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Post by larataylor on Sept 16, 2014 17:30:38 GMT -5
I like giving nice things to the thrift shop, too. And I love giving things to people who actually need that thing.
But I'm wary of giving anything to someone who already has clutter, unless it's something that could help them!
I like consumable gifts.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 19, 2014 9:06:18 GMT -5
My four cats were all rescued kittens … the last one we almost ran over … he was playing Frogger on a big road. He was about a month old.
But no more!
While decluttering, I found a big, long black wool coat that I got after my aunt died. It's an awesome coat, and super warm, but it's sustained a bit of moth damage. It takes up too much room, though, and I never wear it. So what to do with this incredibly warm, imperfect coat? I thought of the homeless. I looked for a charity that helps the homeless, and found a Vietnam vet charity that picks up donations. So I scheduled a pickup, and started gathering stuff for them.
I put the coat on a chair near the front door. Of course my one light-haired cat (other three are black) took up residence on it, covering it with white and gray hair. And she barfed on it, too. Argh! I can't afford dry-cleaning, and I have to figure out how to clean *and dry* it before Monday.
Yes, a home with pets will always have a lot more cleaning problems.
I clean house for a friend who is allergic to her own dog but will not part with her clutter, which makes the problem so much worse. I will spend an hour cleaning dust and hair from a room that could take five minutes if it were uncluttered.
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Post by aa on Sept 19, 2014 10:21:38 GMT -5
We moved in March to a house that is basically double the size of our previous house. I couldn't keep 1,680 square foot clean, how was I going to manage over 3,000 square foot? Only by really parring down our stuff! And I continue to strive to keep it so that there is plenty of room for my kitties to roll around all they want.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 19, 2014 12:29:36 GMT -5
aa - downsizing to live in a bigger house? That just ain't NORMAL. I love it, though! I love space. WTG not filling it up.
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Minimalism
Sept 19, 2014 16:39:23 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by lostchild on Sept 19, 2014 16:39:23 GMT -5
aa - downsizing to live in a bigger house? That just ain't NORMAL. I love it, though! I love space. WTG not filling it up. I downsized and am living in larger place than before. I understand went from three bedroom to four bedroom with yards.
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Post by dayeanu on Sept 19, 2014 16:39:55 GMT -5
aa - downsizing to live in a bigger house? That just ain't NORMAL. I love it, though! I love space. WTG not filling it up. It's "normal" here!
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Post by aa on Sept 19, 2014 22:35:56 GMT -5
I would have stood no chance without doing it.
And I know next Spring I'll have even more to put in a garage sale - things that made the first cut but I haven't ended up using them as much as I thought I would. Either my mother will have a sale or the volunteer fire department will have one and I'll donate.
Right now one of my hardest things is not just putting something in a closet or cupboard where I have plenty of room, but I'll forget about it.
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Post by lostchild on Sept 20, 2014 1:08:31 GMT -5
I used to save for garage sales and stuff but I find I don't want to do the work and I don't want to store the stuff waiting for the time the neighborhood has the annual one!
Now I just donate immediately. Tax write off as much or more than I would get having a sale.And they store the stuff!!!
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Post by hurricane on Sept 20, 2014 8:35:02 GMT -5
When I was younger I was somewhere near maximalism (but I've not faced the challenges of being a hoarder).....then I went all the way to super-stark minimalism, and now I've gone up to having a little bit more decorative stuff around.
Maximalism was way too hard to maintain as the cleaning involved tons of moving crap around and washing far too many items to keep them looking good...even stuff behind glass will get dusty eventually. I do say it was rather pleasing to my eye though. You'd walk around my house and there was something pretty to discover in every corner. I LOVE to be in other peoples homes who decorate like that!
Then I became disabled and had problems cleaning and keeping things in good repair, and went to ridiculously stark minimalism. While that was really easy to maintain and my house was spotless at all times, it was sort of depressing. It's hard (for me at least) to feel comfortable in such an extremely bare environment....I felt my personality was being suppressed. But the ease of maintaining was so wonderful I stayed minimalist for nearly a decade.
For the past two yeas I've been slowly adding some decorative touches around the house....slooooooowly. I need to make sure I don't go overboard and become unable to maintain. Overall though I love having a few pretty things around to enjoy. Some of my decorations are seasonal, and that seems to be when you can get yourself into some storage problems for the off-season stuff. You have to be careful not to use up all your storage on decorative stuff, as you need that space for everyday living things too. I've found seasonally decorating to be a bit dangerous if there's not much storage at your place.
I suspect if someone were to walk in my house today they'd say I definitely have less stuff than most people, but still with a few artistic touches here and there. I'm still fine-tuning how much I can have around before maintenance becomes an issue.
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Post by dayeanu on Sept 20, 2014 9:08:16 GMT -5
I am finding this thread particularly interesting right now, as I am cleaning Mother's house. She has almost 0 clutter throughout, but she has SO MUCH STUFF. And much of it is intricate stuff. Difficult to clean. Furniture that is 8 ft. tall. Lots of carving, lots of little intricate gaps - which are of course dust catchers. Lots of delicate figurines. She does have clutter in her closets and on her desks. Her magazine baskets have home decor magazines from the 1960's - 1980's. But she considers those collectibles, and she does re-read them from time to time, particularly if they feature something like she owns.
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Post by dtesposito on Sept 20, 2014 9:39:38 GMT -5
She has almost 0 clutter throughout,
Daye, I think that depends on how you define clutter. If you define it as empty food wrappers, or items that haven't been put away where they belong, then no--but if you define it as more stuff than you need which gets in the way of cleaning, then your view of it changes.
As I'm paring things down in here, I've shocked myself this past month by removing some of my decorative items from my mantel and bookshelves. These are things I really love, so I never considered them "too much"--I really do love all of them. But as I'm getting clear spaces elsewhere, these cluttered groups of things--even though each item is purposeful and loved--look different to me--they look like too much. I was able to donate some of the items, the rest I still can't get rid of so I put them in a storage bin for now.
I have to say it looks "less cluttered" now, even though I didn't think of any of those items as "clutter".
Diane
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Post by larataylor on Sept 20, 2014 10:56:19 GMT -5
I help my older neighbor with cleaning sometimes. Her upstairs is full of decorative stuff, but well-kept and clean (her daughter helps her clean, too). It's interesting to look at … nice things collected over a lifetime, with stories behind them. I love that. But I can't have that in my house. And her basement was an inspiration to me. About as big as my own, but very stark and empty of clutter. There's a den for the grandkids, laundry area, piano, and some small, undecorated guest rooms. A friend who came to visit said she liked my glass-front cabinet crowded with knick-knacks. It's like an I-Spy picture that invites you to look in and find things. I should probably get it all out once a year and dust everything. When I have a deep-cleaning schedule
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Post by lostchild on Sept 20, 2014 11:15:42 GMT -5
I found in my storage pictures. My daughter asked last night why we have no pictures on the wall... ( found one picture in house above hall bookshelf).
They are 4 ft tall by 3 ft across. I am going thru them to decide if I decorate with them or donate them.
If I decorate with them I have to have someone else help me hang them up! They are heavy. Will make a decision within 2 days.
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Post by dayeanu on Sept 20, 2014 12:09:49 GMT -5
lostchild I have nothing hanging on my walls, either!
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Post by larataylor on Sept 20, 2014 12:29:31 GMT -5
I have things hanging on the walls that were in the house when we moved in. Some have been replaced by our own things since then. What I would really like is a way to hang and rotate my daughter's artwork. And some of my own. I actually *sold* one of my paintings to a visiting friend for $40! That makes me a professional artist, right?
But hanging things need to be dusted, so I don't want too many. I would really like to add color to the house by painting the walls. I don't want it to look stark. I think decorative painting could offset the lack of knick-knacks. Though it might also interfere with what we wanted to hang … it might clash.
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