What really is the meaning of "clutter"?

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What really is the meaning of "clutter"?

(18 posts) (12 voices)

Started 1 year ago by lostindustrial
Latest reply from Amy
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clutter

lostindustrial
Member

Pondering unitasker Wednesday caused me to think about this. *Some* people might have a very legitimate use for some of those unitaskers, and thus they don't sit around idle taking up space. If an item is used often - even if it seems obscure or "ugly", it serves a legitimate purpose. Are paintings and other visual decor "clutter" because they are essentially not being "used"? OK they are being used by your eyes to add beauty to your space. But what if you fill your walls with paintings. Is it clutter? An artistic statement? Bad decorating? Collections of things that might be "clutterish" (vintage toys for example) may be worth thousands of dollars and could be considered an investment, or simply a statement of individuality and quirky personal style. Is it clutter?

OK I get it papers and other trash and unused/broken items lying around is definitely clutter...but some things are hard to define?

How would you define "clutter"?

Posted 1 year ago #
Astreja
Member

Interesting question, Lostindustrial.

With paintings, I'd qualify a few too many just as bad decorating. Just as blank space helps us see the subject of a picture, too many items on a wall ensure that none of them will fulfil their artistic potential. For myself at least, I'd rather have one picture carefully placed than three, five or ten crowding one another out.

Regarding collections, I'm in the process of stripping my collections down because they aren't adding any particular value to my life. About half of my toy penguins have already left, along with a few dragons. I also dismantled my collection of pennies 1940-2000's and dumped them in a donation box at a store.

I'm also on the verge of selling off my collection of original Silver Surfer comics from 1968 (I have all but #16 in the set). I'm not reading them; they aren't in mint condition and are not likely to appreciate much in value; and I can read them just as easily as an E-book or a single-volume anthology.

My definition of clutter: Anything that gets in the way of your core goals by distracting you or tying up resources.

Posted 1 year ago #
themusiclivez
Member

My personal definition of clutter is this: Any item that is never used, loved, or appreciated. I don't consider the minimal artwork I have hanging in my home as clutter because I only hang pieces I really, really love. My music collection isn't clutter because I have gotten rid of all of the CDs I no longer play/use. My books aren't clutter because I only keep the ones I like to re-read.

Any item that sits in a drawer, unused or not admired, is clutter to ME.

Posted 1 year ago #
luxcat
Member

I would say "anything extraneous to the function and/or enjoyment of my life"

Meaning, one man's clutter could be another man's beauty. It's all so very individual.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

Ditto what Astreja said.

For me it's all cost-benefit - do I get enough out of it to make up for the costs of ownership, in terms of space/cleaning/moving it? It can be "use" or plain enjoyment, but it has to be contributing.

I like Flylady's criteria - does it make me happy? But for me it's net happiness - does the joy of having the specific tool to core apples with a few times a week outweigh the annoyance of having it in our kitchen drawer and washing it? Yes, it does. How about the olive pitter? No, because we don't eat many pitted olives.

Posted 1 year ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Anything that is not loved or used is clutter.

Posted 1 year ago #
lostindustrial
Member

Great responses! I wonder about people who get rid of things they love in order to reduce clutter. If you love it and it causes you happiness, is getting rid of it (causing stress) really any benefit?

I was watching Pawn Stars last night and one guy was trying to sell his entire Transformers collection worth $20,000. He claimed he had to make room (physical room - no indication of needing the money) for a new baby. But in my opinion, he could have very easily have displayed this collection proudly (and neatly)- hell even in the kid's room (they are toys after all) and voila! Something previously thought of as "clutter" is no longer. I could tell he didn't really want to sell it.

Posted 1 year ago #
Astreja
Member

@Lostindustrial: If the man with the Transformers didn't want to sell, IMO it wasn't clutter. Getting rid of a collection that substantial suggests to me that a substantial life change is going on -- Almost as if he thinks he can't be an adult with those toys hanging around the house.

Posted 1 year ago #
cjhaab
Member

I think clutter can be distilled, as Astreja says, to "something that gets in the way." It can get in the way of your daily life, such as too much messy paperwork, scattered belongings, or unfinished projects lying around.

It can get in the way of newer or better stuff, like clothes that don't fit or broken objects that have been replaced.

It can get in the way of efficiency or agility, like bad work or household organizational systems, too many clothes, stuff stored in stackage mode so you have to unbury what you need, or simply kitchen gadget drawers packed with tangled up utensils.

It can get in the way of optimum mental health, by causing indecision, blocking creativity, weighing down your relationships, or even contributing to depression.

Clutter can be anything that crosses over into those areas. And each person will have to define how much it takes to "get in the way."

Posted 1 year ago #
Sky
Member

To me, clutter is the unnecessary. Things I don't want, need or use.

Posted 1 year ago #
irishbell
Member

i don't really have much stuff that isn't used frequently by someone in the family, or on certain special occasions, or stuff that i have to store because it's too pricey to buy each of the few times i need to use it - so my clutter is stuff that's sitting around and needs to be put away. it makes my home messy looking and that bothers me more than just about anything.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

I think kids deserve their own space. If the baby room is full of daddy's toys, will it still be when that baby is a big kid? It's not really fair.

Posted 1 year ago #
mili
Member

Rosa, I definitely agree about kids needing their space, but there's no need to get too fussy when it comes to a baby - for years and years there wasn't even such a thing as a BABY room, kids only got their own room as toddlers, infants had a crib in the parents' bedroom. I'm not talking about the dim dark days of history, or even about poor families where pretty much everyone slept in the same room, just about a time of differing infant rearing practices.

In the example of the transformers, I think it's more than likely that by the time the kid is old enough to have a mind of his own, the dad will have moved on from the collection. Even if he hasn't, the kid will probably be conditioned to like these already, having grown up looking at them. Later on he might not, but all that's needed there is a bit of sensitivity on the part of the parents to listen to what their kid needs. I don't know just what kind of space we are looking at here (that the collection would take up) but with this type of thing, where it took time and effort to bring these items together and it's something deliberate as opposed to random pack-ratting, I don't think there's any reason to just get rid of it immediately.

Frankly that thing about selling the transformers kind of reminds me of that ancient Julianne Moore/Hugh Grant rom com, Nine Months, where as soon as the woman finds out she's pregnant, (unplanned), suddenly she goes from poised, independent woman to clingy, whiny 'little lady' type and demands that the guy toss out his beloved, elderly cat, replace his equally beloved kick-ass sports car with a 'family car' (as if - I rode EASILY in the backseat of my dad's sports car 'til I was five, and I was VERY tall for my age) and accompany her on endless cooing shopping trips for baby items - basically, just shed everything that mattered to him, right then and there, in the name of proving some elusive 'commitment'. The audience is clearly meant to be on her side and feel for her that her man is so immature, but I've always rolled my eyes at that lol

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

I don't know, if the dad's a grownup he's probably as moved on as he's going to be.

I'm not against babies being in the same room - my son was in our room til he was a year old. But that was because another human being was occupying the room that later became his room, not because I couldn't let go of the "stuff". If you're designating a corner, a shelf, or a room as "the baby area" then it shouldn't be full of grownup toys. It's not like they're going to have more time for decluttering once they have a toddler. If daddy loves the Transformers so much he should make room for them in the more grownup space.

Posted 1 year ago #
mili
Member

so what, the best way is to leave the room totally bare as a monk's cell until the kid is old enough to point to what he wants when taken along to the home deco store? lol I mean, they ARE going to make a selection about how to decorate the baby room, obviously, and that's going to be arbitrary of necessity, since they have no idea what the kid will like (which changes anyway). Why decorate using the same ole same ole duckies and pastels or whatever, and not start off with something that already holds some meaning to at least one of the kid's parents? It's not like the person who made the suggestion upthread said that they were gonna clutter up the actual storage in the room and just shove them them in the kid's toy chest or whatever (they probably aren't even suitable for infants anyway); I think she was just mentioning that he could display it as a collection.

As for saying that if the dad's a grownup he's done all his moving on...wow, are you serious? So what, once people hit that specific age where they are now Adults (tm), they stop evolving as people? I mean, I don't know if the folks around you are like that, but if so, man, that's just sad for you. In my experience, people do continue to grow well past achieving their adult height, reaching legal drinking age, getting their first full time job, or whatever other such superficial milestone you choose to use as the moment when you become a 'grownup'. And the first few years with a child are a time of tremendous growth for parents as well as the child, even if the child's progress is so many, many times more obvious and quantifiable. So I still think it is entirely possible, maybe even probable, that the transformers the dad has a hard time tossing now aren't gonna hold anything like the same meaning even a couple years down the line. Unless of course father and kidlet end up bonding over them!

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

No, I meant he's probably done moving on from TOYS. Either it's a toy for a kid to love, or an adult collection. An adult who loves his brittle plastic with small pieces toy collection is not going to be sharing peacefully with a toddler or preschooler.

I know a number of people who have kids who are 3, 4, 5, 6 years old - my own son is 5 - and I can tell you for a fact that those first few years are a time when it's almost impossible to declutter. As you said, the first few years are at time of tremendous change and learning. They are also a time when you're absolutely flooded with stuff, and many people choose to have a second child when the first is between 1 and 3.

If daddy can't get his act together to clear out a space for the baby before it's born, he is going to have a way harder time later.

So: if daddy really loves his toy collection, let something else go, but don't take up the baby space. Loving something so much you can't give up space to your own child, but not having anything else you love less you can declutter to make up the room, is just about the best definition of a hoarder I have ever heard.

Posted 1 year ago #
Mimi
Member

i still like the defintion of clutter that focuses things that you don´t need/use or love.
i now use a definition that goes into the same direction but is a bit more egoistic and strict: clutter is a thing (material or immaterial) that does not serve me. i want to have things that help me, like my dishwasher, or things that make me happy, like a piece of art, so these things serve me in different ways. if i have to clean something that is just there, it´s clutter.

Posted 1 year ago #
Amy
Member

Clutter is stuff that gets in your way. It gives you splinters and stubbs your toes. I cherry-picked my favorite things when I downsized a few years back, and I find I still have some things I could edit. Living in less than 1000 sq ft has been a learning experience. I love my stuff, but I also have a time limit on dusting. I try to keep that chore down to 15 minutes for the whole house.

The guy on Pawn Stars was unrealistic about the value of his stuff. He should have taken the money & run, or else done what the pawn shop people would have done with the junk, listed it on eBay. That many items would take a while to unload, too. They offered him a fair price. He wasn't ready to part with it.

Posted 12 months ago #

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