What Alternate Clutterverse Am I Living In?
Posted by Lise on 14 May 2008 at 08:26 pm | Tagged as: organization, voluntary simplicity
I’m reading Peter Walsh’s book It’s All Too Much, which I just picked up from the library. Peter Walsh is the organization guru on TLC’s Clean Sweep, of which I am (not so) secretly a huge fan. Peter’s sort is my favorite part of the show. I habitually turn it off after that, unless Eric the Carpenter is having Antics. It’s like, screw this decorating shit, I want to see some people play trivia games to keep their favorite DVDs!
This quote from It’s All Too Much struck me:
… Or are you saving enough stuff to furnish a whole alternate universe in a which a skinnier you uses that dusty abdominal crunch machine every morning before inserting all your photos into a new album and then dons that old wig you’ve been storing for a costume party you’re hosting at which everyone will be lounging in the extra chairs that have been languishing in your basement for the last six years?
His point is that our stuff is supposed to represent who we are, but too often it represents someone we’ll never be. We need to let go of what’s less important to us so that what’s really important can shine through.
This book is really helping me to see the connection between clutter and the loss of control I sometimes feel in my life. For a while it boggled me that whenever I walked into my house at the end of the day, I felt stressed, not happy to be home. Then I have to take into account that the mudroom is the smallest room in the house, doubles as a laundry room, and is often (as it is right now) strewn with recyclables, garbage, shoes, empty TidyCat containers, snowshoes, coats, laundry baskets, etc. Either I need to organize it or I need to start using the front door!
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I read this book too, and I really enjoyed it. I really like how tough Peter Walsh is. He just tells it like it is, and I respect that.
Probably both. Even cleaned and decluttered, the mudroom is likely to be squinchy. One really shouldn’t have to reexperience something akin to the birthing process just to get into the comfort of home.
I understand that a mudroom is a sort of ‘airlock’ where you can pause and take off your dirty shoes before proceeding, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the main entrance: use it when appropriate.
Classic homes used to have a foyer or grand hall at the entryway, so you could have a separate space for the greeting of guests, but now they almost always drop you right into the living room, which also strikes me as silly for some reason.
I vote organize it, but don’t switch to the front door.
I like having an airlock in regards to the cats(if they slip out into the mudroom, no problem we track ‘em down in the basement). Also, a vast majority of our exits/entrances involve heading to/from cars. Which park next to the mud room door.
We need to move out certain things(aka, all the stuff that has accumulated there). Only real toughie in regards to that is the recyclables. Yes, it’s a convenient spot for them, but it eats up a lot of the space having them there. Tossing a curtain of some sort in front of the laundry nook might be a good idea to add as well.
Hi, Heather! Thanks for reading. Did you see the episode of Clean Sweep where they organized the home of a Tom Jones impersonator? That is quite possibly my favorite episode. I always love the interaction between Peter, Tava, Eric, and the designers.
[...] What Alternate Clutterverse Am I Living In?, I reflected on Peter Walsh’s organization/decluttering book, It’s All Too [...]