Closet Clutter Organization Crisis, haha.
Lisa Hansen
2 years ago
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bpath
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Does clutter make you feel anxious?
Comments (45)I have a lot of stuff on my kitchen counters, but I don't consider it clutter as we use it, like the toaster oven, the can opener, the cylinder full of utensils, hot shot, etc. Clutter to me is stuff that has a place, but isn't in it. We have only a few corners of clutter where they're supposed to go...like on the desk area in the kitchen with bills, catalogs and junk mail; like coats hanging on the hooks in the mud room that aren't hung up in the closet; like stacks of papers in the in box(s) on DH's desk. For the most part the clutter is kept at bay. Mainly because we both like the look of the rooms when they're neat and it does keep it less stressful. But we also designed in places for things to go. When we run out of room, that is not the sign to add more spaces, but the sign to clean out the existing ones. To ellendi and others with a coat issue, I'd suggest a 2-point tackle...1) add coat hooks where it's convenient to the door so you don't have to open the coat closet to hang them up and 2) tip the dining chairs on their side for a few days after installing the coat hooks so they can't be used as an alternative to the hooks until the new habit is formed. My gf lives in a 4 br colonial with the basement level garage, which only has room for 1 car as the other is full of stuff. Then you walk into the hallway which is very narrow as it's lined with stuff on both sides, past the laundry area which is stacked with unfolded laundry and around the corner to get to the stairs that go up. I never say anything, but every time we go through there, she makes a comment about needing to get to it, or about who's stuff it all is or whatever. I know it eats at her and stresses her out. She certainly doesn't need more stress in her life. I'd even offer to help her clean it up and organize it so the simple act of coming home doesn't cause her such fret, but I'm afraid she'd take it as criticism. Mind you, her adult son is living at home post college so is strong and capable of helping her with the heavy lifting. But somehow...an issue common to women?... she feels as if, as the mother, it's her responsibility and she doesn't enlist her children's help. And that is really the point of reducing clutter...the simple act of coming home should be welcoming, not stress inducing. Here is a link that might be useful: Why mess causes stress...See MoreHow do you manage with tiny closets & baths?
Comments (24)Ah, the "I love old houses but hate the lack of storage" ordeal...we can relate. We have an old 1920's tudor. We've expanded into our basement for more living space. We have storage on the upper beams of our garage. We, luckily, have attic space on the second and third level that offers additional storage room. Closets are small. Our roof was a complete tear off, unfortunately. Fortunately, we were able to expand an existing closet when the roof was redone, as it was previously dormered out. We expanded it into a walk in closet, which was cheap enough to do as they were already removing the entire roof. Keep furniture to scale. Overloading rooms with more furniture to add storage space is only going to make your rooms look more cramped. For that reason, I do not have a storage caddy above my toilet, especially considering my very small full bath. I would inset a new cabinet before I added a caddy, but that's just my taste and I always think caddy's appear like an afterthought. Just my opinion. My best advice if you are thinking of knocking walls out, get advice from an architect before doing so. There's nothing worse than walking into an old home with character where you can tell it doesn't have the proper "flow" to it due to bad choices and people trying to make it into something it's not. The worst is seeing a contemporary style decorating in a period home, and we've seen plenty of those in our home searches. We go through our closets annually and send any clothing we haven't worn in the past year to goodwill. Same thing with items in the house. Periodic decluttering is absolutely necessary, and the donations each year are a nice tax write off. Spring cleaning is a nice time to declutter annually. Craigslist is a nice way to advertise items for "free" if you want to get rid of them curbside, fast. Anything I've posted has been claimed within a few hours....See MoreWhen is it OK to just 'throw it away?'
Comments (69)Whew! I'm tired just reading. DH and I got married in our late 30's and had to combine stuff. My son and I were moving into "his" condo and it just didn't occur to him to do any more than push some clothing down the rod. It was more like he gave us the space of an overnight guest. It took us several years to really make the transition. Of course, my biggest interest was in getting rid of his bachelor funiture and he fought me all the way. I just got rid of the last piece this summer. Much easier to decide which coffee pot was the newest and best to keep. But deciding if my fabric got space vs his books? Oh, man, that caused a few go-arounds. Luckily, he had an office building and we knew we would be househunting fairly soon, so quite a bit went into storage. I really shouldn't have kept any of it. Gloria...See MoreMaster bedroom without dresser or chest?
Comments (16)We are going to try to downsize to one dresser in our new house. In our old house we each had a dresser plus our shared closet. New house closet is about the same size - maybe smaller. However, we’ve been living for 11 months with 1/3 of our clothes- the rest in storage. It’s been eye opening - so many clothes & shoes we don’t miss!! Our plan is to donate the bulk of what’s in storage when we unpack and eliminate a dresser. Wish us luck!...See MoreJulie Hazard
2 years agoLisa Hansen
2 years agograywings123
2 years agoLisa Hansen
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2 years ago
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