Postby Harriet » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:59 am
Well said, Hanners.
sherinjoy, thanks for the understanding. My parents' house would be that bad a situation, but I've insisted on area declutters through the years, and obviously that's continuing, so there's been a timeline "divide and conquer" and we haven't had to face everything at once. A few years ago I put my foot down that the wall-to-wall carpeting had to be replaced. So we managed a pretty big declutter then, with ds23 bringing a covered trailer to free up space so we could sort. The spare and guest bedrooms were not part of that because they aren't carpeted.
blessed, for my dad it will be trophies, similar to the paintings you mention - some are very beautiful, others are unattractive BUT commemorate really meaningful things. It will be tough, but for now the decisions, we hope, are a ways off.
The closet sherinjoy mentions sounds like her in-laws were using closets with an eye to keeping clutter out of rooms. It's different here. In my parent's guest bedroom, dd10 and I look over at the sliding-door closet, which is standing open. We see a loose arrangement of hanging clothing with probably an inch average between hangers - quite nice. The closet floor and shelves are used somewhat but the back wall is visible at several spots - looks fine. This is the result of an even earlier declutter. However, boxes of the magazines. trophies and books my parents have saved (stash-and-dashed to avoid the carpet installer!) keep us from walking up TO the closet yet, LOL! And that is after we have recently dealt with boxes that were stacked on top of those boxes.
That is what it looks like when you have to stop after incomplete past declutters.
Right now, the foyer, hallway to the bedrooms, and living room are clear and lovely space. I couldn't ask for more there. The dining room SEEMS good - looks pretty from the angle of visitors. It needs more help because the one wall hidden from view of the living room has boxes stacked in it. (At least it's neat, but the dining table is also my best surface for sorting their papers, so another problem.) Each of the 6 other rooms do have usual clutter problems, but the ones in use are okay. Only spare and guest bedrooms are really bad, and I'm fine with leaving the true "spare" as storage if it's organized.
I have a plan of attack using the surface of the dining table to sort and discard any dining room boxes we can. At the same time we'll bring in forces from the rear (decluttering those 2 bedrooms) to reclaim space. If we can get some clean storage space, even the "we've gotta save it" boxes from the dining room will have a place to go. Then the only thing left in the Dining Room will be proper furniture for DINING (what a concept) and maybe a sparse, neat-neat household office in the secluded corner until I get their paperwork under control. Clutter will have been pushed back by ONE more room.
If you don't believe in miracles, you're not being realistic.