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I have been saying this for a long time and am now officially ready to begin the steps that it is going to take to get there. I have decided that I need to hold myself accountable to someone or some group in order to follow through with my plan. For at least ten years now I have had a spare bedroom that has become a very cluttered and messy spare room. This is house number two where the same thing happened as before.
I just read on here some hints that Terry heard an Oprah guest tell regarding how to become organized. The main one that I found that I need in order to begin is to give the space a purpose. All along I hadn't really thought of labeling it and it showed by becoming a catch all for everything. I have now decided that it's main purpose will be that of library. I am a book and magazine lover. My husband and I just inherited two gorgeous old barrister bookcases. They have all glass fronts and this is serving to give me more display space for my many collections. Hmmmmm...never thought til now to call myself a book collector, but I am one. ha-ha
Currently the room has a pile almost waist high of stuff that needs to find homes. I have a friend coming tomorrow to help me begin the organization. Also this week I have written myself notes to help me decide what to do with all the pile stuff. I heard and plan to use "The Get Rid of It If" principle. Get rid of it if you don't use it, don't need it or don't love it. In the past I have always run in to the problem of seeming to love everything. ha-ha I am at the point now that I want a lighter burden when it comes to "things." Things is things. ha-ha
Anyway, I am here to ask that those of you who feel so inclined to help encourage me to get the room straight and then check occasionally to see if I am keeping it straight. Oh yeah, back to the purpose of the room. First off to house my books and magazine. Second purpose is to serve as extra sleeping space. This house is only half the size of the one that I moved out of. I want to be able to have folks stay over if they want to and have a comfortable place to sleep.
I have seen what I am thinking will be the perfect piece of furniture for that. If anyone is familiar with the store called The Plow and Hearth, it is in their spring catalogue. It is called a chair and a half. It folds out and can sleep two people supposedly. It is costly but I am figuring my peace of mind is worth the cost of it. I have no peace with that room being in it's current condition. Third purpose of room is to house some of my house plants. They have already been in there for a while and are all doing well so I don't want to move them.
So...by giving the room a purpose, I now feel better about tackling it tomorrow. I was able last weekend to spend a little time in there putting away my many unread magazines. Other than the closet, if something isn't related to reading, resting and tending plants, it shouldn't be in that room. As I stated, I have had this thing hanging over my head for ten years and will be thrilled to finally have it set up with a purpose.
Anyone else want to take on a project and hold yourself accountable to group? I am open to other hints and tips for maintaining usefullness. Thank you all and have a very good day.
Sounds like you have a plan already. It would be exciting to find an extra room and even more exciting to inherit beautiful furniture for it. I bet those glass bookcases will be great in there with the added plants etc.
Nice going!
I see that you are close to Madison, VA that has the Plow and Hearth Store. They have some neat things for sure!
Susan
Ruby, Glad you have a plan. The Chair/bed will serve you well in your library. Maybe a nice floor lamp and pillows will give you a great place to read. Make sure there's two nice places to read in comfort. Reading is a great thing, it's something you can so alone but together. Hope your husband enjoys the new space along w/you.
How about a before and after set of photos; put on this site...say March 28?
With you on this project,
Jo
Hi ladies - Thank you for the responses. Susan, my in-laws live in Madison. John's (hubby) dad and sister have both served as District Attorney for the County of Madison in years past. His sister is now Clerk of Court for Madison. Oh yeah, I have seen the Plow and Hearth Store but have never taken the time to stop in. I will definitely put in on my list of places to visit this spring.
WUVIE- thanks for the link to the discussion. I will post there later on. I will take this opportunity to tell you that I have seen your name often while reading through different forums on here. Something that you wrote the other day was very impressive and meant to post then that it helped me. Of course I cannot recall at the moment exactly what it was, but I am very appreciative of your sharing your knowledge with Dave's Garden members.
Great idea for a second chair Jo. I had all but forgotten that hubby might want to visit in there too. ha-ha Too late for before Oics because friend and I were able to straighten a lot of it yesterday. She is supposed to come back another day next week to help again. One corner of the room is still packed high so I might take a pic of that as the before.
So, are you saying that you are beginning a project of your own that you will need encouragement and support with? If so, that is great. I can really crack a whip. ha-ha Just joking.
I believe that I will go over to the thread that WUVIE sent and bring this spare room issue up. Want to join me there?
Anyway, again I thank you three for your responses. I hope that everyone will have a good weekend coming up.
I inherited a garage size storage room full of "stuff", no furniture but "stuff" from my sister the same month we moved into a new house.A house we built ourselves that was actually still under construction. Talk about clutter. Some days I would just leave because I couldn't face it all.The clutter developed a life of it's own and grew into a monster. I could go on and on, but now 3 years later it is all gone. I found help from a website called flylady.com.This helped me get rid of my house clutter, but also taught me how to take of things to keep the monster away for good. Please check it out, it is free. [HYPERLINK@www.flylady.com]
Well,it's hard to say any one thing-but I do know that it had to start in my head before it could start in my house. I also had to just stop whining, planning, blaming myself and others about the problem and just start. that is where flylady helped because I did what she said on the daily "missions" and some days that was all I needed to get going.I love lists and planning and I thrive on organization, so when parts of my home were in chaos I couldn't think straight enough to just take care of it. I just remembered one line of thinking that kind of made me get going. I don't think it is an original idea, but I don't know where it came from. I had piled most of my sister's stuff (after culling what I knew I wanted to keep) in 2 spots, one in the basement the other my garage. Since clutter is magnetic (lol )all our stuff from moving and building got piled on or around it. One day after paying our house payment, I figured out how much our home cost per square foot and then roughly measured the piles of clutter. That put a price on my space and I am letting this junk live there for free? That lead me to thinking how much time I was spending with my clutter, it was on my mind all the time. How many evenings and weekends was I spending either dealing with it, talking about it (or ranting about it) or just thinking about it. . I decided that like a bad tenent, it had to go, my sanity and husband and children and new home were far to valuable to trade for clutter. This probably sounds silly, but at the time it lit the fire I needed under my butt.
Hi Lisa - Thank you for suggesting the website. I am familiar with it, but have not been doing her program. Maybe now that I am in the correct mindset, I would get more out of it. I will check it out again.
It is always good to hear success stories. Was there any thing in particular that you feel helped you the most?
Wow!! You said a real mouth full. Thank you so much for answering the question. i just can't get over what has brought about my change of heart regarding the room. All that it took was to name a purpose for the room, rather than continue to call it "The Spare Room." Library sounds so much better.
I am getting there, I am getting there. Have a great weekend.
Wuvie - I just finished reading through the thread that you mentioned above. It took me three settings to finish. Very interesting and I was able to use a few hints that I heard there. Thank you for pointing it out to me. I feel the need to check out the Clean and Clutter Free forum now that I have begun my de-cluttering of one of my rooms. I still have two more places that I want to de-clutter but know myself well enough to know that if i don't keep it in the forefront of my mind, I will close the door and just ignore it. I have made too much progress to stop now. I don't have too much left to do in The Library before it is acceptable.
Oh yeah, was it you that made the plastic storage bin/tote idea? Well, after reading about that the other day I went out and purchased several. One is being used already to keep some good fabric pieces in. While straightening in there I was able to put together a bag of craft items that I will be donating to a Brownie/Girl Scout troop here. I had this idea a year or so ago to take these little leather purses that I bought for $1 each and embellish them with beads and ribbons and such. I never got around to doing it, so am sending most of the supplies to the Brownies. I did keep a few of them to make for the grand daughter who is due to join our family in May. I still have a bit of time to create hers, because she won't be using purses for a while. ha-ha
Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for the responses and tips. I will get this done...I will get this done...I will get this done.
Hi Wuvie - Thank you for the tips about one thing and one day at a time. I like that you suggested that I acknowledge my progress. Yep, when I walk in there, I see such major difference already and it puts a smile on my face. AAAAHHHH...those soothing and calming deep breaths.
I am not sure if I will get in to the new room today or not. I have some pots and seeds set out and am planning to sow some later this morning and put under a grow light. I did that last year with a few things and had fun doing it. Oh yeah, have had a grocery shopping list made for 4 or 5 days and am going to try and get there too.
Thankfully, my week isn't packed full of doctors visits as it has been since about last fall. That is not to say that something won't still come up, I am just hoping to go a week at least without seeing doctors. I had planned to do some wintersowing this year but never got started. As hubby said, I was tending to other things, mainly my health issues and a 17 year old teenage son who has required extra attention this year.
Anyway, I hope that you will have a great day WUVIE. Again, thanks for the help.
Ruby,
I think it's fine you started a new thread. The one Wuvie linked to, was (is) so big, by the time you get to the bottom of it you've forgotten what you wanted to write!
Not to say it's not full of good things.
I just got a new book: Rightsizing Your Life (by Ciji Ware). It is mostly aimed at the 50-ish person... give or take 20 years.
That reminds me of the start of the editor's page of a local "home-and-garden" freebie magamercial (looks like a magazine, but is 99% promos for local decorators and services). It said that [age] 40 is the new 20, and 60 is the new 40. Now, these mags are not the highest budget, so I figure this writer must be quoting someone?? anyone know who?
Hi Crystal - I have heard the "new age" when speaking of celebrities. Could go for the general public too, I suppose. I am 51, getting ready to be grandma in May. Other than several complaints about things regarding my body, I certainly don't feel this age.
When I was growing up, I can remember thinking that 40 and over was ancient. Forty has come and gone a long time ago with me. ha-ha Along with body wear and tear, I have also been able to become what I consider a better and definitely a wiser person with my age. By this time, a person has seen a lot of things in life. I am not too surprised by any thing that I hear or see.
I won't be doing anything clutter wise today. I have to go in to town and run a few errands. When I get home from these jaunts I am usually wiped out and have to rest the remainder of the day.
A good thing about this latest desire to get things organized is that I am really serious this time. I have always been in the past also, but it feels different this time for some reason. It may be that I have finally read enough hints to get the job done and was not prepared to do so before now. It has been my desire for many years to have a clutter free home. I am getting there, step by baby step.
Anyway, I hope that those reading this will have a good day. Take care everyone.
I took the name of that Peter Walsh book (from the long thread, I think) to Amazon.com and one of his other books had the "Look Inside" feature -- and within the first two pages he presented the old adage: "if you haven't used/worn it in a year, get rid of it."
Whereupon I knew that his was not NEW approach but just a charismatic (televised) version of MOST of the books I have purchased and read... however, a link on THAT page, took me to the Ciji Ware book (also with the Look Inside activated). I looked inside and LIKED WHAT I SAW!
I *know* I don't need an awful lot of this stuff, but some abitrary line on the calendar does NOT define what I should or should not throw away... I would guess, more than half the things I own, I haven't *seen* in a year... I use what's on top, or what I can dig out with the least stress or danger of being buried in an avalanche... and a thing's reachability has very little to do with its value or importance -- and certainly not with its suitability for the life I DESIRE to have.
I really feel that authors and "experts" who preach the used-in-a-year philosophy simply do not have a CLUE about clutter. I have things -- A LOT of things -- that I have not seen (and could not locate if I had to) since September 2003...
That was when the sheet-vinyl crew arrived at the door and told me they HAD to install my entire house's new flooring in TWO DAYS instead of four... one day prepping the WHOLE house and laying a room or two (which couldn't have anything really heavy put back on it) and the next day laying the rest and moving the heavy stuff back into the first day's rooms, I think that was the plan. They came for an hour or so the third day to move those things that I absolutely couldn't do myself, onto the areas that had had to have more time to cure or set or whatever it was.
Before starting on having the whole house painted and re-floored, I was already fairly overwhelmed with clutter, and MY PLAN had been to: empty two rooms at a time, let them re-do the floors in those rooms and go home for the day, while I replaced in those rooms JUST WHAT BELONGED THERE, and emptied the next day's two rooms. Three-and-a-half years later, I wished I had told them NO and locked the door in their faces.
What they did was literally carry everything in the house that touched the floor (and everything was already off the walls, because the painters had gone through the week before) OUT of the house: into the garage, onto the sidewalk and out on the patio. While I sat in the car in a late heat-wave and ran the air conditioner for our housecat, who also had nowhere to go. On top of this, when they unrolled what was supposed to be two custom area rugs to spread on the new vinyl flooring in the two largest rooms -- from Home Depot's Expo store -- the carpet had NOT been cut or bound -- so it was CHRISTMAS (when the nephews were home from college) before I had enough strong men to RE-move the heavy furniture and lay the finally-bound rugs.
OK, at that point I might have been still able to resurrect SOME order, but a week after Christmas my MIL was hospitalized with a broken hip and she died of pneumonia before the end of January... and guess who got to take all the stuff of HERS, that no one else in the family wanted? Over the next year, most of one room and at least half of half the garage, became filled with semi-sorted 50-years-of-STUFF that I was (am!) in theory going to sell on eBay or otherwise find "suitable homes" for.
I am reading a little (20 pages or so) of "Rightsizing Your Life" every night before bed, and I'm finding myself SO MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC during the days!!! (She did touch on the "Have you used it in a year? three months?" etc on pp.61-62 -- but it seems that it was just an exercise, she hasn't returned to that theme up to p.85.) She also had you rate the same things with their value or importance to you at the same time.
The "message" I read last night, was devoted to going through your things with an aim to KEEP THE BEST! Yes, because you DESERVE the best! So, if you have too many towels, get rid of the old thin ones and keep the nice thick ones, etc.
I just about *bounced* through today -- thinking "I deserve the best, WE deserve the best!" I didn't do much de-cluttering (did a little!), but I did buy two BIG (30-gal, I think) containers to serve as initial sorting, "DOESN'T BELONG IN THIS ROOM AND I'M EMPTYING THIS ROOM of anything that doesn't belong in it" bins. To be sure, I have at least three rooms that have more than two large bins of stuff in them, that either doesn't belong in them... or won't FIT in them even if its purpose does 'go' with the room (and hence must be weeded out) -- however, I am going to start "leg one" of this process in the kitchen/morning room... because it has the most empty space and the more recent purging (I went through nearly all of the cupboards last summer... or maybe it was 2005... ) and the new bins should still have room in them to continue into the entry way, at least.
Well, time to read my nightly installment of Ciji!
~'spin!~
Hi again Crystal - Thank you for checking in again. It seems that the book by Ciji is helping you a lot mentally, if not in any other way. Now, that is a new concept that she has. Well, maybe not so. I am not sure if I have told anyone here or not about my new style of decorating my home.
For many years now I have had an interest in Feng Shui. Only problem with this is that the very first principle of Feng Shui is to get rid of clutter. Obviously, I haven't been able to do that yet, or I wouldn't be here. I was able to use a few tips that I gathered from my FS study. I have placed some elements in the proper place in the rooms in order to achieve whatever the desired outcome I am looking for.
Oops. Need to close computer for bit. Will finish shortly.
Doing much past sitting objects in places, I haven't done a whole lot feng shui wise.
Anyway...one day I was reading something and what caught my eye was a review of a book by two ladies and the topic was a decorating style that allowed a person to live peaceably among their most cherished items, even if there was an abundance of them. This particular book might be where I came upon the concept of calling all of my many pictures, mirrors, ornaments and such that I decorate my walls with "house jewelry." Ha-ha.
That caught me as cute and in a less than serious conversation that is what I refer to my things that hang so proudly and beautifully from my walls and ceiling light fixtures. Anyway, in case anyone is interested in getting away with continuing to live in a less than sparse conditions you might like the newest craze called...Funky Shui. The basic priniciple is to display your very loved items. And even if I do say so myself, there are a lot of things that I really, really love a lot. ha-ha
Anyway, Crystal and all, keep any ideas, hints and tips a comin'. We can use all the help that we can get. Ya'll good people have a great weekend.
Interestingly, Ciji mentioned Feng Shui last night (chapters I read last night!) -- not that she's following traditional Feng Shui -- but there ARE similar principles of decluttering and balancing full & empty spaces (for tranquility-inducing effect) which is the section in Ware's book I'm in: DEFINING clutter.
But the other funny thing (besides her and you both mentioning FS in the same day is -- I saw the book she cites TUESDAY: Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. And, it was in the remainders/clearance section, no less! So it looks like I'll be heading back to B&N later today.
I didn't pick it up at the time because, well, naturally -- I have too many books already on arranging furniture and organizing! I've owned a least a couple on FS (think I passed them on to my SIL). I've always allowed that the rooms & spaces were nice and laughed about having a mirror so you could see the door definitely improving your Chi (life-energy) if you lived in a time & situation where someone might want to sneak up on you & remove said energy from your "life"! But I've also figured that having your bed arranged so your head points at the north is not essential if the layout of your room prevents it... well as I said, Ciji is definitely NOT getting into it to that extent (don't know if Karen Kingston does or not).
I think the important thing (one important thing?) would be to have space between things, so the eye can rest, before moving on to the next thing! Also some cohesiveness, at least to what a person sees from one vantage point... so that THIS is the corner with the travel momentos, THIS is the wall with the mirrors on it... rather than some here, some there all over the house. You find this tucked into lots of people's approaches, "Collections have impact when all together and NICELY displayed." etc
Plus, according to Ciji, when you get them all together, you can see that (maybe) some really are nicer than others, and (perhaps) reducing the collection by some amount would not HURT, but might increase your ability to enjoy the ones you keep!
I'm breaking my answers into +/- one thought posts! Think it's another kind of decluttering?
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I have another book with a new or at least relatively RARE approach that I have and was reading a while ago (6 months? last spring?) -- before it became lost in the clutter anyway... The Organizer's Sourcebook? or something like that... Almost didn't buy it for the title, I'm sure the publisher stuck that one on it, not the author. "Sourcebook" implies a book of lists, addresses/catalogs/websites, -- doesn't it? Well, it's not, it's just 'another' proposed method with step-by-steps and real-life examples (like how many books I already have???) -- but this author's DIFFERENCE was she recommends tackling DEEP/longterm storage areas first.
So many of the 'experts' say (right up there with "if you haven't used it in a year") -- clear off the space that is bothering you the most, first!
As if it were that easy! If it were, it wouldn't have gotten to where it was SO BAD!! The point(s) of the deep-storage-first theory: (1) you can't organize the 'current' if you don't have a place to put the keepers, if the cabinet is stuffed full of college papers you can't file this years taxes, if the closet is packed with size 10s, you can't hang the size 14s that fit you now, etc etc -- and (2) the stuff has been in storage so long you have lost at least SOME of the emotional attachment, and sometimes ALL attachment (to the point you might wonder WHAT you were thinking when you stored it!).
There may have been more to it, but that it what I latched on to. Not that I immediately got started or anything! But I did see a little bit more light, looking through that lens.
Ciji wants you to start (after some initial steps that have to do with PLANNING the whole process) with a room that will have immediate impact on your life. But her example is not necessarily the "spot that is bothering you the most" -- I interpret or condense to say it should be some space that will be *relatively* fast, and be quite visible when done, so that you can SEE the accomplishment.
If you have no whole ROOM that will be fast, you break it down and make it a corner, a counter, or a drawer. But (thank heaven) she doesn't call it "baby steps", she quotes an actual person in HER [husband's] life and makes that the section slogan:
"Begin at once and do the best you can."
Besides thinking about your goals and making some lists, she also first has you get together specific tools. So this book is not ONLY about the philosophy/psychology, but the practical steps of right-sizing.
I am NOW, so enthralled that I am reading through it TOO fast! Obviously I will have to start again IMMEDIATELY (begin at once) and re-do it next time with the notebook and tools assembled!
But I am *really* inspired by the vision that is forming in my mind!
~'spin!~
Hi Again - The two books that I ordered came in yesterday. One is called, "It Is All Too Much" by Peter Walsh. I started reading that last night. Only got through a few pages but his writing style looks like one that will hold my attention long enough to actually get some things done.
Book number 2 is called "The Emotinal House" by Kathryn Robyn. Haven't opened it yet but am looking forward to getting some ideas from both books and hopefully make my de-cluttering easier.
