I always seem to have that fear of becoming swamped in my own 'stuff' and am forever trying to palm people off with 'things'. The children used to be dreadful at bringing things into the house, if not for birthdays and Christmas then there is the constant flow of pre-loved clothing and passed on toys and games. Thankfully over the past year or so my training seems to be paying off and I witness them declining offers 'things' lest their bedrooms reach an un-manageable state of untidiness.
The festive period is always one where I feel I let the house go. The decorations go up, the furniture is moved around and new items seem to arrive, in general a sense of added clutter seems to take hold. Every year I feel that need to rid myself and re-home everything to start the new year a fresh.
This year I had my usual set of post-chrimbo plans; tree down, homes found for new gifts, out with the old...you know the sort of thing I mean. Then I received a late gift from one of my sister's which happened to be a book titled 'The life-changing magic of tidying' by Marie Kondo. Well admittedly part of me thought 'blimin cheek!' Don't people usually disagree with you when you comment about how messy your house is? Obviously not! My immediate reaction was to give the book away but then the pangs of guilt swept across my conscience, I mean I have read books on de-cluttering before, how many takes on ridding yourself of your junk can there be?
So reluctantly I started to read the book. I have to say that the author is so bossy! It is not a book that I have enjoyed but I have laughed at some of the sections especially the bit that refers to 'the wardrobe'. Haha!!
Clothes should be ordered from largest to smallest - left to right, heavy bulky items on the left and light floaty numbers on the right.....
Well......I am too embarrassed to reveal the true unadulterated state of my rather dilapidated effort that is my wardrobe. But I can describe it.....It's one of those cheap pine constructions with a linen-look drape over the front. The rail is filled with hangers and the clothes are so tightly squished together that it takes brute force to extract an item. Nothing is ordered, winter and summer items are mixed and several items are crammed onto each hanger. I've sorted through the contents many times and what remains are the items that I wish to keep. There is not at this moment a single millimetre of space for any further garments and should I attempt to remove too may items at one time, I fear the whole thing will collapse before my eyes as it is quite possibly the force caused by the overfill that is keeping it held together. I rest my case!
THE book now sits on the shelf by my front door awaiting some other poor 'needy of decluttering' person to relieve me of it.
Clothes should be ordered from largest to smallest - left to right, heavy bulky items on the left and light floaty numbers on the right.....
Well......I am too embarrassed to reveal the true unadulterated state of my rather dilapidated effort that is my wardrobe. But I can describe it.....It's one of those cheap pine constructions with a linen-look drape over the front. The rail is filled with hangers and the clothes are so tightly squished together that it takes brute force to extract an item. Nothing is ordered, winter and summer items are mixed and several items are crammed onto each hanger. I've sorted through the contents many times and what remains are the items that I wish to keep. There is not at this moment a single millimetre of space for any further garments and should I attempt to remove too may items at one time, I fear the whole thing will collapse before my eyes as it is quite possibly the force caused by the overfill that is keeping it held together. I rest my case!
THE book now sits on the shelf by my front door awaiting some other poor 'needy of decluttering' person to relieve me of it.
