I will be back tomorrow to announce the winner of the special double sponsor giveaway (still time to enter if you haven’t already), but in the meantime, I have a little confession to share…
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I lied to you all.
Back in February I posted about how I love to clean up using a laundry basket.
I wrote:
When clutter overwhelms, I grab an empty laundry basket and fill it up with whatever random things are overtaking our space. Then later, once the calm has returned, I slowly sort through the basket and put things away, recycle or throw things out. Right now I have a basket stashed out of sight between our TV and the wall, and I have no idea what it currently contains. At some point, when I am watching TV, I will begin to sort through it. But for now, I am very grateful that all horizontal surfaces in our living room are clutter-free!
Ummm…yeah. This is NOT what I do. This is what I have read in a number of cleaning and organizing books that I am supposed to do.
What I really do is this:
Get overwhelmed by the state of clutter in our house. Run around like a crazy person picking everything up (often cursing anyone and anything that crosses my path while I’m doing it). Attempt to sort through the pile I’ve collected. Realize that I don’t know where collected items go. Tell myself I should throw them away. Cringe at the thought of throwing “perfectly good stuff” away. Put the box aside to go through it later.
Feel really good about how clean our space looks. Promise myself that I’m not going to let it get so cluttered again.
Get sick of looking at the box of miscellaneous clutter, which I never find time to sort through. Move it somewhere out of sight – the back room, the basement, the tiny space between our TV and the wall.
Rinse and repeat.
This photo is from October. See that little basket next to the TV cabinet. Yup. That’s the one I put there in FEBRUARY!!!
I’m happy to say that as of this week it is no longer there. And waiting six months to go through it sure made things go quickly. Expired coupons – recycle. Paperwork from daycare – kids don’t go there anymore, recycle. Shoes that Lily doesn’t wear but I really wished she would – not her size anymore, pass on to a friend.
Once this basket was empty, I began to notice other ”clutter time capsules” most of which reside in our basement. I was down there the other day sorting (again) and trying to figure out how a basement that was nearly entirely purged this summer is once again starting to look and feel cluttered.
What I’ve learned is this: I’m really good at clearing space and making things “look nice” but not so good at efficiently and effectively dealing with the miscellaneous stuff that I collect.
I’m working on it though. Noticing the clutter building, gently redirecting myself to the recycle bin when I attempt to save things just in case, turning things away at the door before they become clutter I have to deal with, creating new homes for things I do want to save.
And coming clean, both to you and myself, about my little white laundry basket lie.
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I love your confession post. My favorite one was the People magazine one. They tell me you are real. And, I live for real : ) My white baskets are still full of my kids clothes and laundry was done on Monday.
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Clutter is the dragon that slays my keep! (Can you tell where our reading has been taking us lately?!). Every available surface it seems fills up with papers and stuff. No one ever wants to touch it and every time we do clean it we vow not to let it happen again, only to have it restore itself in a matter of days. Sigh!!!
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Just sitting at the computer here I can turn to my left and see three pairs of footwear that need to be relocated to the fairly accessible hand-it-down shoe bin and then turn to my right and see a pile of papers that have been gathering since September. Honestly, I think I enjoy letting the clutter get slightly out of control because then when I finally do get to dealing with it: 1) It’s easier to deal with. Most of the stuff does get recycled and 2) I’m addicted to the satisfied feeling I get when the clutter is cleared. That my empty surfaces and space usually don’t last for even a week is not an issue. I’m gifted with the opportunity to eventually experience yet another clutter clearing high :-)
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Erin I love your confession posts! This one had me laugh out loud :-)
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Oh this describes my life so accurately! Baskets of stuff, I put aside till later, shuffled from place to place in the hope they will just disappear – next year will be different! But hey I think I said that last year and possibly the year before!! Thanks for sharing this and letting me know I ‘m not the only one :)
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We did a major purge this summer when we were getting our home appraised. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let things get back to their former state. It is just as bad or worse now. From reading the above…you/ we are in good company.
Also, I think we have the same wood stove. Is yours a Jotul? We love ours.
blessings~
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Erin, I arrived to your site a few weeks ago, and I wanted to thank you for the inspiration and the beauty you are sharing.
I enjoy it so much, and more then once reading here had inspired me deeply. Thank you, ronit (from Israel). -
Thanks for that confession; it helps to know I am not alone. When I read the title I thought it was going to be a confession even closer to my heart. You see my laundry basket confession is that the laundry baskets in our home generally live under the mountain of clean clothes on the floor of our bedroom. The sad thing is Little Guy (not yet two) knows that’s where you go looking for clothes and has perfected a on the knees scoop with both arms action for looking for a shirt. It is currently in a fairly good state for us as I addressed some of it this week, but there are clean clothes in the dryer and I know where they are going.
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Oh boy. I can relate. We are in the middle of a cleaning and purging cycle. I don’t want to put up any Christmas decorations in the midst of all this clutter. Threw out piles of old Mother Earth News, Kitchen Garden, and Weston Price Journals that I’ve been saving “just in case”. After going on my Cursillo retreat I’ve been feeling more and more the desire to live with less stuff. The biggest issue I’m struggling with is paper…huge daily influx of catalogs, not quite junk mail, etc. The “deal with later” pile grows very rapidly. Trying to set up a “mail station” with one basket for daily incoming mail, right next to recycle bin and files. I read somewhere that the secret to dealing with paper is to handle it only once. Pay the bills, file, and recycle every day! If I can ever get caught up and organized that is the system I want to implement!
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Were we separated at birth? No one knew my dark little secret as I am the master of hiding my clutter for LATER, which is the deep recesses of my basement. I’ve started confessing to people and it does feel good. They say they don’t believe me but I’ve yet to let them see the “basement”
Let’s work this into the teleclass!
Maybe you should get rid of all your laundry baskets?
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I loved this. Yay, authenticity! :)
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We may have been separated at birth. Thanks for sharing…and clicking by today on my site.
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Oh Erin, thank you for your honesty! I do similar things sometimes. I keep so much of the house neat and tidy (I really must!) but there can be those few things, or spots, that sit neglected for ridiculously long times!
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oh, i am laughing at the computer, erin. we are all about tidy, but absolutely have pockets of clutter. we were just talking last night about needing a chunk of time, without kids, to sort and purge. oh and let’s not even talk about cleaning. i am super frugal, but am soooo tempted to hire someone to dust and wash our windows!
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com -
Love your confession post. Thanks for coming clean. I often do the same and promise not to be so hard on myself because everyone elses house isn’t like Martha Stewarts.
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Ha! This sounds so familiar. I tend to pile the misc. clutter on my washer & dryer. Yesterday, the mountain on top hit a new level and came tumbling down during a rinse cycle. I guess I’ll have to tackle it … soon. I read once that giving these “hot spots” 5 minutes of attention at a time helps to get through it. It’s taking on the whole mess at once that is so overwhelming.
PS – I sent a little package your way yesterday… expected to arrive on Monday.
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I just move piles to make new piles. It’s always nice to hear truths from a “real” mom.
I especially relate to, “Get overwhelmed by the state of clutter in our house. Run around like a crazy person picking everything up (often cursing anyone and anything that crosses my path while I’m doing it)”
Not that this is something I love about myself, but certainly makes me feel better I’m not alone :)
Thanks!
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my husband hides clutter for later. i found a whole roomful of it in the basement. it gives me hives. i don’t mean that i don’t *have* clutter, but that HIS hidden clutter should be more well hidden. i keep a box (orla kiely–for target) of clutter in my kitchen. it’s where i put my yogurt coupons, photos my parents sent me, and other stuff that is garbage but that is also not quite.
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Clutter is so viral, spreading and multiplying and infecting…and yet so human!
Thanks for showing us your humanity. Your blog is really sweet.
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Clutter is so viral, spreading and multiplying and infecting…and yet so human!
Thanks for showing us your humanity. Your blog is really sweet.
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Hi Erin
Here at boarding school I met two really cool friends and we started a blog! It’s
theskytheykeep.blogspot.com
If you have time take a look!
Lily Bell
ps- at school I have found that if you have a really small space it is easier to keep it clean. but maybe this dosn’t work in a house… -
Don’t we all do this? LOL I actually have two bags full of stuff I got out of my car. I pass by them every time I come in the house! :)
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I laughed out loud when I read this! I can only say that – it’s too bad you do this. You’re TOTALLY alone…
Ok, that’s a complete lie!
Yay! You’re normal. ;-)
It’s nice to hear someone else does this. I get completely overwhelmed by clutter and often find myself staring at it and wondering how it all got there. Thanks for making me feel less like a crazy person.
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