Comments on: Clutter down under

By: Clutter be gone! - Blog Wealthy

Clutter be gone! - Blog Wealthy — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:59:23 +0000

[...] Here is a study that is talked about in that blog: http://unclutterer.com/2008/03.....own-under/ [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:55:30 +0000

Miracle Maxine:

I would keep that ‘beautiful’ white pitcher given to me by a good friend and repurpose it as a flower/leaf vase; the heavier the better, for balance.

I do that with similar items all the time, and the simplest of flowers or leaves can make a dramatic statement in any humble corner.

By: Sky

Sky — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:46:56 +0000

Someone told me to pretend I was moving overseas. If I wouldn’t take it, it may be time to let it go.

Sentimental clutter is my biggest problem. It is so hard to part with family things even when they don’t fit into my lifestyle.

By: Miracle Maxine

Miracle Maxine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:20:51 +0000

The “possessions are forever” adage is, of course, a relic of the beliefs and values my parents instilled in me. But they didn’t live in the age of disposable-anything. In my parents’ house, dining room sets that were bought in the late 70’s are still very much useful and beautiful today, and tv’s and washing machines die of old age. It took me many, many years to dare throw a bra in the washing machine, because my mom still has 10 year old bras in mint condition, due to diligent hand-washing (but alas, no hi-tech bra drier). So it’s the “once it’s in the house it’s not going out” mentality of my parents, coupled with my ability to acquire stuff easily, that fills my house. It’s a constant struggle, but frequent moves help me cull my family’s possessions.

By: Miracle Maxine

Miracle Maxine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:15:34 +0000

Michele –

“I think a lot of people treat a possession as a given once they obtain it, i.e. they will have it for life.”

Of course. So simple, so true, so perfectly accurate.
I try not to look at the price of a piece of stuff as the buying price – it’s a rental. (a corollary of that – I find myself getting out of my “thrifty” state of mind that leaves me with heaps of cheap stuff and into buying less stuff that’s more expensive and meets my needs as best as possible.

Most important – if something was right a few years back, that doesn’t mean it will be right today. I’m moving house next month and struggling with departing a white earthenware pitcher that’s as heavy as sin, not very useful since it’s too big to easily fit in the fridge, but is very pretty and was given to me by a dear friend.

I will part with it, sadly, but will feel oh-so-much lighter when I walk away from the Goodwill donation centre, knowing that this white pitcher will be useful and beautiful to someone else.

By: Michele

Michele — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:35:03 +0000

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.

By: amy

amy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:31:35 +0000

@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)

By: Thom

Thom — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:04:24 +0000

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?)

By: lana

lana — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:27:22 +0000

@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.

By: Beth_nc

Beth_nc — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:22:11 +0000

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.

By: Carole Fogarty -

Carole Fogarty - — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:30:30 +0000

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

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:47:15 +0000

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.

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:26:57 +0000

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!

By: Mikey

Mikey — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:37:00 +0000

@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!

By: Mikey

Mikey — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:34:24 +0000

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.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:17:40 +0000

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.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:29:36 +0000

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.

By: lana

lana — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:29:48 +0000

Sorry, that should read: “overconsumption”.

By: lana

lana — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:28:42 +0000

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).

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:02:56 +0000

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:

We live in a very affluent country. Things are relatively cheap and credit is easy to get. We are all caught into what I call an orgy of consumption. If one is good, two is better. Let’s supersize that! This out of-control consumption is evident everywhere from the size of our homes and our cars to the obesity of our population. We are also caught into the ‘promise’ that comes with what we buy – buy these jeans, your butt will look smaller or buy this cookwear, you’ll make better dinners or buy this car, you’ll look more successful. The promise is alluring and we fall for it time and time again. Clutter is a problem in the western world particular but we Americans have really made an artform of it.