Becoming the Stuff Whisperer

Note to self: the next time I buy a house make sure it is not one of those spring loaded ones. You know, the ones where you tidy a room and within a few days the whole thing is higgledy piggledy.
For the last few days I have embarked on the great decluttering, sort of an “around the house in 80 days” thing. I do my best to have a clean home but it never seemed to stay that way. If you are a Dr. Who fan then it is like having a house full of weeping vampiric angel statues advancing on you every time you look away.  If you are not a Dr. Who fan then that example makes no sense.  Either way your house is in a permanent state of flux. Sock drawers are not the staid bastion of domestic standards you would imagine. Oh no my friends.

.
About 1 1/2 years ago I moved from a 3,400 ft. home to something roughly half that size. I thought I’d gotten rid of a lot of things. On moving day my task was to find out where everything belonged in my new house. The moving men would ask where I’d like random boxes. I wanted to say “Where ever it belongs. I don’t have a clue where that is. I’m new here.”
After living there for a while I decided where things needed to be for practical purposes. Now I’m at the phase where I need to decide what gets to stay and what just doesn’t belong. Again.  Couple this with couponing, free samples, upcycling, art supplies, canning supplies and a purse fetish and I have issues.
Decluttering and organizing have to go hand in hand. Here is my process. In order to organize an area I have to take everything out as most of us become blind to what we own.

Ever seen the show “Hoarders”? You marvel at how they do not see their environment. On a micro scale we can all be the same.

We assume things belong where they are because they are already there. It is like someone claiming a seat because they put their coat on that seat. 

We passively allow the volume of our possessions to determine our environment. We need to remove these items from their locations in order to have intentional design in our living space.

Once you empty out that cupboard you only add back into the space what needs to be there. We are then left with a motley pile of miscellaneous stuff that we scramble to relocate. This is where we have to be ruthless. Yes the multicoloured leg warmers were a gift but you have 7 pair of leg warmers. Your legs just cannot be that cold. You realize you have dedicated half your sock drawer to leg warmers. The sheer numbers become oppressive and out of balance with your needs. I am not even going to talk to you about your toe sock thing you have going on. That is for you and your therapist.
My problem with things like my purses is that I like all of them. This dilemma repeats itself in each drawer and cupboard until I am overwhelmed. Here is the formula. I have to factor in space and need as well as “like”. One of the accumulation traps is that people like all of their stuff but their stuff doesn’t suit their needs. Getting rid of stuff is counterintuitive when you live a penny pinched lifestyle. I have to weigh the “I like it and I might use it” against the peace and functionality of an organized and decluttered home.

Here is the plan.

Empty the space, decide the purpose of that area, select the number of items that will be appropriate for that area and then look at the items.  Select from the “stuff” what will work within the new intentional framework.  Expect yourself to cheat.   Expect if you stay in my guest room that tucked into the corner of the closet there will be a box full of lovely little clutch purses that would be brilliant for an upscale restaurant opening or a star studded gala. Hey it could happen. Maybe.

My goal is to reduce the stress of spending most of my time managing stuff.

So far the purses have been low maintenance but soon they will get a talking to.  Signing off,  the stuff whisperer.

(Original artwork by Joshua Groom)