Comments on: Celebrity decluttering: Barbra Streisand

By: Anita

Anita — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:42:30 +0000

@Gina — I agree, a bit of envy is definitely there; but I think it’s also a difference in taste. If I had that kind of money, I would be spendy as well, just on different things. Whether or not that entitles us to berate her spending/cluttering habits is another matter

@Gabe — well, she did have a collection of lamps, so maybe to her it’s not as trivial as it seems to you and me. I spend thousands of dollars on photographic equipment, which to me is important yet others would probably find trivial since photography is my hobby rather than a full-time job (at least for now).

By: Battra92

Battra92 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:12:18 +0000

Karen: I agree with you. No praise is needed for Babs or Oprah. People do this every day, the only difference is she has more crap to clean up. An elephant and a dog still need to be cleaned up after. The only difference is the amount.

By: Celebrity decluttering: if you are a celebrity then this is your way out to unclutter « blog: arya nugraha

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:47:19 +0000

[...] Excerpt from Unclutterer.com. [...]

By: Gina

Gina — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:40:21 +0000

I read a lot of jealousy/envy between the lines in some of these comments.

When you have the sort of money Barbra has, I think it becomes difficult to spend it. Maybe she could have made different choices. I bet if I were in her shoes I’d have been a bit spendy on myself too.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:00:18 +0000

Wow – $12k-18k for a table lamp on (p57 of the catalog)…
$15-18k for a copper sheet metal chandelier (p88)
Oh my! – $100k painting! (p104)

Wish I could make money like that when I unclutter!

Regardless of wealth, I’m unable to understand how one gets to the point where you can be comfortable spending several thousands of dollars for something as trivial as a table lamp.

By: Anita

Anita — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:43:09 +0000

I suppose when you have 3 houses AND 3 complete and separate wardrobes, by the looks of it, it’s not quite as hard to find 500 items you no longer need.

I was a little taken aback by how many black dresses she has. But… 9 fur coats? Really? How many more would you need to have before you can say “yeah, I think I can spare 9 of them” ?!

By: Karyn

Karyn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:39:56 +0000

I’m not a celebrity, but I can assure everyone that my own decluttering has taken place in a number of “waves” over the years.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:01:01 +0000

Cathy, I think that was Oprah. Or maybe they both did it. In any case, if these are things she didn’t declutter during the last big purge, it just makes one realize how much unneccessary stuff these celebs have. Oprah annoys me because yes, she gives a lot to charity, I’m sure, but at the same time her lifestyle is so lavish and her magazine promotes buying her favorite expensive goods…it just feeds our culture’s consumeristic groove. And when they do something like this, which is basically a garage sale, we’re supposed to think they’re being really amazing and wonderful.

They’re just doing what most people do when they have too much junk, the only difference is their junk was way more expensive to begin with.

I will say kudos to Ms. Streisand for giving all proceeds from the auction to charity. Maybe more celebs will follow her lead.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:47:44 +0000

@Lose That Girl — My guess is that if you have many homes, you have “staffs” to manage them. Oh how I would love a staff to manage my home

By: Lose That Girl

Lose That Girl — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:40:09 +0000

I couldn’t be a celeb because the thought of having to keep up different residences gives me hives. One is more than enough.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:54:37 +0000

Hasn’t she done this before? I thought a few years ago she had purged herself of many of her belongings (e.g., her extensive Tiffany lamp collection?). Did she end up cluttering up her life again after the last major decluttering? Isn’t that (unfortunately) the typical pattern – clutter to declutter to clutter again?

By: Dawn F.

Dawn F. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:53:09 +0000

I was thinking EXACTLY what Karen mentioned. Celebrities have so many homes and cars…

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:04:57 +0000

Maybe now she can downsize to one house? I know all these celebrities have more than one home, usually, which seems like the ultimate in clutter.

By: Katie Alender

Katie Alender — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:21:52 +0000

I think what really got me is this phrase: “even though it belonged to you for a long time and you loved it”. How many things do we keep around out of plain old habit? Even if something has a place and isn’t causing clutter, is it something you need? Is it taking up space something else could use? Or keeping you from being able to downsize?

Glad you liked the article!