The Decluttering Dilemma
By Steve Sharp
My wife and I have to move out of our house for perhaps a year whilst it undergoes repair and refurbishment.
This was not something we planned for but a decision thrust upon us by ‘an escape of water’ under the ground floor quietly causing severe damage, of which more another time.
Ever the optimists we went in search of silver linings, one of which was the opportunity to have a good old clear out.
A quick scan around the cupboards, wardrobes, study, bookshelves and the shed, revealed a fantastic opportunity to fill a skip with all our junk, and give us that longed for feeling of wellbeing that the de-cluttering experts bang on about.
“Ask yourself what items you actually use – and ditch the rest.”
“Say goodbye to everything you haven’t worn in over a year”
… are just two of the top 50 tips.
Another comes under the heading “Someone else’s stuff”
And suggests that if your kids have established their own households its time for them to pick up their stuff!
Empowered by the promised emotional benefits and the impending arrival of a removal van, we set about our task with gusto… and immediately ran into a snag.
Starting with our wardrobes, and with the “not worn it for a year” rule ringing in our ears, we found plenty of culprits and pulled them out for disposal.
Examining each one and sometimes trying them on brought back feelings of nostalgia, memories of occasions and even the expensive fashion mistake I still can’t bring myself to admit to.
They all made vivid memories just like treasured photographs.
Something with a hole in it perhaps could be repaired or repurposed? Make do and mend is back on trend!
The result was that virtually nothing remained on death row, with all but a few rags reprieved.
Memories on hangers
Feeling curiously smug about this failure, we moved on to the bookshelves, which groaned under the weight of fact and fiction, art and education and more coffee table books than we have coffee tables to accommodate.
Try throwing a book out! It’s virtually impossible. You bought it for a reason and the reason is still valid. Ok, a few found their way to the charity shop but this was hardly making an impact on our de-cluttering mission.
The same story repeated itself through every room and cupboard, and don’t even get me started on the shed!
When my Mum and Dad passed away and we cleared the house it was necessary to be firm about getting rid of stuff, but of course some of it came with us…Boxes of photographs, my Dad’s medals, and Mum’s favourite tea set. They are still in boxes and not seen daylight for over a year, but there is no way they are going in the skip. In fact there isn’t a skip. Very little has found its way out of the door, but best of all nothing has gone to landfill.
Everything has been justified as, useful, memorable, or likeable, and a final category, which we described as “I can’t say why but I just can’t let it go”
Steve