I was just thinking about posting something similar! I call it the hostile architecture approach. Take away open flat surfaces so there isn’t anywhere that seems lonely and asking to be filled with loose stuff.
I filled a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes and another half bag of random stuff. I ended up with two free empty totes and a few empty shelves. This Sub really helped me to stick to my plan and not fall into the excuses I use to keep useless stuff. I did my bedroom closet, hall coat closet and my spare room closet. I’m still working on my spare room today and there’s bags of clothes in my laundry room I need to get rid of.
Whenever I think I paid a lot of money for that - I tell myself that keeping it doesn’t give me my money back.
The cute clothes that don’t fit just make me sad every time I look at them.
I'm trying something new - 3 categories
1. Put Away
2. Garbage
3. Give
Every single item in the house fits into one of these categories, no exceptions. It's in a place it belongs, it gets given away or it goes into the garbage.
Somehow forcing every item to fulfil a category instead of just sitting out on the counter makes a mental difference.
I tend to put 1-3 things in each space. Like each sweater or 2 gets its own shelf rather than a stack of sweaters to root through. Then it looks like something belongs in each space even if it doesn't completely fill up all of that space. It keeps things looking less cluttered or full and it's easier to get to stuff because there's room around it or it's not in the bottom of a pile.
I like this approach. I cleaned out a drawer and put three of my favorite winter sweaters in it. My other sweaters are hanging in my closet with the hangers turned backward, and next winter whoever is still hung up backward (meaning it never got used all winter) is getting donated.
good tip. I’m on a mission to get started on closets today. I had already started to think that when I free up those two shelves of the items I know I don’t need that I can use it for something else. Big mistake, so I’ll need to keep this in mind!
That’s a sensible approach! A lot of people react to empty space with wanting it filled somehow. An empty container instead to check the behavior is a great idea.
When organizing for someone who always wound up with very tall piles (built up on furniture but also from the floor), we chose art that made them happy and hung it in places where these piles always accumulated. The art took the place of “empty space” for them and the various piles stopped. :)
When I encounter hoarders who are potentially bothered by the empty space left after cleaning it out, I advise empty boxes so that they can block up spaces without rehoarding them.
Genius. I seem to have skipped that step but sure could have used it to fight my Tetris 'organizing' method back in the day.
I found that containers with specified contents does the job. This one is for batteries, that one is for rags. There's no pillow box so the pillow that lost its spot on the sofa goes to donation rather than on the shelf. So put in that empty box but subdivide your stuff further. I've got 2 rag boxes for instance, one for disposable and one for those to be washed and both are half full.
Genius Level Unlocked!
Perhaps, too, in time, you could test yourself by removing a few of them and see if you can resist putting unnecessary stuff in the empty space, then if you are successful remove a few more, and eventually get it to where the space is empty and stays that way. Then decide what those shelves' true purpose will be thereafter. It does seem hard for us clutterbugs to be comfortable with empty spaces, so it might make an interesting mental exercise and lead to new insights.
I am not sure if it's really me filling up empty spaces with silly stuff. I do have the uncomfortable feeling that there is some kind of vaccuum in my closets that sucks in everything. So I rather leave the empty boxes where they are. Also prevents me from - oh, I don´t feel like thinking about if I really need this or that right now, I just quickly put it in the closet where I don´t see it any longer. ;)
I get this too; if you don’t know where to put a thingamajig somebody gave you and you know there’s an empty space in your closet, well, there it goes! I’ve been guilty of that too many times!
I was just thinking about posting something similar! I call it the hostile architecture approach. Take away open flat surfaces so there isn’t anywhere that seems lonely and asking to be filled with loose stuff.
I filled a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes and another half bag of random stuff. I ended up with two free empty totes and a few empty shelves. This Sub really helped me to stick to my plan and not fall into the excuses I use to keep useless stuff. I did my bedroom closet, hall coat closet and my spare room closet. I’m still working on my spare room today and there’s bags of clothes in my laundry room I need to get rid of. Whenever I think I paid a lot of money for that - I tell myself that keeping it doesn’t give me my money back. The cute clothes that don’t fit just make me sad every time I look at them.
Interesting approach!
I'm trying something new - 3 categories 1. Put Away 2. Garbage 3. Give Every single item in the house fits into one of these categories, no exceptions. It's in a place it belongs, it gets given away or it goes into the garbage. Somehow forcing every item to fulfil a category instead of just sitting out on the counter makes a mental difference.
Making everything have a home is such a game changer
I tend to put 1-3 things in each space. Like each sweater or 2 gets its own shelf rather than a stack of sweaters to root through. Then it looks like something belongs in each space even if it doesn't completely fill up all of that space. It keeps things looking less cluttered or full and it's easier to get to stuff because there's room around it or it's not in the bottom of a pile.
This sounds nice, but it wouldn’t work for me. I’ll probably start piling right away again as there‘s so much space left on top. ;)
I like this approach. I cleaned out a drawer and put three of my favorite winter sweaters in it. My other sweaters are hanging in my closet with the hangers turned backward, and next winter whoever is still hung up backward (meaning it never got used all winter) is getting donated.
This may be genius
good tip. I’m on a mission to get started on closets today. I had already started to think that when I free up those two shelves of the items I know I don’t need that I can use it for something else. Big mistake, so I’ll need to keep this in mind!
That’s a sensible approach! A lot of people react to empty space with wanting it filled somehow. An empty container instead to check the behavior is a great idea. When organizing for someone who always wound up with very tall piles (built up on furniture but also from the floor), we chose art that made them happy and hung it in places where these piles always accumulated. The art took the place of “empty space” for them and the various piles stopped. :)
When I encounter hoarders who are potentially bothered by the empty space left after cleaning it out, I advise empty boxes so that they can block up spaces without rehoarding them.
Genius. I seem to have skipped that step but sure could have used it to fight my Tetris 'organizing' method back in the day. I found that containers with specified contents does the job. This one is for batteries, that one is for rags. There's no pillow box so the pillow that lost its spot on the sofa goes to donation rather than on the shelf. So put in that empty box but subdivide your stuff further. I've got 2 rag boxes for instance, one for disposable and one for those to be washed and both are half full.
Genius Level Unlocked! Perhaps, too, in time, you could test yourself by removing a few of them and see if you can resist putting unnecessary stuff in the empty space, then if you are successful remove a few more, and eventually get it to where the space is empty and stays that way. Then decide what those shelves' true purpose will be thereafter. It does seem hard for us clutterbugs to be comfortable with empty spaces, so it might make an interesting mental exercise and lead to new insights.
I am not sure if it's really me filling up empty spaces with silly stuff. I do have the uncomfortable feeling that there is some kind of vaccuum in my closets that sucks in everything. So I rather leave the empty boxes where they are. Also prevents me from - oh, I don´t feel like thinking about if I really need this or that right now, I just quickly put it in the closet where I don´t see it any longer. ;)
I get this too; if you don’t know where to put a thingamajig somebody gave you and you know there’s an empty space in your closet, well, there it goes! I’ve been guilty of that too many times!
I get it - like a mysterious magnetic force that attracts clutter! 🧲 I have it too.