"hidden" clutter

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Started 2 years ago by citygirl
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Storage Containers

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citygirl
Member

I just spent a lot of time this weekend de-cluttering....but my house looks exactly the same! It's the frustrating "hidden" clutter: drawers, cabinets, baskets, closets. I got rid of a box of dishes, a bag of clothes, a box of knick-knacks, a bag of paper to be shredded and a bag of toiletries. It feels great -- but is a little weird that I can't see the fruits of my effort! Usually decluttering for me includes a very tangible (visible) reward. Not this time! It makes me realize how my clutter really is mostly hidden -- if you were to visit my house you wouldn't think I have a clutter problem at all (well, if I kept the door to my spare room closed). But it's there! Just open a cabinet or closet door and you'll find it. And knowing it's there weighs me down. It also makes it hard -- drawers stuffed full, closets I can't go into. You know the drill....

I am trying to cut down on the "hidden" clutter. A little at a time, right? Do you guys struggle with "hidden" clutter too? One thing I'm going to do differently is cut back on the storage containers I have. I think they actually are a clutter magnet for me -- an easy way to keep things and have them out of sight!

Posted 2 years ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

I really relate to this, citygirl! I'm SO frustrated at the moment - I seem to spend half my life tidying up or sorting out 'stuff' and it is driving me around the twist.

Now what was that quote from someone (Erin ??!) about not organizing clutter. If it's clutter it has to go. My pet issue at the moment is storage boxes full electronic cables and adapters.

We have cupboards full of stuff. (List of assorted crapola deleted.....)

I keep telling myself that eventually it will start to show.

I guess maybe balance doing the cupboards with more visible things, but then you need to make cupboard space to make room for the things that need to go away or that are in the wrong places.

And hang on to the good feeling of having achieved something.

That's women's life, isn't it. We do things, and then we do the same again the next day. There's always more washing, more cleaning, more cooking.

I probably need a 'don't need advice, just want to have a whine' thread. Sometimes I need that, just to say OMG I'VE HAD ENOUGH.... I'm having fantasies about setting fire to the house again.

I'm off to make a coffee and finish processing the pile of papers that I've spread across the floor....

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

A man works from sun to sun, but woman's work is never done! Too true!

Posted 2 years ago #
badkitti
Member

Maybe I'm a bit sad, but if I've organised a drawer or a cupboard, I keep going back to it for a while and peering smugly into it. Sometimes of course you find more stuff in there from the 1st time round, and something else can be stored away, making outside look better.

Posted 2 years ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

You wouldn't know I had clutter problems either. We have an older home which has a lot of built-ins. I was in awe with how much stuff I had squeezed into the cabinets, drawers and closets. There was a time when it felt like it wasn't even real because we were taking things out of the house.

I can feel the change when I remove a lot of stuff, though. When I went through Erin's book and got rid of clothes and jewelery I could feel a sense of lightness as if the house felt it too. I almost feel every piece leave, the spaces open up, and it pushes towards reaching my goal. Most of the stuff I have left is the hard stuff (the sentimental stuff) or the stuff I hate dealing with like papers and files.

Babkitti - I do that a lot. I think it's motivating and often times you do find more to get rid of.

Posted 2 years ago #
jsights
Member

badkitti, I kind of do that too. Though for me, once I unclutter something like a drawer or closet, I go back to it and stare at it, wondering what else I can get rid of? usually there's nothing else (at that time, may be months later), so I just stare and it pondering.

Jen

Posted 2 years ago #
rachel
Member

I agree that storage container are clutter magnets!!!! When I declutter and take things to goodwill, I bring them in the storage container(s) that I emptied. I feel it is another thing gone from the house, and I can not refill the container if it is gone. I also do this with hangers.

Posted 2 years ago #
themusiclivez
Member

Oh man, I stare at drawers and my closet to analyze which items could be removed next. I thought I was alone in this - it's good to know that I'm not!

To answer your post, citygirl, you are not alone! I really feel like there are certain places that never end up "decluttered". I have an entire drawer of candles in my bathroom and a few candles in my hall closet. The kicker? I can't burn candles because I end up coughing a lot when I do. Today I asked my co-worker if she would like any of them and she said yes, because she burns candles all the time!

Sometimes it helps just to find a new home for the items. I don't like to get rid of things that are perfectly fine that I am unsure Goodwill will want. In this case I won't have any trouble getting rid of these candles because I know they will go to a good home!

Posted 2 years ago #
chacha1
Member

"hidden" clutter is the WORST, I think - just because it is NOT front and center and in your face all the time. And so often I think we hide the things that are really marginal. The "I might need/use this someday" stuff. Or the things that were really cool to us at one point but are no longer things we would choose to buy. Or (in my case - please tell me someone else does this too) things we really don't need but that we bought in support of a cause we value.

I had a clutch of paper clutter in a cabinet, which made it oh so easy to not deal with it, so I hauled it out and dumped it on my bedroom floor. I hate looking at it and, as soon as the taxes are finished, these papers will be swiftly and mercilessly purged.

And before I even sit down with Quickbooks tonight, I'm purging a drawer of its collection of state parks playing cards. You all do inspire me!

Posted 2 years ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

LOL!
klutzgrrl: "I'm having fantasies about setting fire to the house again."
badkitti: "if I've organised a drawer or a cupboard, I keep going back to it for a while and peering smugly into it"
chacha1: "I hauled it out and dumped it on my bedroom floor. I hate looking at it"

klutzgrrl - I have fantasies about that or that we'll get burgled by someone really stupid who takes all our junk.
badkitti - I so do that too.
chacha1 - my grandmother throws things on the floor for exercise - she hates seeing stuff on the floor so it forces her to keep mobile as she picks things back up. I'm not sure if she still does it but it used to be canned food that she'd then use for weight lifting (she's in her 90s). There you go - canned food is not a unitasker. :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Definitely an entertaining thread! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

My old bf has ADD. His way of cleaning up and organizing a room is literally to throw everything up in the air. Talk about a mess! Then he is forced to clear what is on the floor. It actually works pretty well for him!

Now as bizarre as that is- I learned from him, but backwards.

If I cannot find something buried in my purse, I have a real fast foolproof way of finding whatever it is.

I get one of those cheap plastic bags you get at the grocery store. I take everything out of my purse one thing at a time and I put it in the plastic bag. Voila! I find what I am looking for.

So then I take the rest of the contents out and put them in the plastic bag. Once my purse is empty, I start taking the things out of the plastic bag and depositing them back into my purse item by item, organizing. As I go, I trash wrappers and receipts etc.

I find what I was missing. FAST. And I clean out my purse rather effortlessly.

I use to dump everything on my bed or a towel and it took forever to find what I needed. It also took forever to organize my purse that way.

Maybe it is so much easier as you are essentially dealing with one item at a time and not a bunch of "stuff".

I loved the idea posted of putting blanket over other clutter so you can focus on one area at a time!

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

I still dump my purse on the bed, terriok! :) I actually get through it pretty fast that way, but I don't have a very big purse.

I'm kind of ADD myself. That's why I have so much trouble with all of this!

Posted 2 years ago #
chacha1
Member

re: dumping the papers: I was kind of hoping one of my cats would shred this stuff for me. It's one of his favorite things to do, but then I guess he mostly shreds papers I actually need. Once I sit down to work on it I am positive I will have help.

oh, and badkitti: I too indulge the smugness. :-) I get a large charge out of a neat drawer! What a geek!!

I may have the opposite, whatever that is, of ADD. I can completely wall off things I don't want to/am not ready to think about or deal with. Which may be why getting my hidden junk out in the open is the only way for me to force myself to deal with it.

um, klutzgrrl: is that having fantasies again, or setting fire to the house again?? :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Chacha1, I have seven cats. I'll bet they could shred my stuff quickly. Assembly line cat shredders! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

ha, you made me laugh. Laetitia.

chacha, whenever the housekeeping gets too much, I have detailed fantasies about setting fire to the whole dang thing. I've progressed from a bonfire on the lawn, to leaving the gas on and a roaring wood fire... Though I fear the insurance company would consider it too co-incidental that I happened to take my cello along with the entire menagerie to the vet for a checkup ....

Posted 2 years ago #
citygirl
Member

Oh, you guys are so great!!! I am so glad for this forum. I love hearing your stories -- and to know I'm not alone!

Posted 2 years ago #
charmed2482
Member

I also get rid of storage containers once I empty them, In fact I only have one medium one left with a few things in it that I didn't get rid of once I emptied it. I have a few smaller one and a flat one in the closet with boots and shoes but I am keeping those for the shoes. b/c as soon as I empty a tote if I don't get rid of it, i just find more stuff to fill it up with again. this way it forces me to deal with whatever stuff I would just throw in the tote to get it out of my way.

My boyfriend and I both had a large tote full of misc computer cords and electronic junk. I went through mine and took out the cords I actually need for the electronic devices i have, which only included a couple of chargers and a couple of usb cords, and a power cord for my extra monitor I think. everything else I asked my boyfriend if he wanted and added it to his tote. then he decided to go through it and I gave a whole tote of misc computer crap away on freecycle. he only kept a few things and put those in a tote under the bed out of sight. he did have to rebuy one cord he may or may not have had in the stuff we gave away, but I'm still glad he went through and got rid of it all. he kept like 4 power cords and gave away like 15. he seriously had like every cord he had ever accumulated, which isn't good for a computer geek.lol

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

Aren't many of those cords/adapter thingies designed for a specific item? Why can't they just make a few generic types? They are like hangers. They spontaneously generate.

I don't have ADD. I am just a packrat. ;o) No rationale: I love stuff!

But I am a visual learner. I love having everything out in the open so I have reminders. I am not crazy about empty space or minimalist arhitecture, furniture. Give me vintage!!!

When my niece and nephew were younger, they came by to visit. Mesmerized, they counted the Mickey Mouses. "Everywhere I look, Aunt Katie, I see Mickey Mouse!"

I had no idea I had that many!

I am pretty good about knowing where something is but the reminders sure help that an item even resides here.

I have been organizing craft supplies. Doing pretty well! In order to be comfortable putting the stuff away, I have been taking photos.

For example, I bought a cool rolling cart at Venture with six drawers with lids. I snap a photo for each drawer so I remember I have the stuff.

Also just by taking the photos triggers my memory. It is not so much I cannot find things- it just slips my mind all the cool stuff I own.

Digital photography is dirt cheap. So then I thought why not take photos of all my drawers, closets, clothes, medicine cabinet, shoeboxes etc? I could (theoretically you understand ;o) print them all up and put them in a binder. OR I can just keep the photos together on my hard drive.

I am a bibliophile. I have been weeding out books to make them more manageable etc. but slowly and steadily. Last night I decided to store the books I am not currently using but probably want to keep! That way the books I need, want to use now can get out of the piles and on to the shelves and I can still SEE them!

I like the Kitty Shredder ideas!!! Kitties are also good for posing in photos, a la Vanna White, for objects sold on Ebay!

Charmed, that's real love! ;o)

Posted 2 years ago #
365lessthings
Member

City girl:I can sympathise with you as I am only de-cluttering one item at a time so sometimes I don't see much of a difference. But I do have my Blog to go back to and see all the things that have gone. Maybe if you take a photo of the mound of stuff you get rid of you can look back on that and know what a good job you have done

Badkitti: I loved what you had to say about going back peering smugly into your de-cluttered drawers and cupboards. I am just such a gloater and proud to be so. Whatever floats your boat and keeps you motived to keep de-cluttering is OK in my book.

Posted 2 years ago #

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