Getting Real: Reigning in Clutter Around the House
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I’ve been dreading doing this for some time, but can no longer stand the chaos which reigns in our house. It robs me of peace and joy. As overwhelming as it is to tackle it all, I have reached the point where action HAS to happen.
I have started to purge all the baby and toddler stuff from the house. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems to create more mess than not as I have boxes of things I’d like to sell sitting in the area of the living room near our front door.
Here’s the ‘getting real’ part…pictures of the chaos in some rooms. Sadly, there are more rooms that are cluttered and clogging our means of being productive than rooms which leave you feeling calm.
It has been a while since J moved down to the ‘big boy room’ yet his old room has managed to explode with stuff. My dream is to have a small office space and store our exercise gear here instead of near the living room TV. I’d also like to get rid of all the paper clutter in the main living space. However, that seems to multiply if I’m not constantly on it every day.
How do you tackle such a monster? One bite at a time!
I’ve decided that whatever isn’t sold this week will be donated. I’ve managed to sell my cloth diaper stash (at a bargain basement price!) as well as some new Tupperware pieces and toddler clothes. But, I can not hold on forever and figure local charities can benefit instead of my being a storage facility.
As for the paper monster, I’d love suggestions. I am working on control binders to house important papers. (Am I the only one who loses those little sheets?? Or checks??)
Eventually, I will need to continue working on the school / play room with books culled off the shelves so there is space for what we truly need.
This whole process involves trust and letting go. I can too easily talk myself into saving things ‘just in case’, yet by doing so I not only rob myself of potential blessings but become a hoarder when others could better use the resources.
Now that I’ve put it out there, I’d love some accountability at tackling this aspect of homemaking which fills me with dread. Anyone else up to the challenge?
Do you find chaos taking over your house?
How do you manage juggling the multiple rolls and still keep a decent house?
I always tell myself it has to get worse before it gets better. My kids are all grown making it easier to get rid of things. My rooms looked like yours quite often when my kids were younger. I never figured out a way to juggle it all but often wish I had.
My problem is having stuff that I don’t want to get rid of because I think I will use it “one day.” I need to get over that and throw some stuff out!
I find that once I commit and do whatever it takes to get it done, once it’s done I really want to keep it neat. That’s a great motivator. Best of luck! There is no way out, but, through it! One room at a time.
I have rooms that look just like that, but I am not brave enough to take a picture of them and post them online! We have way too much stuff, and homeschool books are the one I am trying to get rid of now. My youngest is in 10th grade, and I still have stuff from elementary school!
I TOTALLY needed this! My house pretty much always looks like a bomb went off. Hey, I’ve got three dogs with the energy of six. What are you gonna do?
Jennifer,
My comment mirrors yours exactly! Three big dogs, work, blogging, singing – who has time for housework? I needed this too. For the past four days I’ve been having a conversation with myself (I’m the only one who will listen) about getting my literal and physical houses in order.
Laura, great post, and I may be taking that challenge with you in the very near future!
The clutter in my house causes me some serious anxiety. It’s getting worse and worse. Every time, one of us comes home, we bring in more stuff! Our house is very, very small so I think that is the biggest problem. I have no advice for paper (I have a filing cabinet that works pretty well but that needs cleaned out too!) but I read this tip once about clothes. It said to hang all your clothes hangers one way and at the end of 6 months or a year, if there are hangers that haven’t been turned, you’ll probably never wear them again and should get rid of them. I thought it was a neat idea.
My big obstacle for clothing is keeping stuff that is a size up and down from my current size just in case.
We do not have a small house any more, although this one is not done well for storage (attic has small, inconvenient access; finished basement had no storage built in the LARGE rec room, etc.) Homeschooling multiple ages doesn’t help at all.
Glad I am not alone with the waves of anxiety over the chaos.