Hi,

Have you seen these pictures about clutter?

http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/clutte...151100982.html

The people in the pictures have a lot of stuff but I am not sure that it is messy --- just too much.


My place is not quite like that but some of my rooms could benefit from my getting a friend with a pickup truck to take stuff out.

M

I hear ya Mari,
But, my freezer could be that freezer. The idea of the energy cost is a wake up. The garage could have been my garage. Part of the work area could be where I work from in the living room in my recliner. I have a packed rolling cart, stuffed box of files, and end table of books for vacation, CD's of photos, all my electronics for work and the photography needs.

The kitchen table I can only see for holidays. I let what ever I carry into the house or I am working on site there.
Sewing machine, basket of ironing, old stack of Family circle, junk mail, box of old cell phones, photo albums from scrap booking project. Printed papers from geneology....so that is why no one wants to help with "my" clutter, or "my" job to clean.

I did get a small 2 yard dumpster and my ex dil is suppose to help me in exchange for buying my car....But the dh ALWAYS has an excuse and will sit in front of the TV with his Ipad playing games. I thought having the Ipad he would actually contribute to the declutter needs in appreciation of the $$$$ I spent for his toy.

The boys help, but dh complains of his gout. I have several herniation in the lumber and cervical, when working the head pain flars, the arms tingle and get power outages, then I pay with painful forarms.
I could not even stand up after doing the work area last nigth, and left overs from the last trip that I want to pack for the next one.

I filled the dumpster within an hour of it getting here. It feels good to get rid of the clutter, but If I don't have a heart attack, I will be in the worse flare of my life in pain.

My dil is a morning person, I am a night person.....but she is will to help. With her bipolar flare, sometimes it is just too much I feel like I have to clean to have her come and declutter which is twice the work.
Think I will send her into dd room for a do over, and I will do the kitchen table and let dh, HE WILL DO the Freezer and deep freeze!
Thanks for the post.
di
Still going through the Rubbermaid containers from the last clean up...moving clutter from one area to another is not a smart idea to deal with it, just puts it out of sight. Delay the inevitable and lose documents or:
My TENS unit
My comfy sandles from last summer
A container of ironing from before Christmas
etc...

Looking at those photos... these are my thoughts:

The full kitchen counter, dishwasher (with clean! dishes) and overflowing sink remind me a lot of my kitchen. I live alone... its a galley kitchen with little counter space... yet.. I have places for everything. If you were to open my cupboards you would be amazed at how all those things would fit into them, with space to spare. I'm quite proud of this display.... HOWEVER, I'm still unable to break this cycle. The reward is great, but its only if someone is coming over that I'll clean/tidy it.

My bedroom has become my catch-all because I live in a condo. I can close the door when people come over but I would prefer not to because I would like to have an inviting room. I can't decide what to do with the rubbermaid totes... full of knitting pattern books (I mean FULL- I used to sell them on eBay); yarn; my children's memories; electronic/computer equipment; Grand-Addy's toys;... on and on...

YESTERDAY I began to finally tackle this room like I haven't tackled it before... I'm quite pleased with the progress.
Today, I'm slow to get moving but the cloudy weather means no pool... so, I've no excuse ... we shall see...

Good luck addy with your tidying.
bizi