The Clutter Fairy Weekly Survey #160 Results
Future Stuff | Command Center | Mutual Support
Your Approach
We asked our audience members to think about one of their largest categories or collections of stuff, then to answer this question: Which of these statements best describes your strategy or approach for keeping the category of stuff you described above under control?
Note: Hover over any pie slice in the chart to see the name of the category and the number of respondents who selected that answer. (Mobile users: Click on the slices for details.)
The View from Your Command Center
We asked our audience: If you sit in your command center and look around you, which of the following items are within close reach?
Note: Hover over any bar in the graph to see the name of the category and the number of respondents who selected that answer. (Mobile users: Click on the bars for details.)
Click on the Other Responses tab to see what other responses our audience members have provided.
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) | Think about a large category or collection of stuff. Describe the category or collection. | Which of these statements best describes your strategy or approach for keeping this category under control? | Describe any issues you experience with using, storing, displaying, cleaning, maintaining, or organizing the category or collection. | Where is your command center? | How well does your command center fulfill the functions for which you use it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cee | Files for home, work and organizations crowding my space. | Disorganized | No systems in place. Semi organized mess | Corner of bedroom at secretary desk | 60% |
| Margaret | supplies for assemblage art from reused items ( magazines and calendars for collage; dried leaves, sticks, and rocks for nature altars and ritual objects; fabric, yarn, and buttons for puppets and dolls; etc.) | I find free stuff and store it in labeled boxes | foxing, silverfish, deterioration - bought plastic boxes or use stash of plastic bags not enough wall or floor space to display everything - rotate what is displayed let something return to the earth as performance art - put it out in the yard and photograph daily as it deteriorates (in November, we have progressively scarier jack-o-lanterns hiding in our bushes) open second location of Texas Art Asylum in my house? | dining room/office (combined) | works pretty well important papers dealt with and filed, no unpaid bills one plastic file box to keep project management of home remodel organized (easier for three people to mark-up or draw on paper copies at a table than to be gathered around a computer screen) computer is TV so nail files or nail polish, etc. are good here to help prevent snacking |
| Anonymous user | Lots of indoor plants. books and board games | I hardly buy any new things, trying to whittle down or use up what I have | Too much out of place too often. Too many other tasks that seem more important than to tidy up after oneself. Not enough time even to go through one category or a few shelves withot being distracted by something else and things take on a momentum of their own. | home office AKA study | It works but not always. Much depends on how much is going on in other aspects of our lives. |
| Lisa Beth | Art, crafts and repurposed architectural home decor in my Victorian home and multiple work areas. | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | Many items are cross-categorical. I gave others the select spots since they have more organizational challenges and I can only control myself and make me pick up things. When I clear a space I have someone that tries to use that spot and a little more. By the time I gather my things from multiple spots, I'm out of time and energy. Im working on a new system but it's challenging since life means continuous transitions as I have 3 sons all heading out on their own at various levels currently. | In the Bay window of the parlor which is used as a sort of family room. | very well except on paper days especially if someone comes in before i get it all processed It gets buried and overwhelming. I'm trying to get smaller amounts of paper out at a time and put things away as I go. It's hard to undo 58 years of bad paper habits with microhabits for filing and very time consuming things. I'm trying bigger buckets. But we have business and household paper that need filed in different ways which I'm now trying to separate between those 2 categories prior to working the piles. It's a challenge to flip back and forth between the household stuff that's paid for the month, keep until you get the one saying it's paid while using bill pay for backup records and the details of business tax filing. I'm a work in progress using a flowchart to filter paper and develop better habits. |
| Barb | Craft items | I have many different items for the many aspects of the category so it's hard to know what to let go of | There is just so much that I can't really use on of it well. | Living room | Pretty well |
| A.G. | I certainly have a lot of tank tops. | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | My closet is poorly designed and things get tight quickly and are hard to see. I'm planning on getting a closet organizer that will drastically change my storage and the visibility of my clothing. | The living room | For the most part it does quite well - a lot of things that are there were planned to be there. However, things do tend to pile up there as well like dishes and recycling and odds and ends. As a heavily used and lived in space it tends to clutter fast. It did help making some dedicated storage for some things that were frequently being used there and just keep it nearby and easier to put away. |
| Catherine | Clothing in multiple sizes | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | I have difficulty remembering what I have because the items are in several different storage places in the house. | Dining room/office | Not too well at present. It needs some time and attention to be able to be a functional space to process what comes into the house. |
| Anonymous user | Christmas stuff! | I am trying to let go of some things each season. I am being very selective of the things I may buy. I do not have extra storage at all. I am working on it. | It takes a while to put up. I have to go tote by tote. I ended not putting up many ornaments. I have them packed in a particular way. It also takes a long time to put away. I do it myself since I’m the one who takes it out and puts it away. | In chair in living room | For the most part |
| Samudra | Books | I switched to ebooks except for a few very special books, and those are one in, at least one out. | They don't really give me trouble. I built bookcases and they define how many books I'm allowed. | My bed, right now. | It's far from perfect. It's pretty functional, but I'm constantly reorganizing it and simultaneously reorganizing the front room so I can sit with my leg elevated and work. |
| Cee | Photos and paper | try to control what's coming in as I attempt to downsize what's already here | Try to organize and or shred as comes in. Photos reduced to mostly digital | secretary desk in my room and a mystery pile in floor | 60% |
| Anonymous user | Left behind children's childhood clothing, and past treasures. | Other | I have the left behind's in boxes and bins in the basement and in the abandoned room. | ||
| Joanna | Clothing | I almost never buy anything new but also almost never get rid of any clothing either. | I store a lot of clothing folded in bins or storage baskets. This ALMOST works except when I’m rushed and looking for something particular then look out. Clothes are flying. | Family room | Pretty well. This is also the room where if family comes over we congregate so it’s a priority to keep tidy or at least twenty minutes away from being clean. |
| Marti | Beautiful things I had given my mother. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | I have the things in my garage in beautiful cabinets but my garage is a mess so I can't easily get to therm. | Office | Pretty well. |
| Em | I am involved in gardening indoors and on the balcony. I grow both ornamentals and edible plants. There is a huge supply of pots of all sizes, for plants from miniature houseplant to balcony tree. There is plant food for several different kinds of plants, treatments, potting soils and amendments, tools, gloves, spray bottles, moisture meter and a little machine to push air into the soil of sick plants, labels, and harvesting and drying supplies. Add to that the craft supplies involved--plant press and storage for dried flowers, wreath making equipment, place to hang drying herbs.... The collection is pretty big! | I brought this stuff from the last place I lived, where I also had a huge outdoor garden and plenty of storage space. The only thing I have added is plant food someone gave me. | Much of the collection has to be kept in the garage, but it is not connected to the apartment building, so very unhandy when trying to find the perfect sized pot for plants being repotted, which is typically in the middle of the winter or when it is raining. Indoors, the only place to work is the kitchen, which is too small even for food. Most of the small tools and plant food fit in a bureau drawer in the living room, but not the potting soils. I don't want to give up gardening! | Dining room table | It works okay, but is an eyesore and prevents me from having a place to eat. It is a huge job to clear the table in the event that I would want to serve someone a meal. Sitting on a hard dining room chair all day instead of a padded desk/computer chair is also tiresome. Also the problem of filing paperwork is unhandy, because much of it is kept in another room. The paperwork is in the dining room because that's where the computer must be. |
| Hila | Photos albom | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | It is difficult to decide what in and what out. It takes a lot of time to orginazed. | ||
| Ashley | Toddler toys ( about 60% are stored in rotation phase) Winter clothing is next, and paperwork from our cross country move is the third largest collection. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | Open toy bins collect dust, so this week was about maintaining the inside of those containers. A wash & a little bleach water to sanitize. Next, I’ll grab my gently stored Space Bags to pack up Winter Clothes ( I estimate 15 cubic feet since we added snow and ski gear). We are gearing up for the neighborhood garage sale, so I’m creating a dry erase countdown clock to display on 5 doors to remind us daily to purge intentionally to that sale pile. | My office and separate foyer | My office is super effective! We are saving up to refurbish nice furniture I received from a giver on Buy Nothing. I have a hide-away sleeper sofa in my reading corner, so that my office can double as a guest bedroom. My two vertical shelves are secured as a peninsula 3 feet from the right angle corner, to a) conceal closet doors from Zoom meetings and b) to create a partition dressing/seated area. |
| Anonymous user | Paper things for new hobby of collage. | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | Figuring out how to organize all the paper pieces, cardboard, tools. Then making a convenient place to keep them close to my work space. Related to this is storage and use of watercolors, paper, brushes. Trying to fit storage and work space into what is available- strange-sized desks, small boxes, small dresser - without buying anything. | Dining room table | I’m single but still able to clear off table quickly if visitors come. I try to only keep to current paperwork/ small project and binoculars for birdwatching. Bookshelf and file for bills to pay are close by. Mail is dealt with daily. |
| Zoë | Antique things that I want to sell on eBay | I need to sell things. I want less of this category. | It is a ton of work to research the value of things to sell, and to commit to the eBay process of listing /shipping.. Which is why it is hard to declutterer as I would like to. | ||
| Darlene | I have a lot of houseplants. Several years ago, during the dreary winter months, I invented a new holiday for myself. January, February and March are "Buy yourself a houseplant and feel happy" months. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | It can become a chore to take care of too many plants. I have been learning to stop trying to save every plant and send sad looking ones to the compost pile. | Desk in the kitchen | Works well as long as I do the "work", i.e keep discarding junk mail, paying pills as they come in, filing paperwork as needed, etc. I made a basket for catalogs, and go through it every week, throwing some into the recycling. Truth is, I rarely use catalogs anymore. |
| Sarah | Clothing. Alright, for a true collection it is hats. I have some fascinators on the wall as a display, but more enter the collection every year because I construct an Easter Bonnet each year and they rarely leave. I also have pysanky, Ukrainian Easter Eggs I make every year and turn into ornaments for my Easter Tree. But as blown out eggs are fragile there is a certain amount of turn over built in and it keeps them from getting too out of control. | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | I kind of let wear and tear be a natural part of the life span of each item. I don't expect to be handing most of this stuff on to anyone. Maybe an ornament or two to my kids if they are interested when they grow up and move out. But generally these items are meant to bring me joy while they last, then get the Kondo Mari treatment aka thanked for their service and binned. | Living Room sofa | Pretty well. Various medical conditions mean I sometimes have limited mobility and very limited energy, so it is most functional to try and get most things done from my sofa where I can sit or lay as needed and use a TV tray like a portable desk as a work surface. As it isn't a permanent workspace and I have worked really hard to create put it away, right away habits and deal with garbage, recycling, dishes and laundry frequently so no mess builds to the point of being overwhelming. There isn't much that is allowed to linger in the space beyond when it is in active use. |
| Marsh | Large category of misc. plastic/paper cardboard residuals to =....Yogurt tubs. Clear, plastic food stuff trays. Dressing/Mayo/Pop lid plastic trims that you have to cut off the jars to open. Cardboard rolls from paper towels/TP. Mini plastic tags cut off bread sacks, new socks, linens. | I seek to re use anything I have left from prior category yet still struggle with residual items as I just do not want to throw into garbage. | My issues are a struggle to just throw away. As I have been able to learn new habits here in our CFCommunity I just distress about dumping more plastics/cardboard into our environment. This starts with the main Consumer, I: and I believe there has got to be a more responsible win/win with the supply chain/Companies' to re think all of these wasteful products. | Window corner part of my main living area where I can view my incasing view of my home | On a scale of one to 10....about a 3. |
| Suzanne | I have a collection of unopened unused watercolour and other art supplies. | I started with painting & drawing classes whilst being treated for a burnout/mental breakdown/complicated grief. In the beginning I was reasonable with my purchases but as I was quite sick I got so I had difficulty putting anything on paper but still spent time and money acquiring art supplies, online courses, and some art instruction books. No further purchases since 4-5 years. | This category is slightly organized. The books are together on a shelf, the sketch and paint books/papers are together, varied supplies are in 3-4 containers. They’re in a room of doom. | Dining room table? | Not well because it is not an assigned area. Items get moved about, shuffled, heaps occur and get swept. I haven’t taken the time and care to assign and maintain a command center since the office/library/spare room was overfilled and overwhelmed with excess, including kitchen overflow, making the desk unusable. |
| Brigitte | Baking utilities | I maintain a strict “one in, one out” policy to keep this category from becoming cluttered. | I feel a little shame, because of my ‘Fantasy Self’ who thought to become a YouTube Flogger par excellence. What was I thinking? | In the living room ánd in my own room. | Very well, only sometimes irritated or distracted by Hubby’s watching one crime scene after the other. |
| Catherine | Books | Other | I am profoundly attached to many of these books, some of which have had a deep impact on my life, others being historical artifacts. I haven’t yet found a way to organize them happily. I do get rid of some sometimes. | ||
| Trish (formerly Pat - Michigan) | Holiday decor; way too much Christmas, Easter, seasonal 'silk flowers and greens. | Mostly in boxes, just too much. Grown daughter is also a pack-rat and she has many sentimental attachments to my stuff. Her storage is full and she has a busy life and decluttering is not in her near future. | Stored in basement storage room... need to prioritize going through this go that I know daughter will/or won't want. | Spare bedroom: designated room with desk and 3 plastic file totes for ALL paper. | Command center functions extremely well when I use it |
| Bina | CD and DVD and other media and their players | Havent shopped for a while and have started getting rid of some cd’s | Storing is a hassle , I moved to slim sleeves instead of cases and of course no-one wants them in the sleeves so I face throwing them out, which obviously I have trouble with. | My couch | Pretty well, if I cant find something it is the first place I look. I do have an actual command centre in my spare room where my desk and PC are but dont go in there often enough. I am trying to change that. |
| Ginger | Crafting supplies | I’ve (mostly) stopped buying new supplies. I’m in “use it up” mode. | My crafting supplies are stored neatly in bins on shelves in a closet dedicated for crafting. My biggest issue is putting stuff on the floor in front of my shelves so now I can’t reach my supplies. The stuff is a variety of delayed decisions. And, some “dash & stash”. Some of it is junk I’ve collected for junk journals. If only I could access it. It’s been this way a few years now. | Kitchen table | I’m mostly satisfied with it. (I’m planning a few changes,) ▪️My kitchen table is where I do desk work, crafts, journaling. ▪️I keep a magazine basket on the floor to hold my laptop and journals. ▪️I have a utility drawer to hold a small amount of office supplies. ▪️A wall file hangs on the kitchen wall to hold my active papers - the mail I’ve opened daily. ▪️A small 4x4 bin on the table holds pens, markers, scissors, rulers, glue stick, eraser tape, post it notes, magnifying glass and rolled up craft mat. ▪️Another small 4” basket holds thermometer, wrist BP cuff & oximeter.▪️ I have a stand to hold my iPad or iPhone. |
| Anonymous user | I have a large collection of cross stitch thread. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | I have the thread in individual clear bags on metal rings. | living room | It works really well, but I wish my husband would put his shoes in the closet instead of under his side table. |
| Anonymous user | Memory boxes of photos, cards, etc. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | Finding time to work on them. | Have several: eat in the kitchen, have three televisions, paper work is done in office with computer. | They work very well. |
| Kathy | Clothing including shirts (shirt and long sleeved), coats, sweatshirts, etc. | I haven’t bought anything new but struggle to discard the items I have even though my space is overcrowded. So basically I am doing nothing—living in limbo. | My drawers are cramped. My closet is full. It is difficult and annoying to put things away. I will not create additional storage yet I am not purging either. I just jam items in drawers and closet. No empty air space-no breathing room. | Family room | Actually quite well. My unfinished projects and papers are in a closed cabinet in the room so I know they are there but can’t see them. |
| C B | Our living/sitting room is also a "museum" where I display a large portion of 50 years of collecting a distinct critter, for which I have become a bit famous ( or at least in the past) in this city. Other than that, I have oodles of books and many board games in our long hallway (and bedroom) AND many plants at each window sill in each of the rooms. | Regarding the museum, I only buy little or tiny items that will fit within the space and take photos of everything else. I buy no new indoor plants, buy no physical books anymore nor board games. I am slowly giving these away. | Issues: dusting, but I have a method to the madness. I will give another go at selling items that are doubles or cannot be displayed properly at a parish flea market after easter. Book storage is OK now, as I donate more and more books and board games to the younger generations. Indoor plants: It's a bit difficult when they have to be repotted, as window sill space, and space near window is limited. Outdoor plants: getting to be a pain bringing them in each winter. | My desk in the study/guest room, no meals, but sometimes cookies or chips. ;-/ | eh... so so, The guest bed being used for sowing/ mending and craft items by default. Too many loose cables on both my and husband's desk which we tried to corral, but he didn't like solution. |
| Sara | I have a lot of houseplants! | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | Houseplants are hard to water when they're up high! Also it's hard not to ruin the wood shelves 🙂 | Pretty well. A lot of the desk is taken up by the desktop computer and lamp (room has no overhead lighting) | |
| Jennifer | Books. I have hundreds of books. I have a few categories that I am willing to part with but I try to do PaperBackSwap but you still have to keep them organized and accessible to send out. That way I can get books I want to read and I know they are not being thrown away. | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | I have a room I used as my library that started out organized by type of book (pets, cookbooks, true crime, religious and self-help). Once I filled my 6 (9 cube) bookshelves they ended up in boxes and then bags when I would get new books and couldn’t find room. Some moved to living room shelves. I double or triple purchase item’s because I want them and don’t realize I already have them. I have tried to put on computer excel spreadsheet but never keep it going. Having ADHD doesn’t help. Good ideas, bad follower through. | My couch. | I really live out of my living room. I sleep, eat and relax in that room. I cannot sleep in my bedroom never have been able to. My bedrooms are just storage areas. |
| Laurie | Family room | It works pretty well. I have to adjust it daily to keep it functional or it will get out of control very quickly! | |||
| Sandra | Craft stuff - paper crafts - jewellery crafts - sewing - drawing and painting lots of different media types - microwave wax melting pouring into moulds for candles - microwave soap making - toiletry making (simple mixing) - microwave chocolate gift making using moulds - decorative packaging of gifts prettying boxes with nice paper ribbons/bows or assembling “hamper” type gift assortments | I’m still setting up my craft room and sorting out my craft stuff - I’m being quite ruthless and have gotten rid of any craft stuff that I’m no longer capable of doing and also culling quantities of types of items - I had lots of boxes/packaging saved for using in gift wrapping so I got rid of the ones that would need too much work to make pretty as I had more than enough that were already very pretty - going forward I’m only going to keep quantities of any type that I could reasonably (with being disabled) accomplish in my remaining years of mental and physical capacity to do them | I have cleared a dumping ground of a spare bedroom to use as my craft room so that limits how much craft stuff I can have - I’m disabled so I need easy access to my most used stuff so we are arranging the room accordingly - it all needs to be well labelled so I can easily find things and put them away we are try to group like items together and items for specific crafts together have also started a “needs repair” box and a miscellaneous box for one of kind crafts/kits this is still a work in progress and it will need to be rearranged again as we are finding more items for categories that we have already filled up the space for on a shelving unit so will need to move some stuff elsewhere in the room to enable stuff to remain in grouped categories I have a feeling that I don’t have enough shelf space for everything so will need to come up with creative solutions as no more wall space for more shelving or just get rid of even more stuff | My bed as I’m mostly bed bound | Very well I honed it down to a fine art over the years of having to use it and it has changed/evolved many times to meet my changing needs and my disability gets worse |
| Evelin | clothes - for summer to winter, plus matching shoes and purses, "skinny" clothes that I hope to fit in again, ... | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | everything is contained but I have wardrobes full of nothing to wear 😉 | ||
| Anonymous user | Clothes | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | I have piles of unfolded clothes on the laundry basket. I don't wat to fold them until the basket is full | ||
| Loventa | About 80-100 houseplants. Wide range of different types of plants from the desert regions to the tropics. All the plants range drastically in sizes from a 1” plant pot up to a 16” plant pot with a 5 foot tall monstera deliciosa. My tree philodendron has a 4-5 foot radius with how wide its leaves go out around him. Also, I have about 40 seed starts of plants for the home outdoor veggie garden. | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | Logee’s catalogs get me sometimes! I swear I’m good until I see that Logee’s has back in stock a plant I’ve been wanting for a few years and then I impulsively go buy it. They sent a catalog a few months ago which I browsed then noticed the Hawaiian Palm (also known as Cabbage on a Stick plant or also known as ʻŌlulu or Alula) was back in stock that I had wanted since 2019. It’s a very hard to find plant since it’s endangered and growers can grow it from seed from cultivated plants, so it can take years for it to restock. It’s really sad how it’s endangered and is a native plant of Hawaii — the only thing that pollinates the plant is a specific species of hawk moth which went extinct. In terms of storing all of these plants for the most part I have tried to resist buying any more indoor plants since I don’t have any more places to put them. It works 80% of the time unless you know hard to find plants like the Hawaiian Palm get restocked. | My work desk in my home office or my spot on the sofa for watching TV or eating lunch | I can get things done but sometimes the amount of clutter that builds up there can make it hard to use my keyboard or mouse without relocating clutter to the ground or somewhere else — which also isn’t a good solution. |
| Anonymous user | 120 books | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | very well, it is my home office, chair, bed, mostly everything. | ||
| Noreen | Decorative items - Baskets, Trays, | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Issue with storing. Some items are in totes in the garage and some are in a closet. | Office | Need more room for relaxing |
| Anonymous user | Largest collection by far is books. Love them. Have really reduce number of physical books, but now have over 1000 on kindle - sigh! | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | Would like to be more organized, but tend to put them where they fit | Dining room table | It is great. It is best and organized and I have a shelf I can put items on when time to est |
| Nancy | DIY items like tools, paints, varnishes, rags, brushes, etc. | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | I try to buy enough stuff to be prepared for ANY possibilities without having to go back out to the store. But I buy too much and don't take anything back so it accumulates. | On my desk in the dining room or on a table near the front door. | It works if I keep up with it but I let it go too long so it doesn't. Then I get too many containers for organizing it and that becomes clutter. |
| Anonymous user | Probably paper in folders | I maintain a strict “one in, one out” policy to keep this category from becoming cluttered. | It seems to get stuffed full too often | Living room | Not comfortable! |
| Nathaniel | Holiday Decorations. We have at least 1 big tote for Every Holiday. 20 totes of Christmas. | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Recently helped mother in law into a 1 room care center. Now it really hits me that need to stop adding to collection. Start now to bring collection down. At very least not add to it. Time goes fast. Before we know it..it will be our turn to give up everything and end up in 1 room carehome. | My recliner | Could use improvement |
| Mknzy | It used to be books I had 4 large oak bookcases (floor to ceiling) Have downsized tremendously to the smallest bookcase that fits in the hallway and some overflow on the bedroom shelf | I maintain a strict “one in, one out” policy to keep this category from becoming cluttered. | Living room couch | Great | |
| Anonymous user | Clothing in general is my largest category | I maintain a strict “one in, one out” policy to keep this category from becoming cluttered. | Pretty well | ||
| Anonymous user | books | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Most are in a room that is too cluttered to be easily accessible. Newer books are in an area of the room that is more accessible. From time to time I gather books from that room for donating. | dining room table | Too cluttered with mail for recycling and insurance statements waiting to be filed to be comfortably used. |
| Lela | Kitchen items | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | Some stacks of dishes are too tall to use comfortably. For example, I have to lift a dozen salad plates out of the way to take a dinner plate out of the cabinet. Stuff in the back of the bottom cabinets are a pain to access because of other items in front of them. | Living room recliners | Great |
| Kathy | Pins Norman Rockwell: plates, cups, prints, books & even pins | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Rockwell prints in totes, cups displayed and in cupboards empty boxes in totes for extended value glasses in cupboard ... my husband expression when we moved into our home " he didn't want it looking like a museum". his goal it would look like our home. Pins keep purchasing not purging pins and storage space for them two jewelry amores plastic containers, jewelry boxes don't throw broken ones. | Widow so my large comfortable chair in living room with TV companion. | It is a plant stand so seems cluttered quickly if it wasn't so small I'd have a bigger issue. |
| Kara | |||||
| Ellen in W Michigan | books | I have purged my books down to leave empty shelves and when I buy, I am more likely to buy digital. | Books do get dusty and deteriorate over time, yet it is the one decluttering category where I am most likely to suffer regret, although I've gotten rid of many hundreds of books and probably regretted less than a hundred of them. I keep them loosely organized like a library, even though I am down to two 7-foot bookcases. | My recliner in a corner of my living room. End table on one side, coffee table on the other. | I have made it work well for me, though it tends to look somewhat untidy. I try to make a point of taking care of something every time I get up. (i.e. papers to filing cabinet, dishes to sink, finished books back on shelves, empty trash, etc. Luckily for me, the end table has two small, shallow drawers that hold a lot of the odds and ends that would otherwise be even more clutter. |
| Jeanne | Hubs has way too many books. I have a collection of Christmas ornaments, items ,contained in two bins. I really am extremely minimal except for this. | I have not purchased any new items in many years. He gets about five books a year | No problem for the ornaments. All in use and stored in 2 bins on shelves in Garage. Hubs has his book room , lined with shelves, sorted by genre, author. | in a kitchen corner next to the coffeepot. He has an office, where he writes his books. | Work well, my private sanctuary where I can do my online work, or paperwork. . I also journal. |
| sara | Ha! I have a collection of paper products for parties....four HUGE tubs (divided by seasons, type of celebration, holidays, etc.) under my very tall bed! LOL | Fortunately I have enough room....but wouldn't know what I have if you asked! Something should be done... | I RARELY use it. I have no idea what I have. I COULD make is useful...and slowly pare it down by employing it for every day use....for instance, I could use baby shower paper plates and napkins for dinner tonight....so I wouldn't have to wash dishes...especially since I no longer know ANYONE in their childbearing years! LOL | Bedroom | I actually work on my bed...and it now works well. But I recently "fleshed" it out for my purposes. I traded the small nightstand I had for a large dresser. The top serves as an XL nightstand worthy of all my books and the drawers serve the purpose of housing my computer and items necessary for work. |
| Summer | Photos | N/A | Overwhelming how to sort beyond the "bad" or duplicate ones | Desk in living room | Very well when I maintain it--a "must do" regularly. |
| Janis | Mexican folk art/masks made of a coconut half shell and paper mache. They are cute faces expressing a surprised look. LOL I collected 33 of these during the numerous travels into Mexico. | This is the end of the purchasing. I think I have enough and kept the favorites. | They are hung up on a wall, so dusting them off is fairly easy with a small Swiffer. 😉 | living room, where my desk is and also a nice armchair. | My desk is close by and I tend to file papers right away, when I bring in my mail. That was NOT always the case. Any books being read are on a table next to my armchair. |
| Anonymous user | I seem to be the genealogist in the family who has generations of print photos. 4 generations of my paternal line, my own family with hubby, 2 generations of hubby's family. Plus some memorabilia, which includes his great-grandmother's coffin plate! | I take whatever others give me because I don't want it thrown away. I don't however accept photos from closer than our parents' generation. | It takes time to label the photos with the proper full names and birth/death dates and to scan them.. Proper archival storage is expensive. At least with ancestral photos, there is little chance of duplicates or random photos. Each one is important, My great-great grandmother's tintype album only has space for 20 photos, for example. | Kitchen for most things, except TV . | Very well, actually. The kitchen is always tidy and we can have company at any time. We have an office for doing the main paperwork and paying bills, and a livingroom for TV and entertaining. |
| Millie | sentimental memorabilia from my life -- this includes photos/medals/awards/work samples | These items fit in a few totes. I plan to label this boxes - Discard upon my death - they have personal meaning to me, but doubt anyone in my family cares | No problem maintaining, but the totes (3 of them) take up valuable real estate in my closet. | ||
| Anonymous user | Old financial records no longer necessary to keep. | Check date of binder with papers in it and start filling shred box. | Because I am afraid there is some report that is important, I tend to look at all papers and that takes a lot of time. | Den I am in process of learning to be a widow so I eat most of my meals in den so I can watch TV or read daily paper | Pretty good. Close to kitchen.. I have a large clipboard--16.5 X 17.5--which makes it easy to write checks, grocery lists, etc. Medically, I need to sit with my feet elevated and that is easy because I can prop them on end of bench coffee table. Close to laundry room and I can hear sounds of phases of washer and dryer. PLUS (and a big one) I have enough windows and a glass door to see into back yard and see what squirrels are doing. I like lots of light and the den is great for that. |
| Bonnie | BOOKS"We have maybe 30-40,000 books in a library in our house. Most are cataloged by the library of congress numbers. In what was our second house but now our primary residence, we have books filling nine bookcases. | #3 above, regular purges, or I send them to storage, or... now I'm trying to buy more on Kindle | I would rather buy books than anything else. There is never enough time or space for them all. Our huge library is cataloged. Our smaller one is... well... done by memory. I have some rough categories. London. Medical. Sherlock Holmes. Antique books. Philosophy. Science. Travel. | On my sofa in my sitting room/office/living room. | I would rather it be a desk. It is more cluttery around me than is comforting or energizing. Sometimes I feel defeated and that this is not the best place for all the activities I do. Sometimes I just collapse in it. It is comfortable, though, and I have good light, and coffee at hand. |
| Anonymous user | Books and knickknacks—on shelves too high to reach | I buy new stuff in this category until my storage system is under stress, and then I purge to make room for additions. | Can’t reach top shelves, thus it’s really dusty up there | Den couch | It works, but not if function includes staying neat and tidy. It’s messy and depresses me. |
| Anonymous user | Clothing | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Currently this category is completely out of control. Not enough storage space for all that is owned, even though probably 75% isn’t ever used anymore. Struggle with eliminating items, even when they are unusable. I have a major problem in this area. | Living room | Fairly well, but it’s overly cluttered |
| Karen | Horse figurine collection is huge | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Can’t display due to my crazy cat who wants to knock the horse figures over breaking the legs. So they are stored in totes taking up too much space. | ||
| Christine | kitchen equipment | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | I do not have enough storage in my kitchen, so I have to store kitchen equipment all over the house. My turkey roasting pan is on the top shelf of the bedroom closet, my stand mixer is the coat closet. I even store baking sheets etc under the sofa. I had to make one coat closet into a "pantry", (so now I do not have enough room to store coats). I do use all the equipment, so I cannot get rid of it. I just do not have enough kitchen storage. | ||
| Cathie | thousands of yards of fabric. | Separated by color & heaviness of fabric. I have bought NO more for a couple of years, and regularily sort out my least likely to us or least favorites for donations. | Just too much to display. Hence the repeated sortings & donations. | Between kitchen & dining room--small table with computer & view of tv. | Very well, because of proximity to dining table. When things need to be spread out to look at or sort, that's just next to my chair. Also, kitchen trash can is near by. |
| Anonymous user | Lots of paper especially tax bins by year for self employed husband. I’m ADHD& somehow “the bookkeeper”! | Procrastinate | -Not having the time, energy & focus all on the same day/s to do the thing - struggle between Improving & Maintaining Current year with dealing with purge/process the Old years. How to do both? | Ofc in Sun Room, WS in bedroom | WS good b/c I recently implemented some new methods so this year tax prep went really well & inspired me to > |
| Celina | DOLLS 😀 Dolly clothes, shoes, wigs, accessories, fabric & sewing supplies JUST for the dolls (I don't sew for people, unless minor fix-up jobs on clothes). And the dolls obviously. It's about 80% of my belongings space-wise *aside from* the clothes, kitchen stuff and car tires. | It flactuates... I try the one in-one out, but sometimes it gets out of hand. I'm constantly actively working on it though, either through crafting and using up or flipping some stuff. | Well, the dolls collect dust and I don't have special furniture. I move once every 18 months to small rooms with the furniture already there. Plus, such a glass cabinet would be risky to transport due to its fragility. Also, I have the dolly boxes which I need to keep AND ina good condition to prove the dolls' authenticity should I want to resell them, so I just keep them in my bedroom... not hidden even. it does bother me, truthfully... I have no other climate-controlled yet hidden area. If I had fewer dolls, I'd have fewer, less eye-soring boxes... | bed and desk, sometimes the tiny kitchen table. | it sort of does, but it feels like it draws me like a magnet and demotivated to move out when I need to e.g. put something away. |
| Anonymous user | Notebooks, journals and paper | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | Although I have several containers with paper products, I still seem to have a problem finding something when I need it. | ||
| Paula | Clothing is my largest category. | I maintain a strict “one in, one out” policy to keep this category from becoming cluttered. | All my clothes fit comfortably in the closets and dresser so there are no issues. | Living room | Works quite well with no problems or changes desired. |
| Anonymous user | Frankoma pottery, decorative | I no longer buy items | Dust, even though they are in China cabinet. | Den addition | Good. We keep up with it pretty well! |
| Amanda | Dolls... I have mine, my mom's, my aunt's, my grandmother's... It's a lot. | I don't buy anymore. If I start wanting to buy again, I'll have to pare down what's already here. | There's just too much. They have value but the selling process is daunting. | My desk (where I work from home and handle bills, mail, etc. | Pretty well. If I'm looking for something current, it's probably there. Wish the drawers stayed a little cleaner though. |
| Anonymous user | Large framed photo images | I shop without regard for how much I already have, so this category tends to grow out of control on a regular basis. | The prior images are in the garage. I'm building up the courage to give away the boxes of frames and only keep the photos. | Family room | Pretty well. I tidy it at least weekly. |
| Gayle | Beads. ‘Nuf said. | I have designed my storage system for this category to include space for future purchases. | It’s way too big a collection! Requires regular maintenance! | Den, in front of tv | It works great! |
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Think about a large category or collection of stuff. Describe the category or collection. | Which of these statements best describes your strategy or approach for keeping this category under control? | Describe any issues you experience with using, storing, displaying, cleaning, maintaining, or organizing the category or collection. | Where is your command center? | How well does your command center fulfill the functions for which you use it? |
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