The Clutter Fairy Weekly Survey #159 Results
Big Projects | Paper Clutter | Part of the Landscape
Paper Clutter Self-exam
We asked our audience: Please select the statement that BEST describes your paper backlog.
Note: Hover over any piece slice to see the name of the category and the number of respondents who selected that answer. (Mobile users: Click on the slices for details.)
Then we asked: Please select the statement that BEST describes your ongoing relationship with incoming paper.
Responses to Essay Questions
To view the detailed survey response from any respondent, click on their name in the table below. (You may also find it easier to read long responses in the detailed view.)
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Please describe the largest long-term organizing project on which you’re currently working. | Describe an item or items that more objective eyes might see as clutter, but that have been “part of the landscape” for you for a while. | If there were no limits on budget, space, or available technology, what features would you like to see in a futuristic organized environment? | Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eve | Hahaha! Whole house. Actually 3 whole houses and 3 garages. | Since February I have had a pile of boxes from my son's move (discards of his, but useful supplies to me) in middle of my office. I have no space for them. | None of the above, just more energy and fewer commitments so I can stay on top of things like a normal person. | |
| Sara | Trying to create a paper system (or systems) that includes perhaps: a box for incoming paper mail and bills to go through weekly, and an archive of papers, divided into bigger buckets/loose categories. | There is an open box of rubber stamps to be used for arts and crafts. It is unsightly, but I can't think of where else it could go. | A desk that had two or three or more desktop surfaces, designed so that two or three different projects could be laid out, each on one desk top. So your stuff wouldn't be scrambled to put it away! | You have built a wonderful body of work, with 173 videos, and related work! (That would take a week to play them all, I think!). How are you going to steward this going forward? Brainstorming, I would try to appeal not only to those with issues surrounding their living spaces and inheritances, but also to persons seeking online, friendly company while they start, work on, and eventually complete almost any kind of project!! |
| Anonymous user | None | My bedroom has paper and books everywhere…stacks on floor etc | Anything that organizes paper or put systems in place | |
| Anonymous user | Clearing my two car garage so that cars can be parked in there. | Kitchen. Bookshelves and cheap floor standing white cabinets with doors line the walls of the eat-in kitchen (for storage). Stuff and baskets of stuff are on top of those bookshelves and cabinets. A chandelier — which *should* be centered over a round kitchen table, hangs in the air over the floor because there is *no* room for a table and chairs! My kitchen is functional and tidy, but it looks weird! | A robot that folds clothing and linens in the Marie Kondo way. 😊🧺 | How to declutter and “right size” the current home when you expect to separate permanently from spouse in about four years as soon (as the last child is grown and gone). Garage contains furniture which I imagine I will need, housewares, etc. Garage is so full that we can’t park cars in there, yet I imagine I might not be able to afford the repurchase of items stored in garage when the time comes to move into my own place. Hanging onto all of these things is draining, however, and prevents proper use of the space right now. |
| Donna | at least three years of junk mail, paperwork and bills which I have put into shopping bags. | I have parked boxes and shopping bags of paperwork in my breakfast nook, and just walk by it everyday. Instead of having meals and flowers on my breakfast table, I eat in front of the TV in the family room. I live alone and it is easy to walk past the clutter. | an automated vacuum and duster. | Is clearing papers and mail a automatic thing I need to do, like brushing my teeth, and how do I start the habit when the past piles and bags of paper are overwhelming? |
| Anonymous user | Sorting and filing away all my medical records in relation to a medical issue I’ve survived. | I have 2 very neat piles of papers and files. One pile is medical documents and the other pile is all other documents. I need to file and put them away. My mother thought it was a pile of docs I needed to shred. | A file cabinet that can read your folder labels and create an electronic index of your paper contents. | |
| B | I’m working on thinning my unread mail, magazine articles and books : text books, craft, and picture books. | “Oh, my gosh! She’s one of them now and needs help.” But help comes in the form of boxing and storing in the garage, which is where these opened boxes and sorting projects came from. I have to remind myself that I need to daily prioritize small stacks at time to address and dispose of, so that I can have the space for the project I really enjoy doing. | An automatic dish loader and unloader, a closet with weather sensing wardrobe suggestions, a refrigerator with weight or weather minded suggestions for meal preparation, and all those things that give you permission to let those things go. I think I will have to set my phone alarm to remind me to let something go every day, even category related. | I am concerned for the environment and want to reduce plastic containers going to landfill and reduce the space and weight needed to support large, heavy laundry containers. Have you tried the new paper laundry soap? And if so, what do you think of them? I have come to hear and trust your experience and explanations when you have come across something. Thanks. |
| Anonymous user | Paper piles of doom 20 years | My piles & hubs treadmill rarely uses but won’t let it go | Remodel bathroom & main closet | . |
| Ginger | ▪️The belongings of my parents. ▪️My mother’s belongings. She passed away in December. She lived with us 15 years. She has a bedroom, bathroom & sewing room here. In the flurry of stressful months of Dec, Jan & Feb when my world went sideways - I crammed a lot of stuff in her room. I finally set my timer for 15 minutes and worked on the mess I created. It made a huge difference. I still have much to do but I have a plan & help. ▪️Plan: Put everything away in its home. Clean the rooms. Bring out one category of items at a time to sort through. (On her bed.) I have a list of categories & subcategories. Offer to family. Donate, Recycle, Trash. I’m not in a rush. ▪️My Dad’s papers, photos and keepsakes. All here at my home. He also passed away in December. (8 days after Mom.) I’ve had these items since 2016. I’ve worked on his papers over time. They’re sorted into bins. He’s been in memory care for years. His personal items have already been taken care of by other family members. I have a plan and help. | I frequently do this by taking pictures of a room, Then analyze the space with a goal of subtracting the unused, unneeded, and the “not special”. Then thinking about how to upgrade or update the look. Sometimes it takes more views. My kitchen is the space I’m working on now. ▪️Removing a few old, unloved decor items. ▪️Thinning out the stuff in the windowsills and counter tops. ▪️Removing an unneeded craft shelf/stand.▪️Replacing our 1980 - worn out, too large, 60” round bamboo table with club chairs. I love this table. But, the chairs are worn out and it’s too big for the space. | I’m short. I want platforms to raise me to reach an upper shelf - or shelves that come down to me. I’ve seen some of those pull down shelves. I’ve also seen step ladders that can be pulled out from between cabinets to fold out and step up 2 steps to reach a top shelf. I like those but a better option is something coming down to my level. I’d like dishes stored in drawers that are also dishwashers. Put the dirty dishes back in the drawer and set the drawer to wash & dry. | |
| Lee | Reading/organizing information about World War II in the Pacific which includes reading my father’s letters as well as studying everything I can about submarines in WWII. | Living room is open and no clutter. This is the room where my family, including my 3 year old grandson gathers. | Organizing my time so that I can spend more time on my WWII research. | |
| Fee | Clearing & organising the loft | Large basket in kitchen, Miscellaneous!! | Something which helped you detach from what no longer serves me or 'sparks joy!' | How do I overcome demotivation caused by a hard to access /navigate space such as a loft ? |
| Terry | Downsizing all of my collectibles. This has been an ongoing project for me for many years now. I actively do it for a while and then I go a very long time with doing nothing. I started off with probably 30 different things that I collected, and have that problem of feeling like they’re all worth something or should be. I have gone through the trouble and had many yard sales. I have gone to specific groups on Facebook to sell individual items, but only on the collections where it was actually worth the cost of shipping them. I think I am finally down to my last three collections but do not have any sources for them as of yet to give them new homes. I know you spoke of this before but I definitely feel like I have to say goodbye to my stuff and send them on to new homes so they can have a new life somewhere else. | I have a collection of teddy bears that are fall or Halloween themed. I’ll leave them there year-round because I like the colors. My granddaughter came over the other day and said why do you have pumpkins in Halloween out when it’s not even Halloween? | I would love to have a system that suggest my meals with all the information that needs to go with it, like all the calories vitamins nutrients blood sugar ratings all of that kind of stuff so you know exactly what you’re eating and where you’re lacking in your proper nutrition. Also having a robot to cook my meals would be awesome as I don’t like to cook. | Gail how did you get started in this business and how did you and Ed get together and come up with your team effort on the show? Gail what is your house like and do you reassess all your stuff once a year once in a while all the time how do you look at all of your stuff with a critical eye? |
| Lala | I'm still working on sorting the stuff I bought for resale from the general stacks of misc. that I have. Hoping to find enough outlets to sell my stuff this year. The last 5 months have been really slow. | I have a kind of sorting shelf on the back of the couch. It was supposed to be temporary. Definitely part of the landscape now. | If there were no limits on budget, I wouldn't need all the stuff for resale. My monthly checks really don't cut it after my mortgage. Then I would have enough space for the things that I use or bring a smile to my face. Oh, and a maid would be nice. | If I could find a good way to sell all that I need to, [auctions, local fairs, flea markets, or to a re-seller (help!)] then that would be more than half of what I own gone and I could manage the rest. That would be enough motivation for me, at last! |
| JoAnne | The attic. It's an awkward space with sharp angles from the roof. It's hot, it's cold, it's difficult to get up-and-down the steps. We've cleared out 80% in the last 3 years. But what is left, I want to put in quadrants, like with like. We added bright garage lights this year, which has completely changed the atmosphere- it's no longer a sad space; I can now see it's potential. Holiday decor, christmas tree, Sports and travel items in left side. Leaving all of right side for hubs collectables, paint, & DIY inventory. Just doing it bit by bit. | A robot that makes the bed, cleans the bathroom, does the grocery shopping and puts it all away. Naw. Just kidding, I don't mind putting groceries away. | ||
| mknzy | Time consuming photo curating | A coffee table that has been relocated to an inconvenient spot near the door | A fully integrated computer that will play music or movies no matter what room I'm in at the time | |
| Suzanne | I would really like to paint the walls and change the flooring in my home so my long term organizing project involves decluttering the unwanted, the unloved, and the useless . I don’t want to organize my clutter, I want to have to pack and move a lot less. | Ugh. This would be 1 1/2 bifold doors missing on the 2 closets in the living room/entrance. I forget they’re missing and all the closet contents are exposed. I know it’s not normal and every once in a blue moon I ponder what kind of door style and stain or paint colour do I want for the door replacements. Only indecision has prevented me from doing so, or indecision and inability to commit to a style and colour. You can’t miss it but no visitor has ever made a comment. 🤔 | Talking chairs or surfaces that ask me questions when I place items on them. That would hinder my auto-deposit of whatever is in my hand and help me to avoid creating clutter. | Thank you |
| A.G. | Finishing up the details of the "musical rooms" project - My husbands bedroom was moved to the basement where he prefers it, other items were moved into the upstairs room where his bedroom was to set up a spare room and possible future nursery someday, the computer room was moved from upstairs to downstairs so we could set up a proper living room upstairs. And then after that we also renovated the kitchen and need to do the backsplash and paint still! | Some things that needed to be moved off the living room table in a hurry for guests were all set on the bookshelves (which are otherwise actually quite tidy) and just... live there now. | Something that automatically can detect damage to, and make small repairs to, clothing - fix the ripped seam, darn the holey socks, patch the knee of your favourite jeans, etc. I hear a laundry folding machine already either exists or is being worked on. | |
| Anonymous user | The basement. Except it has been put on hold since I got sick. I’ve been trying to work on it for years. Although my DH said he’d help me. We need to move stuff from upstairs to downstairs for some rearrangement. I need to gather the photos I have all over so they can be sorted and scanned. Donate several items. | Dog toys scattered all over. Blankets sloppily on the sofa DH lays on. | Oh yes the refrigerator that plans the meals! And a maid to cook the meals (no one likes to cook 😄) I would love to have all my photos all organized in an nice place or cabinet where I can grab what I want! My daughters ask for pics at so and so age or event. I have to hunt for them | What do you think of the cubby type organization vs dressers |
| Doreen | My personal space/office. I'm a mom of 5 grown children. At one time I had a 7 yo, 4yo, 2 yo and brought home a surprise set of twins. For the years till now - I did the stash and dash method of cleaning. I have BOXES of treasures. Old letters, cards, artwork, things to read, work or volunteer committee stuff from present and previous roles (may need those?!) etc. The household files taxes, insurance, banking are one file drawer and under control The stuff not in boxes is mostly items I want to reread and write a note back. Then I read the note and just want to keep it. | Honestly I don't see the items that have become part of the landscape. Kitchen - my adult son said remove the metal door between the mudroom and kitchen that was pretruding into the room and filled with a collection of wedding invitations, Dean's list letters from my college sons, upcoming invites, back side had reference stuff town office hours etc. The door was also great to hide my Kambucha and cast iron dutch oven. The door was used before we heated the mudroom or when we wanted to confine our dog say when it was mud season and too muddy to traipse through the house. Our dog has been gone for a year now. So the door was a great surface to hang items and a tool to hide things behind it but not really functional. We removed it! I hosted a valentines potluck and was able to use the space for a beverage table. Now it is just a nice open space. I found room in the mudroom closet for the bigger items that hid behind the door. The treasured items that hung on the door are in a neat pile on the floor of my office lol. | Well lets go with a robot to cook all my healthy meals! Heavy to the veggies! I punch in Asian cuisine say and voila! | Gayle, how do you work around someone wanting to work with you, but really is afraid of the change and letting go? Like me and my papers - I have so many treasures. You say sort, then thin the herd. What do you do when you get total resistance - how do you work through that with a client? |
| Marsh | Multi=Generational/Family Historical Items. I currently reside in an old Mobile Home with nominal space. My surrounding yard is non existent. I have my x3Great Grandfathers leather Valise that brought him from Scotland to America with a Granddaughter whom he promoted as a "Grandson" (cut off all her hair) so they may travel on one of the many merchant ships in safety. This was the start of my Family here in America. Fast forward through their/extended Family travels along the Oregon AND Mormon trails (one to Oregon, one to Utah). I have multiple pieces of wagon/full horse tack along with the many individual pieces of what trades (logging the great trees with Morgan horses that they breed) or work they provided ( many worked the Gold fields in California/Alaska) as they prospered/spreading out.Then add the Tribal wardrobe ie beaded leggings, Bows/Arrows, Baby cradle as my Family married into different cultures and Religions. I have spent over 20 years caring for these rare items that are directly connected to my Family yet have no current availability to display or re use them for the fragility of the age these items are. My difficulty is that I am the only Family member who seems to care. So much so, I have had to track down and buy back some of the items sold (even on EBay).This is soooo difficult to manage as I seek to decide what to do with them as I age. Museums? Historical Societys'? Maybe. Causes' me tears to think about just "giving" away my Family Ancestral History. Yet I want these artifacts protected somehow. I want to share with many others within this personal connection to how we all got here to the Americas. | Corner of my main room that is my staging area with desk, computer, landline phone. Left of where I sit, right under my desk, against the main wall; is a trail of power packs that connect ALL the cords, plugs. chargers, etc... piled like a mound of "sleeping snakes keeping warm together"! Ironically, over this weekend past: having Coffee with a close friend = they made the noted comment above about my corner clutter of..."sleeping snakes"! Thank you for the renewed prompt of looking with "Fresh Eyes". | Oh! What fun! Having individual roaming floor Robots = 'Bots', to continuously vacuum the dust bunnies all day long. They would be "light" powered so not have to plug in/recharge! I could even give them names i.e = Bath Bot, Bed Bot, Master Bot (for main living area). Bot All (for hallway and beyond) My favorite = Bitty Bot (cleans up around the Kitty litter Box)! | Nothing yet. Thank you. |
| Anonymous user | I am organizing thirty years of recorded lectures and their accompanying handouts. They are scattered on half a dozen computers as well as flash drives and outdated cassettes of various types. I do this in preference of emptying my garage and decluttering my living space! | There is a chest-high pile of boxes of papers and loose papers to process. Besides my banking and bill clutter, this includes papers from my dead spouse (which might have a will in them) as well as several boxes of papers that were never ours. We found them and realized that they might be connected to a crime. The police are very interested, but want us to go through them for any possible clues. I don't know how to do that, but feel obliged. The room also contains seven computers with wires, power supplies, and external drive clutter. We were in the midst of attempting to get some of the drives to run long enough to grab their contents. Some computers are propping each other up. Like, one runs but has no screen and the other one has a screen but an iffy motherboard and a dead keyboard (so has wires to another keyboard). One is the only machine that will run an app that runs a business but is too old to go online. One runs great but isn't compatible with the operating systems on any of the others but can go online, and so forth. | I need a gadget that I could hand my processed paperwork to. It would be a combination of shredder and filing cabinet. When fed a paper that I have processed (or think I have processed), it would decide whether to file it or throw it away, and would also keep papers for the required length of time before automatically shredding them. | If you have encountered people who decluttered their pets because of the mess, time, expense, or difficulty caring for them, have they expressed regret for their decision? I ask because I am haunted by what I saw at a garage sale: a buyer having the seller's family cat in a carrier, driving away, the alarmed cat watching his home get farther and farther away. Moments before, the cat had been greeting customers. I also remember hearing a veterinarian chew out a pet owner who had asked to have a perfectly healthy animal euthanized because he didn't want it anymore. The vet refused to do it. Do the rewards of companionship and entertainment outweigh the frustrations and expense (as I have always believed, in addition to honoring the commitment made when acquiring an animal), or are do some people really do better without pets after the initial grieving from the separation? (If there is one!) Or, do the pets do better with a new home? |
| Darlene | Organizing 40 years worth of materials from a career in education. | Therapy materials piled near my desk that I think I could use with a specific student. Likewise reference books pulled out of the bookshelf to look for a resource for a student. | I'd like a dedicated room where all my therapy work materials were stored by topic and age range such as preschool, articulation, disfluency, language activities for kindergarten, 1st, 2nd grade, etc. | |
| Ceyda | Finding new homes for my artwork. Eliminating years of paperwork. Things I have done so far that were helpful: tossed out all cards from people I don’t remember anymore. Sent new ones to the ones I do remember. Used the printed part of the old cards as postcards or wrote to do lists on them. Tore out unused pages from school and office notebooks. Wrote on them and used them up. | I made papier-mâché pieces out of some old artwork. Can help if anyone else would like to do this over zoom. I also made cards and wrapping paper from some of them. | ||
| Summer | Current project is weeding through sentimental items and boxes of photographs leftover after cleaning out my Mom's 4,000 sq ft. life-long home. Top priority to declutter but so very difficult!! | Very large wall mirror still in the moving box from my deceased parents home. It is very dear to me but would need a carpenter to install it into the wall of my apartment. It is extremely heavy. | A virtual assistant to manage the steady flow of paperwork, managing bills, reminding me of to do's and filing or shredding all else. I'd settle for a robot to manage my laundry and storage of out-of-season clothes. 🙂 | Photo Management Creating a "priority" of how to sort and store. With so many options, I get easily overwhelmed! Also would LOVE advise on the storage box of chargers, cords and accessories for all the electronics. Don't recall what many of them are and they all look a bit different. I am afraid to discard for fear I may need "someday" so I keep them all. 🙁 |
| Stina | Changing from one job to another. I've got an office, and the department is changing to "activity based seatings" there me and my colleagues are making a transition from an own place, to sharing spaces. And... I like papers.... I got a lot of "nice to have information" in a cabinet in the office... | - | A really complicated laundry-sorting system. | - |
| Anonymous user | Preparing for a future move by getting rid of anything I don't want to take with me | The kitchen table now being used as a work from home desk covered with work supplies | Garbage that gets whisked away out of my home, a vacuum cleaner that sprinkles the carpeting with baking soda then vacuums, a robot that washes and puts away the dishes, a self-cleaning refrigerator, a self-cleaning bathroom, a self-cleaning litter box that removes the waste from my home, a washer and dryer that puts the clean laundry away, an air filtration system that removes dust from my home. This is a fun question! | |
| Lennee | Do something with my 150 unsold paintings, my two huge containers full of handmade baskets, another bin of decorative paper balls, another of paper mâché masks, and boxes of other art or crafts I made over the years. | My guest room is also a storage room with two 8' x 2' tables stacked on top of each other against a wall. On them and under is all my unsold art. If I could get rid of them, that room would be much more welcoming. It also weighs on me not to have any more room to make more art so I stopped. | It would be a voice computer that could list, on demand, the content of a determined area. | |
| Hila | I scanned my photos album and now I give them names and arrange them by description that I give them not by chronology order. It takes a lot of time. The same problem with greeting card and books that I scanned. I am going to be 100% digital almost paper free | Sport equipment. Some I use everyday and some not use. | Robot that arrange vegetables and fruit. And robot that make landairy and put clothes in the closet | |
| Lee | Office - Perhaps 25 years ago I had to relocate my already very cluttered office from one room to another to accommodate a disabled brother-in-law and his wife for a 2-3 week visit (we switched guest room and office functions between 2 rooms). Filled with an overwhelming amount of stacks and boxes. Have not addressed it except in very tiny amounts. It is totally nonfunctional except that I have maintained access to files of current bills and banking document. I know that it is mostly trash (paper recycling) at this point, but I have also managed to accumulate a number of purses and such that are set on some of the stacks. | Dining room - table is covered with papers and similar active projects because the office noted in question 1 does not have a useable work surface. I am afraid to work in there because I might lose something important in the stacks of ancient clutter. | A robot that cooks and cleans up. | |
| Diane | I had been getting rid of the volume of old paper so that it eventually fits in about 5 or less organized boxes (still not there) and current stuff in a file cabinet. And I moved my desk into a closet so I can shut the door and leave projects so I can come back to them- my desk was in a public area which so any time anyone came over I’d have to pack it up and shove in the closet. I felt like I was always starting over - wasting time. My paper projects recently shifted. I’ve dealing with my parents finances and estate stuff with my dad’s passing and my mom being so frail. So my paper projects has shifted urgently into doing my own estate planning. -taking an inventory of my finances, getting my will, power of attorney, healthcare proxy etc scheduled to do in a couple months separating the essential and the sentimental from the not so important. This is so that if I should happen to me or my husband my kids will not go through extra stress. I’m trying to figure a system of keeping it updated since I attempted this another time. I feel like I’m starting from scratch. Doesn’t make sense to organize the all paperwork volume without this end goal of having the finances inventoried with instructions so that when the time comes it will be easier to take over. | We have a buffet that is a room divider between our kitchen and living room whose flat top just collects stuff from us walking in the door. On the buffet is stuff I have to deal with from emptying my mom’s condo, cookbooks and our recent purchases. It would be more peaceful if it were clear but it’s a magnet for stuff. | My futuristic ideal place would have my paperwork digitized in such a way I wouldn’t worry about it being lost with new technology coming out or hassled with passwords or accessing it. I would also like windows that would clean themselves | Maybe more or revisiting information on organizing on estate planning? |
| Jacque | My photos | Piles on the coffee table | ||
| Margaret | All the details for a whole house remodel (sketches on paper, computer documents, bookmarked websites, emails from contractors, etc, etc, etc!) | Several open plastic shoe boxes that hold items that have no home or I don't know how to organize (I should probably just dispose of them). | A storage room for materials for crafts projects that dispenses whatever item you have entered into a touch screen by the door. My previous desire was for a room with shelves that roll back and forth so there is only one aisle (like are used to store medical charts) for storing projects with all items for each project (and the uncompleted project itself) on a tray that can be taken off the shelf and carried to a work table. | |
| Kathy | Avoidance Not working on a corner full of pictures and no longer using computer full of pictures and then also pictures on cds how long before we no longer see this format? | Cat has overtaken the space of my living room toy cat box, cat toys scattered on floor and under furniture and a favorite blanket all this catches your eye as you walk into my house space. | Someone that does something with these pictures.... Getting older and lost phone, computer, cds and regular photos. | We have our avoidance clutter what is yours? |
| Julie | Remodeling master bathroom and hall bathroom at the same time. we took out a wall & cut the walk-in closet in half in order to increase the size of the small master bathroom. Now it will be wheelchair accessible. | Extra chairs in family room. We walk through the room to get to the rest of the house. It serves no purpose. It has a door from the outside and a door from the garage. A fireplace sits in between the two doors. Thanks to Gayle's teachings, there's no clutter due to daily maintenance. | A transport shoot chamber. Items placed in it would automatically joyfully received and be of great benefit. A printed receipt would be sent back for taxes. It would fit any size item and accept all. | When having to downsize a walk-in closet to half the amount, I had to deal with my husband's clothes that he would not get rid of for 40 years. Using Gayle's gentle and respectful suggestions when working with other people's clutter, it was a great success! We started with the easy no-brainer stuff and continued. Taking breaks & being positive & thankful for his help. Most of the items didn't fit him. We got it all done in one afternoon and we treated ourselves to a wonderful dinner afterward. Thank you, Clutter Fairy! You did it again! |
| Anonymous user | Simplifying my gardens (front and back garden). Although it is not an organising project per se, it is part of the overall plan to simplify my life, my house and ease out the chores in order to be able to travel more easily. | Plant cuttings rooting on my kitchen window ledge. They stay there until I have time or energy to plant them. Apart from that, my open plan kitchen / dining area / sitting room is pretty uncluttered and people comment on how spacious it feels, when jn reality it is not only spacious, but also bright and free of clutter. | Self cleaning floors! | |
| Jeanne | I guess what I am doing is Swedish Death cleaning . Started many years ago and will continue until I croak! I rehome or donate my already thinned down treasures slowly at this point. I had a serious health scare last fall , many items were gifted away. I would happily gift the rest but do need a bed to sleep in, basic kitchen items, some linens and a table and chairs. | Shoes by the garage door, but we are in snow country. | Air purifier system in my home. | How downsized should a senior senior be to not inconvenience anyone ? |
| Susan Marie | Boxes I never unpacked fully after moving almost 8 years ago - they hold a mish-mash of old statements, paperwork, confidential information from when I was still working, photos, checks in small amounts I forgot about & never cashed, and probably a few jewelry pieces I’ve yet to find again since my move. | Papers and copies of documents from ongoing genealogy work | An environment that fully cleans itself regularly. | Do either of you struggle w paperwork, hanging on to stuff longer than necessary? |
| Denise | My big projects are done (although I know I'm never "done". I've been decluttering since about 2017 and got VERY serious in 2021 (emptied the Catch All Room and decluttered the garage to get the car in the garage!) | I've gotten pretty minimalist to make dusting and cleaning easier. | How many hours do you have to read!!! lol!! | Thank you! no questions. |
| Joy | I am working to organize my family photos, with the goals of culling out photos I no longer want to keep, displaying select photos on a photo wall in my foyer, and storing the remaining photos to pass along to family members. | A robot that would clean my entire house as needed. | ||
| Evelin | the basement (a small compartment) where I´m storing supplies like canned food, toilet paper, etc, and out of season stuff like inflatables, snorkeling stuff, luggage, etc... and out of season car tires, my mom´s divorce files, painting supplies, tools and my wedding dress. I have to say it sounds worse than it is *lol* | a laundy basket with folded clothes that have to be put away | all of the suggested ones 🙂 | best solution on how to store purses |
| Connie | It is really been ongoing for ages: getting all the various papers, (articles to pass on or read later) documents, references, photos, mementos, and the like in such a way that I can easily find something. Currently, this week, it is the digital mess. | The guest bed being mis-used as a horizontal surface to put "decide later" things on, my husband's desk, my own desk, (but it's not so bad right now,) the shelf on top of the door, the top of the set of drawers; The top of the filing cabinet; the gap behind the door. (augh) | A text scanner with AI in the form of a mirror where I would hold up a paper or article or document and it would tell me right away where to file it. | When you go to other people's homes as a friend or relative, and they have a different or weird way of storing or displaying someting than what you are used to, do you 1) say something to give advice? 2) just think of ways to make it better -and not say anything? 3) use idea at home yourself ? |
| Anonymous user | Boxes of old papers my spouse has kept, like old statements from ‘90’s. Things stored in garage that are disintegrating! (Tent and camping stuff) | Small furniture items that aren’t serving the purpose…bedside table in corner that holds a lamp but otherwise is under-used. From a yard sale about 30 years ago. Seems things in corners are a problem. | A cabinet that rearranges itself with shelves that readjust! And it has doors so it’s a surprise when I open it. | Were bedrooms healthier when they were smaller? No room for all the electronic stuff we have now, if didn’t exist! Is there an actual health issue with electronic stuff? |
| Anonymous user | I’m the family physical photograph storer. I don’t know how it happened, but boxes of pictures are mine now. I feel that they should be shared but the process of scanning and finding a cloud service is overwhelming. I’ve taken small steps, in purchasing a scanner and sorting the photos out. But the task is daunting. | The drill gun has been sitting on the dining room table while I try to figure out how to re-hang some curtains. There is also an antique accordion, a magic 8 ball, and a fake spider on the kitchen counter. At least my house is interesting hahaha. Things tend to get stuck because they don’t have a home. | A clothing purchasing / selection service. I’m so tired of looking for high quality, fashionable and well fitting clothing! I’m becoming a strong believer in a daily uniform. | How do you feel about stations for tasks? Going a step further- hidden stations? In a spare room or behind a room divider? |
| Coopur | Clearing out my basement. There are kids’ clothes, toys, sporting equipment which have all been outgrown. A couple of boxes of art work and drawings and school papers from elementary school from the 2 children. Old textbooks from my husband that are 30 years old but "still good", and some clothes in moving boxes that have not been worn. Canning jars which I save in case I need to do that again. | My living area looks really good right now no just repainted the entire house and decluttered the items in that room. There is a dog cage for my daughter’s dog who is with us now. | Keep doing shows about the emotional attachment to items. They are very helpful since much of our issues relate to emotions. | |
| Brigitte | I am shutting down my carrière as an Aura-Soma colour care teacher. Only keeping some things which I need to give consultations once in a while… 26 years of work with ‘Living Energies of Nature’ left a trail of goods which is not always easy to let go of. Thank God the people I share the goods with are ever so grateful and they will use them for many more years with théír clients… While doing this, I take good care of myself and I will forever enjoy all the beautiful memories. | Hubby’s many, many magazines of cycling 🚴♀️ he does not wish to let go of. The good news is: we were budgetting last week and he decided to cancel ALL subscriptions, which he did right away - YEAHHH❣️❣️❣️ | A floor that cleans itself and that shines and smiles at me instead of threatening: if you don’t clean me now, I will hurt your back even more when you finally do it… | 💋💋 |
| Isabelle | Emptying the basement for renovation = selling all the sorted out items stored there incl. clothes after loosing 66 pounds and changing style (less need for formal Business clothes). | too many nick nack items, mainly ceramic pieces .... they were supposed to go into the bookshelves, but my partner does not reduce the books as promissed ..... BUT there are no more boxes and stuff on the floor. Christmas holiday accomplishment. | a robot that cleans the house, esp. floors. I know it exists, but not really useful so far. | You linked the 40 to-dos of a ADHS person the other day. Care to make that a topic? |
| Karen | Unpacking boxes from my previous house which was larger than the house I live in now. | The table next to my recliner seems to attract clutter. | All the automations from The Jetson’s, lol | Besides paper what is the next area of clutter that seems to be the hardest to tackle? |
| Laura | My fathers keep sake box that I place special meaning to that he really would not care to keep and would be sad to see laboring over decisions. 20 years on from his suicide and I can get rid of more meaningful and physically larger items than what amounts to me putting significance on some broken watches, stamps and 3 photos. | Clothing because I see it’s potential to be given to a particular charity or home. The hats that are 70+ years old are particularly hard to part with. | For a time and place not to feel anxious about my physical ownership of things. To relive myself of being a caretaker of stuff. To not burden people when I pass this thinking these things collected matter to me but rather just a depressing reminder of an anxious person. | |
| Vickii | Getting rid of the last of my teaching materials & books from 40 years of teaching. Had a packed storage ( now gone) & garage full. I'm almost there after giving most away to new teachers, community groups and schools. | -4 shelves of cookbooks - cd player that I keep thinking that I'm going to fix. I need to set a "fix-it" time, then say "goodbye" if I can't make it work. | For all my art & journaling supplies, I'd love to have revolving shelves or compartments that would present whatever materials I requested for a project - Like an Alexa to gather what I needed. No digging through shelves, bags, bins, etc. to prepare to work on my creative ideas! | |
| Nanda | Divorce happened, so 15 years of stuff to (by myself) declutter, organize and stage to sell my house. Got to do everything (it took me 1 year and a half), but paper (my Scarlett O'Hara piles). I kept so much paper that now I am overwhelmed and stuck. House is going on the market next week, so I will put all paper clutter in boxes and hide, but I will still have weeks until I finally move out and I don't want to take that amount of paperwork with me to my new stage in life. | My Scarlett O'Hara piles of paper (kitchen counter, boxes in a corner, office desk, bags, dining table, floor areas etc) | A paper sorter to make all the decisions I avoid making... | How can I loose my "fear of getting rid of a piece of paper that could be important later, that I would get in trouble if I eventually throw away or that I could regret tossing it for good"? Thank you, Nanda 🙂 |
| Sarah | Paring down ahead of a move. Attempting to get rid of everything that isn't paying its rent. | Arts and craft projects or school projects. They lay around while in progress but sometimes draw out too long. | Storage that can move around at the press of a button and potentially hover even if it is heavy. It would be nice to keep less used items in harder to reach places but still easily retrieve them or shuffle stacked things like boxes of seasonal decorations without heavy lifting. | |
| Lise | Sentimental items have been the longest project that I have been working on (over thinking). | Half the living room is a disarray with art/craft (art cart & cabinet) and sentimental items to de-clutter. Half the kitchen/dining area is now the permanent home office for the spouse & study for son. | Home remodel with two extra larger rooms or more. | |
| Anonymous user | When my father died, I inherited tintypes, photos, a Family Bible and memorabilia going back to at least 1857, all from my paternal side of the family. At the same time, I inherited my parents' photo albums and memorabilia. Everything needs to be scanned, labelled, stored in archival storage, and copies of the information sent to interested family members and local museums and archives. Because I am over 70, I also have to arrange who the next "caretaker" will be. | My office contains memorabilia, photos, and genealogy resources that I inherited (4 paternal generations plus hubby's family plus my own personal things). All of it is somewhere in the process of being scanned or photographed, labelled, stored in archival storage,and distibuted to whoever will look after them next. This is in addition to all the paperwork and office equipment that comes from owning two businesses run out of our home. | A system that makes clothes for you that fit perfectlyand suit your current size and lifestyle .....In the most flattering colours, of course! | |
| Paula | Sorting through sentimental cards and letters. They fit into a shoebox but it takes time due to emotions. | The box of sentimental papers I work on occasionally is on the coffee table. | Much as I love my Roomba, I don't need another machine. Would love a larger closet though. | |
| Lela | Decluttering furniture & all our belongings for future downsizing. I got rid of bookshelves, which helped forced me to reduce books and knickknacks. I am giving dishes and furniture to my daughter as she graduates college and gets her first apartment. I am slowly whittling down the items in the kitchen, since I doubt I will ever have as many cabinets again as I currently do. I am daydreaming of starting a new chapter in our lives in a new location within the next five or so years. | A large “Ripple Rug” (about 3x4 feet) & a fabric tunnel (nearly 5 feet long) on the floor for my kittens to play in. | A tiny flying vacuum that sucks the dust off of every surface and out of the corners. Oh, and definitely a robot to clean the bathrooms! | |
| Anonymous user | organizing my pantry - six shelving units | stacks of books to be read | a chef to cook japanese, east indian and ethiopian food | |
| Jo | I’ve been working on genealogy for years. I thought I had it all done and I just found several more folders full of info. So now I have to check to see if these are extra copies or if I need to incorporate them in with the rest. I have several large binders so this will take a bit to go through it all. I have the main tree on line so I can use that to get me in to the right area in the binders. | The living room would look cluttered to others. The window air conditioner is in the corner next to the window where it is used. That corner is next to and slightly behind the sofa. It’s the only place we have to store the air conditioner. On top of the unit is a basket which holds the items we need for the unit’s installation. It’s all nice and neat but I’m sure a visitor would think it out of place. | I would just like to have a house that has lots of closets with enough shelve space for everything I need to store rather than having to utilize every inch of space in the one closet on the main floor. I’m not a gadget person so a robot would probably annoy me more than helping. | |
| Millie | Your hutch is covered with papers -- bills, notes, etc... | An environment that could be hosed down clean, although not sure I'd like to live in such a setting at it would probably be entirely concrete. | ||
| Jessi | Accumulated young family stuff (wedding stuff, baby stuff, toddler stuff) in about half our basement. | Overstuffed in-boxes of mail (minus junk mail). Toys everywhere. Overstuffed bookshelves. Couch that has been well loved by kids and dogs and needs to hang on to a little longer until kids are older and are a little less wild. A vacant dog kennel being used as a container for boxes and baskets of stuff to sort through. Empty boxes available for sorting. Random items covering most surfaces. | A meal planning robot who would help me prep and cook would be so fun! Maybe a snackmaker but that might be backfire unless it had parental controls! | |
| Lela | Decluttering furniture & all our belongings for future downsizing. I got rid of bookshelves, which helped forced me to reduce books and knickknacks. I am giving dishes and furniture to my daughter as she graduates college and gets her first apartment. I am slowly whittling down the items in the kitchen, since I doubt I will ever have as many cabinets again as I currently do. I am daydreaming of starting a new chapter in our lives in a new location within the next five or so years. | A large “Ripple Rug” (about 3x4 feet) & a fabric tunnel (nearly 5 feet long) on the floor for my kittens to play in. | A tiny flying vacuum that sucks the dust off of every surface and out of the corners. Oh, and definitely a robot to clean the bathrooms! | |
| Jane in Florida | I have stacks of printed articles from the internet. I have two stacks that are 6 inches high. Every flat surface has papers or items that need to be returned to a place of storage or tossed. Decision fatigue and mobility problems are my excuses for leaving things where I last used it. As long as my stacks of paper don't fall over, I can eventually find which paper in what pile. God help me if the papers slide off the desk onto the floor. Then I have to use a grabber/reacher to pick up each piece of paper. Not fun. And of course, after I pick up each piece of paper, I stack them all jumbled on my desk top again. | A computer that puts articles automatically into digital files. | I want to thank both of you for the many years of dedication to your digital clutter friends. The banter, the love and friendship between you two is fun to watch. Wit and giggles! The two of you can decide who is Wit and who is Giggles. I like your compassion and lack of judgment. Your encouraging words have a profound affect upon viewers. | |
| Anonymous user | Merging my husband’s stuff into my house. We are both over 50 and married for the first time. So we have two complete households. | The queen sized bed frame that I disassembled, and is currently leaning against a wall. I turned my guest bedroom into an office. | Automatic laundry. Drop the clothes down the laundry chute into the washer. Use the app on your phone to choose the temp and detergent type. | |
| Tami | Decluttering an entire home for a person with dementia to allow them to age in place as long as possible. But to make it manageable I did the thing I dreaded the most, the attic, first. 103 boxes and almost 60 Xmas trees! A friend and I would bring down 2-3 boxes at a time and worked our way through them all. Almost everything was trashed because things were so poorly stored. Now, I’m just peeling the onion. | Nothing in my home now as I’ve decluttered completely and am in maintenance mode, thanks to my clutter fairy addiction. I’m serious. | Definitely, anything that prepares my meals! I’d be delighted to do the cleaning up after! | Ed, what’s a simple but filling dish that a non cook can make? |
| Gena | Moving in with hubby. He had a fully furnished house. I moved from a two bedroom, 2 bath apartment. Had to get rid of furniture except childhood bookcase but had over 200 cubic feet (not including clothes) of storage boxes to move. After 3.5 years finally donated or tossed 150 of it because I never broke the packaging tape on the boxes. | I spend most of my time at my crafting converted to work desk, due to the Big C. It will get cluttered but because I use it for work, I will clean and clear it up every other week. When it was just my crafty desk, I clean/cleared it when I was going from 1 unfinished project to the next. | I would one robot that did several tasks: housekeeping daily, wash, dry, put away dirty dishes and clothes, dusted, vacuumed, cleaned furniture, put stuff away. | How can one move past the emotional attachments of objects faster? Intellectually I understand and know that this item is not helping improve the quality of life, if not being detrimental, but I have to cycle back around to the item several times before I can physically place it in the donate or trash bin. |
| Ellen in W Michigan | Photos. I've tossed 80-90% and put some in albums, but the rest aren't sorted or labeled and I'm stuck. It doesn't help that my memory and time sense aren't great and some family members looked a lot alike at certain ages. I just want to find a reasonable way to put the rest of the keepers in an album (hopefully for a total of three) and throw or give away the rest. | My "nest" of a table on either side of my chair contains medications, blood pressure and glucose monitors, Bible, notebooks, Kindle, tissues, charging cords, and a smallish to-read pile as well as usually a water bottle. I prefer hidden storage and clear spaces, but these are things I need often or might forget if not in plain sight and easily reachable. Frequently also have the blanket I wrap up in while in my chair thrown next to it when not using. | I'd love to have one of those robo-vacs that vacuums and mops. About half my apartment is carpet and half tile. I have balance problems and hate cleaning floors. | |
| Julia | Moved house in 2018 and have a TON of stuff in the garage. I look at the piles and plastic crates and just the door and leave it there. It’s a big job. | I spend most of my time in the living room. My Christmas decorations are still up and I have piles of magazines I want to read and sort. | Don’t know. | How to start. I keep procrastinating because it’s all too much. |
| Jane | Clearing the garage of things no longer being used | There are boxes stacked in my living room waiting for the contents to be put back in the dining room cabinets. This is because new flooring was installed. Fortunately, a friend is coming to help replace the earthquake strapping for the dining room cabinets and the boxes in the living room should be emptied soon. | A drone who dusts 🙂 | |
| Christine | My own hard copy photos. Last year I gave all my family their own photos. So now this year, I need to properly store my own photos. | My kitchen table is always a mess. My laptop and phone are always parked on it. I dump new groceries there. | I actually saw this on an Oprah tv show decades ago, but cannot find it now online. She showcased a condo where most of the walls inside the condo were not made out of drywall . But most of the walls were flat sliding doors. Like the kind of sliding door you might see on a closet, only very tall, the full height of the room. Behind all the sliding doors, were shelves about the depth of a bookcase, about 1 foot deep. Almost everything was stored behind those doors, and out of sight...books, china, paper files, clothing, pantry stuff. The rooms had sofas and tables, but no bookcases, shelving, desks, dressers etc. I was so impressed. When the sliding doors were closed, they did not look like doors, but they looked like a plain wall. | What are your favorite organizing solutions for airplane travel? |
| Celina | I'll be moving overseas in4 months, and this time I really need to declutter. Meanwhile, I need to work on the paperwork (passport, employment, etc). So it's really overwhelming. Plus the current job (I work 7 days a week). Things: kitchenware (not much relatively), clothes, dolls, dolly clothes, craft supplies, packing/shipping supplies. | I took out folders with my college articles printed out to sort them. Four days ago. Since then it's been tough walking around my room. I feel ashamed living like that. To my sister it's humorous, but I just feel like a disaster. She doesn't make any comments about it and I try to make jokes, but inside I feel just bad. | a device where you put your clothes and they get folded or moved to washing or hang for 'a second time to wear", where you choose one of these options with just a button. Also, an advanced option of the device could include "take a photo and list it online" and "deliver to donations" and 'trash". | Dear Ed, you moved a couple years ago to a smaller place. What things are worth dragging with you when you move and what things turned out to be not worth it? I will move overseas and I will need to go by plane with just a suitcase on the plane, and then, 2 months later, in a tiny, four-seated car (peugeot 107) where I'll need to fit *everything* and still be able to drive. I realise I have more than I can fit into both the car and the suitcase, so I really don't want to make any stupid decisions. What tips would you have after your experience? Also in regard to things you love? You had books, I have dolls, dolly items and craft supplies. Thank you <3 |
| Jessi | I don't really have anymore big projects left, to be honest! These days are pretty much just maintaining the helpful habits my partner and I have developed and ensuring that we are mindful about how much and what we bring into our home. | I have one small hand sewing project by my spot on the couch that hasn't been worked on for a few weeks, but that's about it! And it's also stored with my hand sewing tools, so still a win? 😄 | Oh man, so many accessibility things! A kitchen appliance that cooks my meals for me entirely from beginning to end-- hot, fresh, and tasty every time-- and cleans and puts away the dishes afterward; a washer and dryer that folds our clothes and puts them away for us, and all we'd have to do is toss them into a hamper; a magical wall space that serves as an out-of-sight storage area: everything you want to keep out of sight gets stored in a sort of closet inside of a wall with a control panel that enables you to pull out any item you want to access via a mechanized drawer, and it would never, ever get jammed or frozen lol Another thing I'd love is an automatic home cleaning device that regularly cleans all of the apartment every week-- like a Roomba but better and for everything, including bathroom, shower, floors, kitchen, the inside of the fridge-- everything! | Would love to see a discussion about designing a space from the beginning to be optimized for organized and functional use, keeping in mind flexibility and progressing mobility issues! |
| Noreen | Getting old family movies (25+ reels to review) onto a digital format. | Office/Craft/Exercise Room - Also contains cat house, cat toys, cat treats. Manicure items since I o[fen do that while on laptop | Robot to clean the bathroom | |
| Linda | De-cluttering and organizing family photos and paperwork. | Christmas lights that I want my husband to try to repair. | A personal chef that cooks healthy, delirious meals and cleans up the entire kitchen, even mopping the hardwood floors. | |
| Karen | 20+ years of paperwork -- much of it is sorted (at least roughly). The goal is to scan the things my husband wants to keep (which is pretty much everything), shred the majority of hard copies, and determine what really needs to be kept in hard copy. I started in the summer of 2020. I've got through most of my pre-marriage stuff (we've been married for 20 years, and I kept paper from as far back as the late 80s). For most of this, I kept (sometimes via scan or photo) things I wanted to remember for sentimental reasons, but most I shredded or just recycled. But there is still LOTs left. I go weeks (and more) without making any progress because it is so overwhelming. | The treadmill in our den! We used it while watching TV for several years, but I've wanted to relocate it to the basement exercise area for at least 3-4 years now. There's been two barriers: the basement was too stuffed to fit the treadmill (that is slowly getting better) and my husband dreads trying to take apart/move the treadmill (for fear it will break in transit). | A robot that plans meals, shops for the food, then cooks it for us! | |
| Jennifer | I have a dirt floor root cellar style basement that is about 11 feet wide by 25 feet long, with a head clearance of about 5'6". I'm 5 feet tall so this works out as far as not clonking my head. It's my 'dumping ground' for stuff I don't want to be bothered with 'at this moment', so decluttering and organizing it has been an ongoing dusty and dark (only one lamp down there!) project. | I have a china hutch that has a tabletop in the center and it always has something on it. I may put something away and five minutes later, something else is there. | A computer program that tells me which food in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer is about to go bad, so I can use it before it expires. | What advice would you give someone who is meeting a professional organizer for the first time? What do you like your clients to have on hand to help make the start of the process a little easier and more relaxing? |
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Please describe the largest long-term organizing project on which you’re currently working. | Describe an item or items that more objective eyes might see as clutter, but that have been “part of the landscape” for you for a while. | If there were no limits on budget, space, or available technology, what features would you like to see in a futuristic organized environment? | Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). |
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