Survey #209 Response from Em
| Name up to three clutter problem areas in your home. These may be physical spaces, categories of stuff, or collections of items that you usually or chronically find difficult to get clear—or keep clear—of clutter. | Front door (only entrance) Hallway Kitchen |
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| For any of the problem areas you identified in your answer to the previous question, list factors that contribute to your difficulty decluttering in these areas. | There aren't places in my apartment for what I DO. The kitchen barely has room to put together a simple let alone to cooking from scratch, or room for hobbies and gardening supplies a water cleaner, and recycling bins, a pet feeding station or trash cans. Taking out the trash requires being able to do two flights of stairs and a trek to the far side of another building (which is frequently not possible because of health issues). The laundry room doesn't have enough space for a laundry basket or a step stool to the shelf with cleaning supplies on it. There is no pantry, and are no good places for litter pans, trash cans, vacuum cleaner, air cleaners, medical supplies, canned goods, winter coats, a sewing nook, or musical instruments and music. I could live here just fine if I only ate frozen meals and watched TV, neither of which I do. |
| Name up to three clutter “sweet spots” in your home. These may be physical spaces, categories of stuff, or collections of items that you usually find relatively easy to keep decluttered and organized. | My make up all fits in a box about the size of a cigar box, except for liquid foundation and brushes, which are in the medicine cabinet and in a pretty vase on the bathroom counter respectively. Everything in the box is organized in compartments, ready to use. My kitchen utensils all have storage places and are easy to put away. Five hang on the refrigerator because they are used for things that come out of the refrigerator or are going into the blender. Other knives stand beside the stove and cutting board. Utensils that can be used on the stove are in a mug on the stove. Can openers, vegetable peeler, meltable utensils and other cooking odds and ends are in a divided drawer where they are easy to see and put away. Measuring spoons and whisks hang on hooks where they are used. |
| For any of the “sweet spots” you identified in your answer to the previous question, list factors that contribute to your ease in (or even enjoyment of) maintaining these areas. | My make up is easy to maintain because I only keep the colors and products that look good on me and I don't buy any make up unless I run out. It fits exactly in the box and the box is beautiful, so I am encouraged to put the make up back in it and close the lid so that I can enjoy it. My kitchen utensils are a pleasure to use because they are where I need them, rather than tangled in a drawer. Each one has its own spot in one of four work areas so that I would not have to move from the work area and dig in a drawer when I need them. The three work areas are (1) cold/wet prep between the refrigerator and sink; (2) wet/hot prep between the sink and crock pot/pressure cooker; (3) stove top work area, which includes cutting area and spices of previous work space, plus pots and pans in the cupboard above; and (4) baking prep, which is on the other side of the stove, where it is beside the oven and below the cupboards which hold baking ingredients, along with scales and other baking supplies. Some of the utensils for the last area are artfully arranged on the wall. I enjoy the arrangement, and get pleasure from using and putting away those utensils. |
| What’s an item or category of stuff that you feel as if you could never get too much of? | Art supplies (for me, that includes various kinds of paints, pencils, markers, chalks, papers, canvases, fabrics, threads, yarns, beads, wood, carving tools, glues, more papers, inks, ribbons...) |
| 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). | Hey! Those striped socks in the picture of the drawer to the left of this... I have them, too! |
| Future topics | Do you have more to say on the topic of shame? Besides shaming from friends, neighbors, and landlords, many of us are probably struggling to overcome shaming from well-meaning parents, 20 to 80 years ago. Have you had clients who suddenly remembered a shaming that negatively affected their ability to keep their living spaces uncluttered, clean and organized later in life, and was the realization a turning point in their lives? On the flip side, do you know people who benefited from similar words in their youth, and use them as inspiration? How can a parent know when a child's mess is the inability to understand how to put things away or when it is a symptom of, say, being overwhelmed or insecure? |
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