Yes you can! I wish I had an empty shelf - have to get rid of some junk so I will have one, too! It must be a real sense of pride to have ONE shelf with NOTHING on it - what self-descipline!

I'm getting to the point where I'd like to have MANY empty shelves. Can't stand clutter or "collections"......except snowmen at Christmas time! :)

What's the use of a shelf if it's empty? Lolz to Mcpeg, go ahead and treasure that shelf sitting on the floor, enjoy!

Why thank you! It's gonna be on the floor for awhile since I need to find space for it first! Hahahahahahaahahahaaa.

I know, I'll slide it under the bed - might help me sleep better.

Who dreams up this stuff anyway? I watched a few episodes online of the Hoarders last night - I've been motivated since I got up.

I love the concept! In fact, we inherited an end table and a dry sink from my mother a couple of years ago, and I have yet to put anything into them (they replaced a sofa table and end table that didn't have any drawers). It feels like riches to have a space to use whenever I want, like having money in the bank.

I have to admit that during the past 2 years, I've been winnowing out my accumulation of stuff -- trashing, donating or giving away stuff. It's a liberating feeling!!! My next emphasis will be on the basement AHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

lol that would last 5 minutes in my house...

I'll be screaming AHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!! when I hit my basement boxes from our move...in our new home we have no basement.

AHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

But, it is actually liberating to get rid of stuff. We are brutally facing this and knew we wanted to do this for the last year or so. Hoarders scares the sh!t out of me and the filth of these places. Where's the calamine lotion I'm itchy all over now.

I have been cleaning out stuff for the last five years a bit here and there I read a quote once and am trying to do it~~'Have nothing in your home you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful' William Morris

Another one I have been living by is 'Do all that is needed and little as possible' This one helps alot with stress since I am an over do'er;)

The concept makes sense to me.

When we recently cleaned out the pantry, we ended up with an empty shelf, which thrilled me no end! I sometimes put something on it temporarily, then it's empty again. That has never happened in this house before.

Also, I cleaned out the bedroom closet and now have an empty clothes rack! Another thrill!

But an empty shelf laying on the floor, no, that just breaks my heart. LOL

"A place for everything and everything in its place" is the motto I go with. If you're going to have an empty shelf just for the sake of having it, why not buy an extra chair that no-one can sit it, food that won't be eaten, sheets that will never be used, a tree that will never be planted, a rug that will never be walked on, stationery that will never be sent, and clothes that are 3 sizes too small? LOL!

Hey this is a joke! I'm having fun with the idea.

My shelves actually have a wall destination but have not been installed yet. We've just been 1 month in our new home after being conned by our first builder. There should have been kitchen cupboards, beautiful wall storage cupboards with bookshelves, glass display etc but we ran out of building funding.

C'mon, have some fun with me. I'd never have a shelf just sitting around.

Cheers,
McPeg

I would love to have an empty shelf--or table--or drawer.
Anything. But if Harry sees an empty spot he'll put some damned thing on it just to drive me nuts!

An empty shelf means you're well organized, cleaned up, and not cluttered. It's a good thing.

I love the concept Peg. And about wondering where to put all, I will be in that situation sometime in the summer..... after the divorce is final, and I have a new to me permanent place to live.

Right now, I know where some things are in storage, but overall, it overwhelms me.

Moni

Is it okay to have that empty shelf full of empty boxes, or is that defeating the concept ??

I don't have an empty shelf, but I do have some shelves with room on them for whatever I might want to put there.. if I want to..

A couple of years ago, I decided to get rid of the clutter and boring aspects of our home.. First was declutter and donate or toss anything we hadn't used in two years. Then again we did it, but this time get rid of what we didn't use in 12 months.. (Heirlooms excluded) After I found that it was soooo liberating to do this, I decided to add some personality in our home ... and put Color on the walls !! No more boring as mud "painters white" walls... I went to Lowes, and chose a color palette and went home to figure out how much of each color I would need.. and went to work... Wow !! Now I feel so good when I look around and see the clutter gone and lots of personality on our walls..

I am making it a practice to declutter all that creeps in during the year too...

I have a half dozen of those clear rubbermaid bins to put stuff to be recycled, donated, or put in a yare sale.. and so far so good..

Carolyn

Moni, after 6 months in a weekend trailer the house overwhelmed both of us...the our stuff came. One box, one moment, one thing at a time. Persistence pays off. And Moni it's hard to do when you are emotional. We're here to support you all the way and we'll help you through that too.

Cheri2008 if it's your empty shelf then what you do with it is your pleasure. If I have to use shelves my dream is that they are organized to please the eye but not to the point of becoming obsessive. What if those boxes are pretty? If they are just junk boxes, keep looking for that empty shelf I'd say.

"I would love to have an empty shelf--or table--or drawer.
Anything. But if Harry sees an empty spot he'll put some damned thing on it just to drive me nuts!"

Don't I know it!! DH is obsessed with filling in any space - table or wall. We have a sofa table that I would just as soon get rid of, but NO, its a place to put more stuff. Wants to hang pictures just to fill in the spaces. OMG, drives me crazy too!!!

We have a shed that is full - he wants to get a new, larger shed "for storage"..Jeez, I want to scream!!! Want to know how much TP and Kleenex we have??????? I want to reclaim the linen closet where all this stuff is stored. What's with these men?????

I have been trying to get rid of things I do not use for 2 years .I love it when I take something to the thrift store ,I do not come home with any thing!!!!!!LOL!!!!!!

Wantoretire_did - would you say your husband has hoarding issues? My eldest sister does. Seriously. I have no idea what to do in your case and I can only guess it's a very touchy subject. Is there anyway you could talk to your doctor to see if you can approach this issue professionally? That would drive me crazy. My 'soul sista' girlfriend's DH has the same problem - he's filled a barn. Very touchy subject there only she told him the barn is his. Anything in excess he brings home has to go in the barn because they have a small, beautiful home which she has put her foot down on excess stuff coming through the door. And she's told him they are not spending more money on further storage for this issue. But that's their journey.

Nanatricia - keep at it. I've been sorting through crawlspace boxes for the last 5 years, bringing up boxes that were DH's to sort through keeping in mind we wanted to move to our land soon. DH is the family accountant and exceptionally good at squirreling away money - our attitude that worked was 'how much will it cost us to move this junk to take up space in his promised workshop?' because our junk was not going in the house. Persistence. Don't lose faith, just keep at it. LOL.

Cheers,
Peggy

Wantoretire_did, DH was a child of the depression when nobody threw anything out. Plus, a mess doesn't bother him. I started just throwing out stuff if it sits around for more than two days.

DH is 83 so isn't going to change now. Certainly not a hoarder, just a few very irritating things. He is extremely tidy and clean. We do differ on many things, but I've learned to live with it and have my say on occasion. I choose my battles.

Ahhh. At this point I get it. Both myself and DH tend to camp out around our chairs with 'stuff'. For him it's computer books - he's always studying. Me it's usually gardening magazines, books and of course our laptops. My constant challenge though is 'surface clutter' on tables.

Did somebody say,

"Two ...

... days"!!

ole joyful