Any Other Messies Here?

[+ FreshFluff]

I live in a 650 square foot apt with 1 1/2 closets, and I just have too much stuff. I have a weekly cleaning person, but with my habit of throwing stuff on the floor and so much stuff in so little space, things get messy fast.

 

So I end up making excuses for why people I date can't see the apartment. And unlike many messy people, I like living and working in a neat environment. So I'm finally biting the bullet and bringing in an organizer next week. (My best friend used to do it with me, but she lives in another city and has kids, so I don't feel right asking her to come up.)

 

Are there any other messies here? (Don't worry, I won't take anyone's gay card.)

[+ azdr0710]

make sure you straighten up the place before the organizer arrives (!)...

 

my only big problem is I have a few stacks of books, papers, articles, notes that I'm sure will have some future value...at some point....some day

[seeker630]

I live in a 650 square foot apt with 1 1/2 closets, and I just have too much stuff. I have a weekly cleaning person, but with my habit of throwing stuff on the floor and so much stuff in so little space, things get messy fast.

 

So I end up making excuses for why people I date can't see the apartment. And unlike many messy people, I like living and working in a neat environment. So I'm finally biting the bullet and bringing in an organizer next week. (My best friend used to do it with me, but she lives in another city and has kids, so I don't feel right asking her to come up.)

 

Are there any other messies here? (Don't worry, I won't take anyone's gay card.)

 

I prefer to call it 'clutter'.

 

First, I am a collector by nature, and my small house contains several hundred pieces of pottery and Oaxacan carvings - mostly on shelves against the walls.

 

But the real clutter comes from my tendency to let mail, newspapers, etc. build up on one end of the sofa or the breakfast table during the week.

 

And lastly, when I brought my father to live with me last year, my 'office' somehow devolved into a storage room!

[bigvalboy]

I live in a 650 square foot apt with 1 1/2 closets, and I just have too much stuff. I have a weekly cleaning person, but with my habit of throwing stuff on the floor and so much stuff in so little space, things get messy fast.

 

So I end up making excuses for why people I date can't see the apartment. And unlike many messy people, I like living and working in a neat environment. So I'm finally biting the bullet and bringing in an organizer next week. (My best friend used to do it with me, but she lives in another city and has kids, so I don't feel right asking her to come up.)

 

Are there any other messies here? (Don't worry, I won't take anyone's gay card.)

 

Guilty as charged. Ex-messy person here. I was the same way, I would never have anyone over. The living room always looked good, but beyond the first room, the house quickly fell into disarray. I could never get a handle on it. I think part of it was depression and part because it was just too overwhelming to make such a huge change.

 

I recently moved, and promised myself that I would never again live in such clutter. I began with keeping only those things that meant something very personal to me, or items that I had collected in my travels. Everything else was discarded, and I mean everything. Goodwill and the dumpster were my friend. When I was finished, everything I owned fit into 1/2 of the living room. The new place is 180 degrees from the old. It is simple and uncluttered, but keeping it like that takes constant editing.

 

An organizer will help you to discard as well, and will help you to realize that it is possible to live with less 'things'....good luck FF.

[tyro]

Girl, I have a HELLA lot more space than you do, and I still have trouble.

Guilty.

T

[leeper]

I have a fairly large house that is usually ready for company at a moment's notice - except for one room. My office, which I call "my nest" is a complete and utter disaster. The door is always closed and the cleaning lady skips it. I have tried to clean it up and organize it periodically but within weeks it starts "reverting" and within a couple of months it is back to the mess it was. If I lived in a smaller space, it would be a problem for me as well as I am simply not that disciplined. Good luck.

[gallahadesquire]

BOOKS!

 

What do you do with books? Can't throw them out; can't burn them. Don't want to store them.

Thoughts?

[+ honcho]

(Almost but not quite hoarder here; my room looks about the way the average 2 year old keeps his).

 

BOOKS - give them to a library or a used bookstore. Libraries sell donated books as a fundraiser sometimes.

[+ azdr0710]

from "Hoarders: Buried Alive" on the TLC channel....not saying anybody here is a hoarder, of course!

 

 

http://img.poptower.com/pic-58201/hoarding-buried-alive-tlc.jpg?d=600

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Alxt2CsnYK0/Tt0wMYCJKkI/AAAAAAAAK0c/GQaK_zulKmI/s1600/hoarder+2.jpg

[+ FreshFluff]

from "Hoarders: Buried Alive" on the TLC channel....not saying anybody here is a hoarder, of course!

 

I'm actually happy to throw things away, especially when I think of how much my quality of life improves when my place is neat and livable. In fact, I just tossed out a whole file drawer full of old papers and kept only about 10 sheets (not including some old traveler's checks!). I'm just overwhelmed with the thought of getting everything together, figuring out what to toss, and so on.

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

BOOKS!

 

What do you do with books? Can't throw them out; can't burn them. Don't want to store them.

Thoughts?

 

Keep one box of must-haves or rare ones and donate the rest to the library.

[tyro]

Fresh, have you heard of FlyLady? She's a lifelong SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) who guides you through getting things together. She's very sweet and non-shaming...and her website and all her cutesie email reminders are free.

T

[Epigonos]

Oh god I wish this topic hadn’t come up as it forces me to look at myself honestly in the mirror. Unlike FreshFluff I abhor a mess. I am a total and complete obsessive compulsive, anal retentive keep it neat and clean freak.

 

I live in a 1,200 square foot two bedroom condo. I am a compulsive reader and have thus turned one bedroom into a study/library. I even have bookshelves in my breakfast room for my large collection of cookbooks. I love things and have collected folk art from all over the world. One wall in my living room is completely covered by a wall unit that I use to display my treasurers. I also love photographs and graphic art. Another wall in my living room is covered wall to wall and floor to ceiling with dry point etching in museum frames in the middle of which I have mounted an 1890 double weight Vienna Regulator Clock. One wall in my study/library is covered with family photographs, like 50 of them and all the other walls are cover with built-in book shelves. All the floors throughout the condo are tile. Now with the description out of the way let’s get to the cleaning.

 

I'm convinced that if one wants ones home to be neat and appear clean a cleaning person or service will do just fine, if however, one wants ones home to be neat and BE clean one must do the cleaning oneself. I spend about one hour a day, seven days a week cleaning my place. I dust everything one a week. I wet mop all the floors once a week including the kitchen which I do on my hands and knees. I clean the glass on my pictures and photographs once every two weeks. I also wipe down all my cabinets and clean the drawers once every two weeks. Well at least I was honest when I said I was a complete obsessive compulsive, anal retentive keep it neat and clean freak. I entertain a great deal and not a room in my home is ever a mess. Oliver who has been to my home many times can unfortunately testify to all of the above.

[rvwnsd]

Like you, I hate a mess but tend to have a cluttered place. I am now working on de-cluttering my 850 sq ft 2-bedroom condo one room, closet, and cabinet at a time. One suggestion for an overwhelming amount of decor is to display some, store the rest, and rotate the stuff. I am a fan of pottery, glass, and artwork (some original, many prints). I have a couple of paintings and prints as well as some pottery made by a friend that I display at all times. The rest gets rotated in and out. It works!

[+ FreshFluff]

Fresh, have you heard of FlyLady? She's a lifelong SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) who guides you through getting things together. She's very sweet and non-shaming...and her website and all her cutesie email reminders are free.

T

 

I've definitely used her site but thanks for reminding me. Her system works well to keep my place neat once it's already clean.

 

 

Oh god I wish this topic hadn’t come up as it forces me to look at myself honestly in the mirror. Unlike FreshFluff I abhor a mess. I am a total and complete obsessive compulsive, anal retentive keep it neat and clean freak.

[..]

 

I'm convinced that if one wants ones home to be neat and appear clean a cleaning person or service will do just fine, if however, one wants ones home to be neat and BE clean one must do the cleaning oneself. I spend about one hour a day, seven days a week cleaning my place. I dust everything one a week. I wet mop all the floors once a week including the kitchen which I do on my hands and knees. I clean the glass on my pictures and photographs once every two weeks. I also wipe down all my cabinets and clean the drawers once every two weeks. Well at least I was honest when I said I was a complete obsessive compulsive, anal retentive keep it neat and clean freak. I entertain a great deal and not a room in my home is ever a mess. Oliver who has been to my home many times can unfortunately testify to all of the above.

 

Epigonos, I abhor a mess too, but I have always been a messy person. I can keep a place neat but not get it that way. For example, in my MN apt where I have 1900 square feet and 4 closets including 1 beautifully designed walk in, things are neat most of the time, and I can easily keep them that way. It's different here, where I have too much stuff in too little space.

 

An organizer isn't really like a cleaning service, which I already have. Instead of cleaning, the person sits with you and helps you figure out what to toss or donate. Then, she helps you figure out how to use the space you have better. For someone like you, Epigonos, this service would be unnecessary, but for messy types, it's invaluable.

 

And don't be embarassed about satisfying your own need for order. That quality is a virtue.

[+ FreshFluff]

Like you, I hate a mess but tend to have a cluttered place. I am now working on de-cluttering my 850 sq ft 2-bedroom condo one room, closet, and cabinet at a time. One suggestion for an overwhelming amount of decor is to display some, store the rest, and rotate the stuff. I am a fan of pottery, glass, and artwork (some original, many prints). I have a couple of paintings and prints as well as some pottery made by a friend that I display at all times. The rest gets rotated in and out. It works!

 

Glad to have you here on the thread! I actually have very little decor beyond my furniture; most of my clutter consists of clothes, hair and makeup products, and books. However, my parents have lots of room in CA and have encouraged me to ship stuff over, so I'll do that with the borderline items. I only toss things that I rarely if ever use.

[rvwnsd]

Glad to have you here on the thread! I actually have very little decor beyond my furniture; most of my clutter consists of clothes, hair and makeup products, and books. However, my parents have lots of room in CA and have encouraged me to ship stuff over, so I'll do that with the borderline items. I only toss things that I rarely if ever use.

 

I LOVE clothes and I have a lot of them. I go through my wardrobe every few months and cull the stuff I haven't worn, don't like, don't fit into, etc. and donate it. My friends laugh at me because no matter how much culling I do, my incredible collection of blue dress shirts never seems to diminish. I just went through my books and donated more than half of them, including some cookbooks that I haven't looked at since the 1990's. The coffee-table art and transit books (I take vacations to ride the bus and subway) are sacrosanct, but many of the others are gonesville. Now I buy e-books for my iPad.

 

One final suggestion (for now): use an Elfa organizer in your closet. It might seem pricier than ClosetMaid, but it is a better product. Container Store is the only place to get it in the US, but they have a couple of locations in NYC. I have Elfa shelving in my kitchen and den and they are a godsend.

[+ purplekow]

I work six or seven days a week and I have dogs so my house is a disaster. I am trying to get it in better condition but it is difficult. Before my wife died, she had a small apartment near her work which was about 75 miles away from our home. She used that apartment for storage and when she did not feel like commuting. When she died, all that stuff was transported to the main house. Soon after, my mother passed away and again her stuff became my stuff. 10 years later and I am still digging out. I finally had some people over to help me clean out my garage and we filled a 30 yard dumpster and lots of old furniture was put out on the street for street salvage. Now I am moving things i want but do not need in the house out to the garage. Once the house is organized I will weed through the remaining items in the garage and give away to family, donate or discard or recycle.

As for books, i took about 200 books to the local hospital. They have a book cart there which lends books to patients. Needless to say, many of those books go home with the patient, so the hospital is in need of resupply. i was surprised and delighted to happen upon a relatively young man reading my copy of The Brothers Karamazov while he was lying on a gurney waiting for a test. I did not figure that anyone would actually read some of the books I donated but when I dropped by a few months later with another donation, I was told most of the books from my previous donation had found new homes.

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

The Nest or . . .

 

I have a fairly large house that is usually ready for company at a moment's notice - except for one room. My office, which I call "my nest" is a complete and utter disaster. The door is always closed and the cleaning lady skips it. I have tried to clean it up and organize it periodically but within weeks it starts "reverting" and within a couple of months it is back to the mess it was. If I lived in a smaller space, it would be a problem for me as well as I am simply not that disciplined. Good luck.

 

I used to call my equivalent space "The Shit Room" door forever closed. That was until one terrified young man thought that my

 

reference indicated a serious interest in the practice of a certain "raunch" fetish for which I had created a dedicated space.

 

I think that when I opened the door he was more horrified by the perfectly vanilla disordered/cluttered mess contained therein

 

than what his imagination had created in response to my descriptive name.

[+ FreshFluff]

I LOVE clothes and I have a lot of them[...] Now I buy e-books for my iPad.

 

One final suggestion (for now): use an Elfa organizer in your closet. It might seem pricier than ClosetMaid, but it is a better product. Container Store is the only place to get it in the US, but they have a couple of locations in NYC. I have Elfa shelving in my kitchen and den and they are a godsend.

 

Rvwnsd, sounds like we're a lot alike. I too buy e-books exclusively unless a book isn't available in that format.

 

My closet already has two rods on one side and shelves above the top rods, but I will definitely check out Elfa. Thanks for the suggestion!

[+ FreshFluff]

UPDATE if anyone is considering hiring an organizer:

 

So I've brought in the organizer twice, and she was exceptional She was able to help me toss stuff and organize the rest without being dogmatic or insisting that things be done in a particular way. Together, we cleared out extra books and my extra beauty cabinet (which holds a ton of hair products and other stuff). She also helped give me momentum to organize on my own. On my own, I spent two nights clearing out an old filing cabinet and cleared out the boxes of old papers in my stuffed full hall closet.

 

So for those who need help, it was a great investment. If you're in NY and want her name, I'd be happy to PM it to you. She's pretty booked up even in summer but she was flexible and made time in the evening.

[+ friendofsheila]

My problem is taking on new projects, which with volunteer work and just plain cooking for myself, the projects pile up, and not in a neat, organized way.

 

(I'm weaning myself off picking up stuff and saying "Hey, I could fix this/I could turn this into a ____" and hauling it home.

 

Oh, and I hate doing dishes.

[+ friendofsheila]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Alxt2CsnYK0/Tt0wMYCJKkI/AAAAAAAAK0c/GQaK_zulKmI/s1600/hoarder+2.jpg

 

 

 

Thanks for these pictures, AZ. They remind me that I'm not as bad as some people.

[Frequentflier]

BOOKS!

 

What do you do with books? Can't throw them out; can't burn them. Don't want to store them.

Thoughts?

 

Those that were in good shape I used to donate to the local public library. They either put them in circulation or included them in their twice a year book sale with proceeds added to taxpayer funds to buy new books. Recently though I hit the jackpot and found a second hand store that gives all the profits to local animal welfare groups/shelters. The store includes book, most of which I didn't think were that great so I was glad to bring the owner three boxes recently. Strolled in the store a couple of days ago and you would have thought I was the owner's long lost nephew - she said the books were flying. Other options might be veterans hospitals or other shelters. I don't even buy new books. The public library has a great online site that you can search for books, put them on hold, get electronically notified when they are ready for pickup and even renew. Recently found that lots of magazines I used to pay for (like the Economist) can be downloaded from the library for free. I rarely use a Nook or IPAD to read - used to but have gotten back to liking a "real" book in my hands - and I can read during takeoffs and landings.