Category Archives: Clutter

Adapting to Self-Isolation

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Small-House Living Tagged , , , ,

Thanks to our current self-isolation, our living room redo has been put on hold. Our chosen businesses for buying new furniture and carpeting are still open, though by appointment only. But with all the economic chaos going on, we hate to order expensive items and then wonder if the American factories we’d be ordering them from will be able to make them and ship them in a reasonable amount of time…or at all. It depends on how they weather the current situation, and how long it lasts.

So we’re living with our current furniture, which is no big deal, but I sure was pumped to get new stuff. Every time I sit down in the living room, I note how the chair creaks, or how the finish on the leather loveseat is kind of beat up. Not that they are in bad shape, really. It’s just that I was so ready for new furniture.

But more important things are going on right now, so it will have to wait. In the meantime, there are a few areas in the house that could use a little straightening. I’m sure I can find a few things that we don’t need anymore. I’ll do those things now, because once we can go about freely again, I’m not going to want to stay inside and declutter, that’s for sure!

Take Advantage of Your Self-Isolation

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

So you’re stuck at home, thanks to this nasty virus that’s going around the world. You can only binge-watch so many shows and movies before you get tired, and antsy. What to do with your excess energy?

Why not take some of it and go through your drawers and closets, removing things you haven’t used in ages? You always say you’re going to do this once you get the time. Well, now you have the time! It will keep you occupied doing something useful, and you can cross something off your mental list that’s been sitting there for far too long.

While you’re at it, watch for “I Was Gonna” items you always meant to use, and actually use a few of them. Open up that old needlework kit and start stitching, or take the brand new weights out of their dusty box and start lifting them. Doing this will lift your spirits.

Once you’ve gone through your house for things you don’t need anymore, you may not be able to donate all of your stuff right away, but you can put those “donate” boxes in your vehicle, or your garage, or even near the front door. Once the restrictions are lifted, hopefully sooner than later, your local Goodwill will reopen, and you can drop off all your extra clutter. Won’t getting out of the house and making a donation to a worthy cause feel good?

Small Scale TV Stand: Found!

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Personal, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

We’ve made a little progress on the living room, I’m happy to say.

Since our small house has a small living room, our goal is to replace our current furniture, which came from our much-larger house, with furniture that is more appropriately scaled to a 12’ X 16’ room.

Until now, the television sat on a sofa table that took up almost the entire length of the wall. After much searching online, I found two tv stands that qualified for my desire for something that was somewhat taller and not as wide in hopes that proper scale with space around it would help give the room a more open feel.

I also wanted a tv stand that would hold our many DVDs without revealing them. (In a small room, the last thing you need is lots of miscellaneous stuff stored where you can see it.)

Ironically, we ended up having to choose between two polar opposites: a lovely oak Stickley media center and a nice-looking tv stand from Wayfair, which was not made of oak. But it was also narrower than the sofa table; meanwhile, the Stickley stand was almost the same width as the sofa table had been, but I chose to overlook that because the piece was so pretty.

We drove nearly an hour to see the Stickley piece, where we learned of its $2400 price tag. I would have been willing to pay that amount, except that as it turned out, the piece didn’t have a dedicated spot for a DVD player. Putting it on top of the stand would add to the look of clutter that I didn’t want. Putting it inside the stand meant we’d have to open the doors to play DVDs, but those doors would open into a traffic pattern.

Then the Wayfair stand went on sale for the ridiculously low price of $218, and we decided we had to give it a try. It arrived in a few days, having survived the shipping process with no dings or scratches, and it went together beautifully. We collected DVDs from the three areas in the house where we’d been storing them, and they all fit inside….and you can’t see them. Just what I wanted.

All the stand needs now is something to fill that empty spot under the DVD player. We had a boom box on the lower shelf of the sofa table, and we miss it. So we’re waiting on this system with Bluetooth, CD player and FM radio to arrive, and it will go in that spot. Can’t wait!

Stuffocation is Just the Right Word

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged , , , ,

British television chef and author Nigella Lawson describes her habit of being messy and hanging on to things (including empty mustard jars) far longer than she should as being something that creates “stuffocation.”

What a great word! It brings instant thoughts of being overwhelmed by too much clutter to the point that you can’t breathe. Sure wish I’d thought of that word!