I'm no doctor, but I know a few things about people's clutter: it makes people (including me) sneeze, itch, and sometimes BREAK OUT in a rash.
True.
I see it almost every time I help a client declutter: we start moving boxes out of the guest room or pulling dozens of hangers-full of clothes out of the master bedroom closet. "Aaaaachoooo!" Sniffle sniffle. Scratch scratch.
If you're not using something often enough so that it takes up storage space and does nothing for you but gather dust, attract bugs and mice, mold, mildew, and rust, then IT'S TIME TO LET IT GO.
For your health. It just might be making you sick.
Quite literally.
Now go get rid of some of it. You'll feel so much lighter and breathe freely when it's gone!
Showing posts with label Storage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Storage. Show all posts
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
A FEW OF MY NEW FAVORITE THINGS
Isn't it fun to stumble upon some new idea or product or system that transforms junk into something useful, makes your life easier, less cluttered, more beautiful?
Here are a few of my recent stumblings. I hope you enjoy this list as much as I did creating it. Remember: none of these things are "must-haves," just unique or creative or downright useful. Enjoy!
~ Decorative mulch from tumbled-smooth bits of broken terra cotta pots, glass bottles, mirrors, tile, or dinner plates. An artful way of recycling what others discard! Go here to buy in bulk, or use a tumbler to create your own (can also be used in funky jewelry design):
http://www.buildingresources.org/tumbled_glass.html
~ Mesh desk organizer for holding current files and projects. The most usable one, in my opinion. Spray paint it a sunny yellow, sage green, or whatever color you prefer, to match your desk accessories. Or leave it classic black. Go here: http://tinyurl.com/3hv32ph.
~ Storage baskets, useful and pretty. Go here: http://tinyurl.com/prettybaskets
~ Hanging days of the week (or activity) organizer (your choice of two colors). This is brilliant, especially for ADD/ADHD kids. Wish I would have had this when my boys were young! Velcro this handy hanging shelf system onto the rod of your kid's closet, and voila! Instant order. Well, almost. Kids can organize outfits for school by days of the week, or they can change the labels on the shelves to match their activities, and store related gear on the shelves, such as karate uniform, sheet music for lessons, even "things to take to Grandma's house." Go here: http://tinyurl.com/tidykidz
~ Love this spice rack. Sadly, my spices are no longer in matching containers, as I outgrew my previous wooden rack and now contain the jars in two plastic storage baskets in my baking cupboard. But this classy design will fill most any decor, and looks almost big enough for a spice nut like me. Go here: http://tinyurl.com/fancyspice
~ If you're wondering how to declutter loooong URL's to share with friends in emails or on your blog, well get thee to tinyurl.com. Simply cut and paste the long URL and the site reduces it to one much smaller. You can even customize the name, like I did with "tidykids" for the hanging organizer, and "fancyspice" for the spice rack.
Happy shopping (or tumbling, or organizing, or tiny URL-ing)!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
WHAT'S HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD?
How many storage areas do you have? Aside from closet spaces, do you have a garage, attic, off-site rented storage unit, barn, outbuilding, tool shed, old van packed to the headliner with junk, a nice little detached potting shed, or an "office" perhaps?
Next question: what are they full of? (You don't have to answer that out loud.)
Whatever the contents of your storage, much of the stuff you have stuffed in there is there for one reason: you are not currently using it.
Certainly, every household, except the most extremely minimalistic ones, requires storage for things used at different seasons ("seasonal storage"). Tents, coolers, float tubes, and waterproof radios are definitely summer time gear. Christmas lights, evergreen garlands from the craft store, and jingle bell door hangers sit in boxes in the garage until it's time to ring in the holiday season.
Those are seasonal "fun" items that simply need to be stored until the right time of the year rolls around for their use and enjoyment. But most of the stuff in storage is not being used, and it probably won't be. At least by you.
The real question to ask yourself about the things in your storage area(s) is: do I like this stuff enough to justify keeping it all year? Hard question to answer because you have a bunch of conflicting emotions and reasons for keeping all those items.
Do you know how to tell if you like something well enough to keep it? Simple. Pick one item in storage, and really look at it. Now ask yourself:
What is my emotional state while I'm looking at that thing?
If you're not feeling any positive emotions, such as happiness, delight, refreshing anticipation, pleasant memories, or peace, then OUT IT GOES.
The things in our lives should bring us only positive emotions, not negative ones. You don't have to keep things that you don't want! They're just stuff. Get 'em out of your life.
And if they're damaged in any way, well it just makes the decision even easier: OUT!
Here's a real life example:
A reader recently asked me what to do with the following items in her attic: bedding for out of town guests (used two to three times per year), travel mementos to be scrapbooked (she doesn't like to scrapbook), craft supplies she likes but rarely uses, and artwork that she likes but tires of after a few months.
She can now apply the above question to each of these items, and determine her emotional state when looking at each one. We all intuitively know what we like and what we don't like; our reasoning just gets in the way sometimes.
If my insightful new technique is not enough to REALLY get you motivated to deal with your stuff in storage, here are a few ways I would personally handle the things in my reader's attic, if I were her. (And consider the symbolism of stuff stored in the attic: hanging over your head, oppressing you with undone tasks, heavy burdens on your brain.)
For the futons, I would invite my guests to sleep on my sofa rather than clutter up my precious storage space with rarely used futons. Donate the futons to a battered woman's shelter. Or buy an air mattress that comes with its own electric air pump. They take up very little space in storage.
Throw a scrapbooking party for myself and ask my friends to help me make a travel scrapbook. I can share my adventures with friends while they help me do something I don't like to do, but that I want done. Friends make anything fun. Two hours later and it's finished! (And you'll think fondly of not only your travels but of the friends who helped you put the pages together each time you look through your scrap books.)
Or pay a stay-at-home mom turned scrapbook consultant to do it for you. Any scrapbooking store owner will have a list of people willing to help. It might cost a couple hundred dollars, but the results will be worth it, and you'll be helping a local family stay afloat in these tough economic times. Or buy pre-made travel scrapbook pages on ebay, and just paste the mementos in. Easy.
For craft supplies, as long as I love the things and use them (even once a year!), I would get rid of all the other stuff in storage that I don't like. Then I would make lots of room for the crafty things I do like. I would make sure that I have all the necessary tools and supports to enjoy my craft supplies, such as proper lighting, sufficient work areas/tables, and cute storage shelves, bins, and baskets.
Finally, for artwork I tire of, I would rotate not only the wall art every few months, but its placement in my home. One month the print from Provence would be in the dining room, the next month I might move it to the foyer or spare bedroom, and the third month I might put it in the attic until next year. And if I got really sick of it, I would use the frame for something else, or give it to a friend who helped me put my scrapbooks together, or repaint the frame, or donate the print and buy new artwork. Hey, we buy fresh flowers every so often, why not fresh artwork?
I hope you are inspired to create the storage areas of your dreams, and clear out what's hanging over your head!
Many blessings on you!
Next question: what are they full of? (You don't have to answer that out loud.)
Whatever the contents of your storage, much of the stuff you have stuffed in there is there for one reason: you are not currently using it.
Certainly, every household, except the most extremely minimalistic ones, requires storage for things used at different seasons ("seasonal storage"). Tents, coolers, float tubes, and waterproof radios are definitely summer time gear. Christmas lights, evergreen garlands from the craft store, and jingle bell door hangers sit in boxes in the garage until it's time to ring in the holiday season.
Those are seasonal "fun" items that simply need to be stored until the right time of the year rolls around for their use and enjoyment. But most of the stuff in storage is not being used, and it probably won't be. At least by you.
The real question to ask yourself about the things in your storage area(s) is: do I like this stuff enough to justify keeping it all year? Hard question to answer because you have a bunch of conflicting emotions and reasons for keeping all those items.
Do you know how to tell if you like something well enough to keep it? Simple. Pick one item in storage, and really look at it. Now ask yourself:
What is my emotional state while I'm looking at that thing?
If you're not feeling any positive emotions, such as happiness, delight, refreshing anticipation, pleasant memories, or peace, then OUT IT GOES.
The things in our lives should bring us only positive emotions, not negative ones. You don't have to keep things that you don't want! They're just stuff. Get 'em out of your life.
And if they're damaged in any way, well it just makes the decision even easier: OUT!
Here's a real life example:
A reader recently asked me what to do with the following items in her attic: bedding for out of town guests (used two to three times per year), travel mementos to be scrapbooked (she doesn't like to scrapbook), craft supplies she likes but rarely uses, and artwork that she likes but tires of after a few months.
She can now apply the above question to each of these items, and determine her emotional state when looking at each one. We all intuitively know what we like and what we don't like; our reasoning just gets in the way sometimes.
If my insightful new technique is not enough to REALLY get you motivated to deal with your stuff in storage, here are a few ways I would personally handle the things in my reader's attic, if I were her. (And consider the symbolism of stuff stored in the attic: hanging over your head, oppressing you with undone tasks, heavy burdens on your brain.)
For the futons, I would invite my guests to sleep on my sofa rather than clutter up my precious storage space with rarely used futons. Donate the futons to a battered woman's shelter. Or buy an air mattress that comes with its own electric air pump. They take up very little space in storage.
Throw a scrapbooking party for myself and ask my friends to help me make a travel scrapbook. I can share my adventures with friends while they help me do something I don't like to do, but that I want done. Friends make anything fun. Two hours later and it's finished! (And you'll think fondly of not only your travels but of the friends who helped you put the pages together each time you look through your scrap books.)
Or pay a stay-at-home mom turned scrapbook consultant to do it for you. Any scrapbooking store owner will have a list of people willing to help. It might cost a couple hundred dollars, but the results will be worth it, and you'll be helping a local family stay afloat in these tough economic times. Or buy pre-made travel scrapbook pages on ebay, and just paste the mementos in. Easy.
For craft supplies, as long as I love the things and use them (even once a year!), I would get rid of all the other stuff in storage that I don't like. Then I would make lots of room for the crafty things I do like. I would make sure that I have all the necessary tools and supports to enjoy my craft supplies, such as proper lighting, sufficient work areas/tables, and cute storage shelves, bins, and baskets.
Finally, for artwork I tire of, I would rotate not only the wall art every few months, but its placement in my home. One month the print from Provence would be in the dining room, the next month I might move it to the foyer or spare bedroom, and the third month I might put it in the attic until next year. And if I got really sick of it, I would use the frame for something else, or give it to a friend who helped me put my scrapbooks together, or repaint the frame, or donate the print and buy new artwork. Hey, we buy fresh flowers every so often, why not fresh artwork?
I hope you are inspired to create the storage areas of your dreams, and clear out what's hanging over your head!
Many blessings on you!
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