposable income = more stuff.
Quote from the Peter Walsh interview we did a while back:
Posted by lana - 03/03/2008
Thanks, Matt. I remember that interview and I love Peter Walsh’s book, but I’m not so sure I agree with the assumption that the orgy of consumption is more out of control here rather than say, Australia, Great Britain, or Canada. Germany? Definitely. But not the other three countries.
Cheap and easy credit is only part of the problem. I think oversumption, wastefulness and extravagance can also be cultural and learned behaviors. (I hope I’m not offending anyone with that statement, it’s just an observation from my own completely subjective and unscientific studies).
Posted by lana - 03/03/2008
Sorry, that should read: “overconsumption”.
Posted by Rosemary - 03/03/2008
Hmm - interesting, especially as Peter Walsh is actually Australian! I’m in the unique perpective of being an Australian who has spent four years living in the mid-west of the USA, and in my (limited) sample, there IS more clutter in American homes. I don’t think it is for any earthshattering reasons but the four main ones are:
1. American homes, on average, are bigger and you have BASEMENTS!
2. Consumer goods are much cheaper in the USA (even taking into account the higher salaries here in Australia);
3. Up until a few years ago, it was much more difficult to get credit in Australia than it was in the USA, and
3. You celebrate WAY more holidays and celebrations that we do. We don’t have 4th July, Thanksgiving, Flag Day, Presidents’ Day etc but we do have our own range of holidays. But I noticed that many of my very houseproud friends in the USA could not believe that we didn’t have flags, decorations, dishes, linens etc for Easter, Christmas etc. Sure, we have Christmas decorations, but not the masses I saw in my part of the USA.
Now this is not meant to be a hack on Americans, because I think that us down here in Australia do have very similar tendencies. The important point is that the same reasons for clutter accumulation exist, and the only solution in my opinion is mindfulness as we purchase.
Posted by Beverly - 03/03/2008
Here’s a story about emotional clutter: My grandmother never threw away a letter. Ever. And my mother lived in her house after she died and wouldn’t throw away anything that was hers. So when my mother died, I had the job of going through massive amounts of paper from my grandmother and guess what I found? LETTERS from my uncles written to her before and during WWII that together tell a priceless story of both the European and Pacific experience of the war. Sharing those with my extended family has been worth the trouble.
Posted by Mikey - 03/03/2008
I’m not convinced….the British version of “Clean House” featured homes that were hands down in need of more help. So were the people.
I have to admit I’m fascinated by those shows.
Posted by Mikey - 03/03/2008
@rosemary, basements are a regional thing. You won’t find them in California, for instance. Nor will you generally find them in newer homes, unless you are in tornado country, where they are highly prized!
Posted by Dee - 03/03/2008
I’ve made a new years resolution to stop letting my possessions own me and am thrilled to have found this site to keep me motivated! Its articles such as this that affirm my resolution to keep on keeping on with getting rid of aquired, collected, “might need,” emotional clutter and start enjoying the things I love and cherish. Bobbi - thats a great tip to ask yourself if you would not only move with an item but SHIP it if you were moving overseas. .. it brings decision making to a whole new level when sorting through stuff - Thanks!
Posted by Beth - 03/03/2008
My husband and I cleaned out our upstairs great room. We were stunned at all the “stuff” up there. He made me a sign and taped it to the wall. It states: “Throw it out if…1)you don’t know what to do with it, 2)you don’t know where to put it, 3)you don’t know why you bought it, or 4)looking at it depresses you. (I think these ideas came from a magazine.)
But anyway, it worked and we can actually USE the room now.
Posted by Carole Fogarty - - 03/03/2008
Heh Matt,
Having taught Feng Shui Practitioners for the last 15 years here in Australia clutter was always a huge issue.
Over the years two BIG emotional reasons people held on way too long to their unloved stuff was:
Emotional Guilt: The item was a gift and it is kept out of fear that person who gave it to you will ask or expect to see it. You would feel guilty giving it away. Just imagine the amount of unwanted gifts we receive in a life time.
Emotional Fear of lack: Scarcity mentality is huge. If I throw this out then I may need it some day in the future.
This type of thinking definitely blocks the flow of your life. You keep thinking you won’t have the money to replace it in the future, if indeed you do need it.
Peace, love and chocolate
Carole Fogarty
http://www.thehelathylivinglounge.com
Posted by Beth_nc - 03/03/2008
Emotional clutter and “just in case” clutter are factors in my life!
I’ve also got green clutter or environmental clutter. It’s sort of like “just in case” clutter, throwing items away that aren’t completely used up seems wasteful. So paper printed only on one side, empty cleaned out pickle jars, clothes from ten years ago are all hanging around.
Posted by lana - 03/04/2008
@Beth - I love that idea; especially Number 4. When my husband asks why I threw away his box of old audiophile magazines, I’m going to point to you.
@Rosemary - Haha! That’s interesting - I didn’t know Peter Walsh is Australian. I haven’t seen him on tv, just read the book. And you make a good point about the holidays over here. Sometimes the stores even make them up just to get people to spend more money! Are there any other Californians here who remember those stupid Macy’s commercials for “White Flower Day”? Gimme a break.
@Carole - your blog looks interesting. I bookmarked it for reading later. It looks like you accidentally misspelled it in your post though. Corrected link:
http://thehealthylivinglounge.com/
@Beth_nc - I can totally relate. Green clutter is so hard to deal with, but that’s when I let my husband be the bad guy. I’ll leave a nice little stack of green clutter in the garage and within a day or two it mysteriously disappears.
Thanks, Everyone, for your input! I really enjoyed reading this thread.
Posted by Thom - 03/04/2008
Can’t go wrong with the following maxim from William Morris:
“Have nothing…that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
I won’t say I don’t have clutter, but if I’m shopping I try to keep that in mind (better still if an item fulfils both categories - hence I’m a Mac user!). And when the inevitable need to do some kind of declutter comes around then it’s my guiding principle.
I have moved interstate twice and internationally twice. And I too endorse the “would you pay to ship it” tip. (Embedded in that: do you want to have to go to the trouble of packing it and then unpacking it?)
Posted by amy - 03/04/2008
@Thom - you are so right, my mother taught me that philosophy many moons ago - we don’t always follow it but it’s a wonderful thing to have in your mind..”What would William Morris do?”
I’ve more or less cracked the not-bringing-in-more-clutter part of my life, but that still leaves a huge pile at home to go though, I’ll get there! Yarrr!
(Anyone else find their lives become worse when they’re depressed? What possible connection has being dumped got to do with my inertia when it comes to pairing my socks or filing my bank statements! weird)
Posted by Michele - 03/04/2008
I liked the description of the types of clutter. I’ve made it my practice to constantly evaluate how my possessions fit my current life. I think a lot of people treat a possession as a given once they obtain it, i.e. they will have it for life. I always try to make sure my possessions are things that support the life I have now and want now, rather than what I needed or wanted at some point in the past.
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