Category Archives: downsizing

The Hazards of Decluttering Mania

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

Lately I’m noticing that some people (including a few “decluttering experts”) have taken the concept of decluttering to such an extreme that they’re actually recommending that you buy systems to store your belongings in so that everything is color- and shape-coordinated. And of course these “systems” cost plenty of money.

I’m afraid the decluttering trend is turning into a mania. It’s one thing to reduce your possessions to a manageable level so that you can live in an orderly, uncluttered home. It’s another thing to require everything to fit in pre-purchased, matching-color containers and shelving. We’re talking entire walls of shelving with matching storage containers that fit into their appointed slots with barely any room to spare.

Does anyone else think this is all getting a little, um, OCD?

Many of us were forced to declutter because of a financial reversal that led to downsizing our life by moving into smaller quarters. So we don’t have the kind of money that a big, coordinated storage system costs.

Take this pantry, for example. Just the rack on the door with its little accouterments costs nearly $130 on sale (reg. $184—eek!)

Then there are the goodies that go on the shelves. By goodies, I don’t mean food, of course: just the matching containers that you put the food in! Here’s a starter set for “only” $168.

When you go from weeding out the old stuff in your pantry and putting the rest of its contents in neat rows to buying hundreds of dollars’ worth of containers and shelves, not to mention pouring food out of the store packages into matching plastic containers, you are officially part of a mania.

And does it occur to anyone that by buying all these containers and shelves that go together, that you are actually adding clutter to your house? You’re also feeding your urge to accumulate, which is what you got you into trouble in the first place.

If you reduce your belongings to only what you find useful and beautiful (a theme I thoroughly explore in The Sentimental Person’s Guide to Decluttering), you won’t need coordinated storage systems. You won’t need to ruin a perfectly good wooden door by screwing an elaborate shelving system into it. And you’ll save a lot of money, too.

Update: I Still Love My Small House

By Claire Posted in Debt-Free, downsizing, My Books, Personal, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , ,

So it’s been seven years since we bought our small house after living in two large rental houses (and a five-bedroom two-story for many years before that). You live differently in a small house than in a large one, and it took me a while to figure that out. (I included what I learned in my eBook Secrets of Small-House Living, written a few years after we moved here.)

Now I’m used to living in a small house, but it has not become routine for me. I still love only having two bathroom sinks to clean instead of four. I greatly appreciate being able to plug the vacuum in the middle of the house and do all the vacuuming without once unplugging it, much less lugging it up and down steps as I did for many years.

Perhaps the thing I love best about my small house is that I don’t have to spend too much time or money on it, which frees up both things to be used for other pursuits. Every bit of time I don’t spend caring for a larger house can be spent reading, writing, gardening, or sewing. Every dollar I don’t spend on this house can be saved, or spent on travel. And we’re not talking about just a few bucks. The property taxes on this house are 1/3 of what we once paid on our large house. Now that’s quite a bit of savings!

There are downsides of living in a small house, but they’re quite minor. I’m aware that a couple of relatives are appalled by the fact that we gave up our lovely huge house for something that can best be described as modest. Oh, well, I gave up caring what they thought long ago.

Another negative is that sometimes I feel cooped up, especially now that it’s winter. But I’m solving that in two ways: I’ve turned a spare bedroom into a reading room, so that I have somewhere to sit and read besides the living room, and I’m making more of an effort to go for walks (all bundled up, of course) and meet friends for coffee now and then. These are things that I should have done long ago, because they are both quite enjoyable, and I find that afterwards, I return to my little house with a new sense of appreciation along the lines of “Be It Ever So Humble, There’s No Place Like Home.”

My Book is Here!

By Claire Posted in Clutter, downsizing, Good News, My Books, Personal, Simpler Living Tagged , , , , , ,
My first print book is now available for purchase!

The Sentimental Person’s Guide to Decluttering just came out in print for $14.95, and it’s already selling. This is so exciting for me! What a great feeling to hold my own book in my hands. Many thanks to those of you who bought the ebook; its sales numbers made my publishers decide to bring it out in print.

You can find it at Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and anywhere else books are sold. It’s also available from Amazon, though they’re charging more than retail price.

Speaking of Amazon, a reviewer there liked it, but wishes I would have addressed how to declutter when you have little children. Unfortunately, I’m not qualified to give advice on that subject. I tried decluttering many times when my kids were small, but all of my efforts ended quickly and in failure because I was just so busy dealing with everything else: the kids, the house, meals, etc. That’s how I ended up with a basement full of stuff that eventually filled two storage units. I just couldn’t find time to go through it all until I was forced to when we sold our house. By then, my kids were teens and young adults.

So you won’t find that information in my book, because I found it too hard to declutter with several children underfoot. But if, like me, you find yourself living with way too much clutter, I can show you how to get rid of most of it while keeping only your most treasured possessions. Just read my new book 🙂

The Freedom of RV Life with Kids Has Its Limits

By Claire Posted in downsizing, Simpler Living Tagged , ,

(Continuing the theme from last week’s post….) A family of six decides to give up the modern life of the big house full of toys and furniture and take their family life on the road. We’re seeing more and more stories about this and it fascinates some of us and appalls others.

As someone who raised a large family in a big house for many years, I can understand the appeal of this kind of lifestyle. Reducing your possessions so that you can fit everyone into a trailer (even if it is a relatively roomy Airstream) forces the kids to entertain themselves and to enjoy being out in nature. That’s much better for kids than being cooped up inside all the time and constantly being given toys, games and electronic devices to keep them occupied.

So I’m on the side of those who think this is a lovely idea, and that they’re making oodles of awesome family memories. That said, their kids are still young. I can guarantee that once the eldest child passes puberty, if not sooner, Mom and Dad will begin dreaming of a home where there are doors. When you live with teens, doors are a must so that parents can have some peace and teens can have some privacy.

But for now, it’s a wonderful lifestyle. If they’re smart, once they decide to settle down again, they’ll find a home that isn’t so large that it requires a lot of time and money to manage. Having a large family is plenty of work on its own; adding in the responsibilities involved in maintaining a huge house is what often pushes parents into “overwhelmed” territory.