Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
What’s Your Clutter?
I’m on the way home from Montana, where I got to see (and covet) my sister’s newly renovated and very organized house and also give a reading at her local bookstore. Last month I was in Florida, helping my dad downsize, and next month I’m headed to Virginia for another reading. One thing all this traveling has made me think about is how different places and different stages of life have different types of clutter.
In Bozeman, where my sister lives, people’s biggest clutter issue tends to be sports equipment. They’re extremely outdoorsy: They have fishing rods and skis, skates and helmets, rafts and bikes, plus all kinds of bats and balls. All that stuff usually lives in the garage, but it’s all large, awkward stuff.
Meanwhile, one of my friends in Virginia jokes that their problem is too many heirlooms: mother’s china, grandma’s quilts, great-granddad’s shotgun. These kinds of things may not be as tricky to store as sporting equipment, but if they aren’t being used, they are taking up space. It can be hard to let go of them because of the sentimental attachments, but if you aren’t using these pieces, why are you hanging on to them?
No matter the size or the shape of your clutter, the same principles always apply. First, weed what you can: Maybe you upgraded your fishing rod but never got rid of the old one. Maybe you still use your mother’s china for special occasions, but you haven’t touched the silver serving pieces in years. The more you let go, the easier it will be to organize what remains.
When you get to the organizing stage, be pragmatic: Having all the ski stuff together is optimal, but sometimes it makes sense to put things together by shape to maximize space: baseball bats and fishing rods and skis might go together in a tall container, while the tackle box resides on a shelf and the helmets hang on the wall. Buying a shelf-organizer for your cabinet might make china easier to access and therefore more likely to be used.
Once you’ve found the best way to sort and store your stuff, the next trick is developing the habits that will help you keep it that way. But that’s for another newsletter.