okay, fine, i’ll admit it. i’m a wee bit of a pack rat. and when i say wee, what i really mean is, i’m a huge pack rat (or as the Donald would say, "YOUGE"). i guess i just don’t like to throw things away.
one visit to my closet in the basement and you’d know. college textbooks. papers i wrote in high school. about 150 photo albums…plus boxes of the photo rejects (back in the days of film cameras…remember those? i do…i have three of them in my closet of doom) that i wouldn’t dare throw away. books. and books. and books. vhs tapes of movies i taped in the 80’s. rejected wedding gifts that are too hideous to give away. kits of all sorts – teach yourself to knit! you, too, can learn to needlepoint! quilting for dummies! learn to speak Italian in ten days! letters from my friends from when i was in israel for the year. my daily planners – all of them – from 1994 until the present. high school yearbooks. elementary school yearbooks.
now this is a closet i’ve been avoiding. like the plague. i know i need to go through it and get rid of it. purge my freakin’ brains out. (not in the literal sense…because y’all know i’m against that!) i just know that it’s a really big job and there are things that i’m going to want to keep around. for no real reason, just because i need to keep my copies of season 1 of southpark on vhs. even though it’s on in syndication on every single tv station in every single time slot. but, you know, must keep the tapes.
my point, i guess, is that i know i’m not alone in this. i know almost everyone has places that need purging. spots that seem to grow junk. and grow it some more. until they are overflowing. i think this is normal. what’s not normal are the people who don’t have ANY clutter in their homes. where do they put their STUFF? you know, not the pack-raty type stuff. but the actual stuff. where does it go?
my sister lives in a teeny-tiny apartment in new york. like, 700 square feet tiny. As far as furniture goes, she has very little. a desk from ikea (without a single drawer, mind you) and a bedroom set from IKEA (malm, for those in the know). and she has maybe 10 drawers. so…where does she put her things? her pens and pencils and notepads. her photo albums. and photos that aren’t in albums. her shoes? (she has one tiny closet) i understand that i have kids and have lots of kid related things – but i’ve got lots of other stuff too. hats and scarves and mittens. extra jackets. summer clothing. what about ski equipment? my skis and ski boots and snowsuit take up a full closet just on their own. or golf clubs? wrapping paper and ribbon and tape and scissors? books? magazines? what about all the little trinkets that come in our stockings each year? where is she keeping all of that? what about tools? or extra toilet paper? i could keep going.
and my sister is not the only person i know who lives like this. people who live in apartments and houses that don’t look lived in. they look picture-perfect all the time. where is all their stuff? do they not have any of it? are they storing it somewhere else?
i just don’t get it. because i feel like even if i purged my house of all the extra junk….there would still be the matter of the junk that we need. i don’t think i could ever have a house that’s sleek and clean-looking. even though i’m dying for one. what about you? what does your house look like?
song of the day: Sing, Theresa Says by Greg Laswell
video of the day: Hillary Clinton sings the National Anthem. and a nation laughs its ass off.
come on over and say hi at Cheaper Than Therapy today and watch my little mountain woman as she climbs her way to freedom!
I have watched that video 5 times since you posted it-each time it makes me crack up. Poor Hilary.
I DESPERATELY need to purge! I feel like I am being overtaken by clutter! It is closing in on me…HELP! So many clothes, toys, papers, books, and just stuff that we don’t use. Someone suggested a garage sale but that takes time and patience, neither of which I have right now. Anyone know of someone who will just come to your house and pick it up? They can have it for free if they just take it away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to say I am one of those “uncluttered” homes. I think I hate clutter as much as many people hate going through their clutter. I actually enjoy, LOVE, look forward to going through my stuff & purging what we don’t need. My husband hates it as I sometimes – accidently – get rid of stuff he does need…oops. I do have 2 kids so there may be toys everywhere but at the end of the day they do have somwhere to go, into the toy box. I have always thought of starting my own business, purging other people’s junk, but it takes all my spare time just keeping our stuff at bay.
Yup, yup and more YUP….every time we move, we purge. I actually recently spent the weekend cleaning out the kitchen, laundry, living room, hall cupboard and bathroom. I could believe I filled up 2 big bags of rubbish!!!
I am not brave enough to tackle my office which is the unofficial dumping ground for all and sundry (books not read, mail, junk mail, ebay stuff, paperwork, stuff to be “fixed”, craft stuff…). I still haven’t set up my new sewing machine ’cause my office is such a disaster area.
And don’t get me started on photos, albums, kids scrapbooks – i bought some of those portfolio things months ago and still haven’t put them together.
BUT, I have put up 3 corkboards and 2 whiteboards in my office and kitchen to keep on top of bday invites and things like that.
What I would love to know is if people still use paper calendars or is everything organised through a PDA or some such?
What does my house look like? An indoor playground :|…. Sooo cluttered. I soooo hear you!!!
hey ali,i used to be a bad pack rat but every couple of years i go through all the junk,stuff,neccessaries etc and throw it out.this is so i can accumulate more junk….my house is sooo cluttered but not dirty (except dishes in sink)my children have stuff everywhere you look.how can people have children and no visible signs of them?there are days when i wish my home looked like a magazine cover but hey it aint gonna happen till all the little people move out!okay and the teens who are taller(way)than i am.