Organize Your Inner Pack Rat in 2009: Purging Without Guilt

Organize Your Inner Pack Rat in 2009: How to Purge Without Guilt

As we gather with friends and family to celebrate the holidays and ring in another new year, most of our thoughts turn to our New Year’s Resolutions! Ahhhhh, the thoughts of how we can make positive changes, get rid of negative habits and start on our road to the life of our dreams..and then January 2nd arrives! Just kidding-although it is right about then that hard reality hits as to the fact that we actually have to WORK at our goals and dreams in order to achieve them. With these happy thoughts in mind, let’s start with one of the top New Year’s Resolutions-getting rid of our clutter-and stick to it!

Did you know that the Japanese actually make a holiday out of cleaning their spaces, and purging old papers and clutter? This is done at the end of December before Jan. 1st. Everyone participates-business people cleaning out their offices, children cleaning their school desks and families cleaning out the house. Files get purged, clothing not worn gets donated, appliances get cleaned.nothing is left untouched. (I actually do thisnew Year cleaning between New Year and Chinese New Year to usher in great energy into my home and office. I also choose this time to work on my Treasure Map for the year). The Japanese feel you shouldget rid of the dirt of the old year to go into the new year fresh and clean. Besides cleaning, any projects are finished, all correspondence is answered and papers are filed or shredded. On a side note, speaking as a designer, any designer/contractor/architect that is worth their money will make you go through your stuff so they know what they are working with. I’ve had client’ssurprise me with 3 full dining room sets that they wanted me to work into their home, a full basement that was floor to ceiling boxes and more like a labyrinth than a living space and medicine cabinets that had medicine from 1994!

***Clutter knows no boundaries in terms of who it affects. Men, women and children of all ages are afflicted bypack rat syndrome. My clutter workshops end up becoming counseling sessions, especially with the married couples, rather than a design/organization seminar. ***

OK DeAnna, you saybut how do I start? I NEED everything. First of all, you will find after going through this process, you will be able torelease many items you thought you’d never part with. Secondly, you will appreciate the things that really DO have meaning for you and have room to show them off in your space. And in this crazy world, your home should be your sanctuary with you being surrounded by items that have a positive meaning to you.

Alright-to get started in the purging process, you must ask yourself these 3 questions for EACH ITEM: Do I love it? Do I use it? Do I need it? If you answer NO to any of the questions, the item MUST GO. There should be 3 piles, of bags, in which to place items once their fate is established-KEEP, SELL/DONATE, TOSS. Once a decision has been made, there is no going back. This can be a daunting task, and if you are nervous or overwhelmed about this project, start with a drawer or cabinet. Thinking you can de-clutter your entire home in a weekend is not a realistic goal unless you are throwing everything into a dumpster. (I actually did have a couple who attended a clutter workshop where the husband didn’t understand why they couldn’t go through their 2 story home that they lived in for 30 yrs over the weekend).

***The artist Georgia O’Keefe wouldn’t bring a new item into her home unless she got rid of an item! ***

When you start to purge, you must EMPTY out the drawer, cabinet, closet, boxwhatever. No flipping through hangers deciding what to keep or not. Empty everything out on the floor or bed and pick up each item as you ask yourself the 3 questions and then place item in appropriate pile. BE HONEST. Do NOT let quilt get the better of you. No:

> But it wasexpensive.

> But it wason sale.

> But it wasa gift.

> But Imay fit into it again.

For the first two, it doesn’t matter how much an item cost if you don’t wear it, it doesn’t fit and/or it doesn’t go with any other item in your closet. An item that you received as a gift is usually associated with guilt-but I asked for it, it was from a now deceased relative, they made it-if an item doesn’t fit your home/space/life/interests, it is just taking up space. Appreciate the intent and thought that the gift represents and donate the item to someone who CAN use it and would appreciate it. In regards to thefit issue-there arefat clothes,thin clothes,painting clothes (I have many painting t-shirts) and whatever clothes. The rule of clothes is that if it doesn’t fit you NOW and you haven’t worn item in at least 1 year, it MUST GO. If you are working out (another New Year’s Resolution) and losing weight, don’t you want to buy NEW CLOTHES? On the flipside, if you’ve gained weight, for whatever reason, do you want your size 6 jeans staring at you every time you open the closet?

***If you find that you need help as youlove everything, you can hire someone (a designer or professional organizer), get a friend to help you or make it a family event and go through each other’s closets together.***

When looking at collections, photos and/or toys use the same guidelines as before. Do your collections say positive things about you as you are NOW or as you WERE at 16 instead of 43? Do you have photos from trips of people you have no clue as to who they are or 28 pictures of the same sunset? Do you have books for a 2 yr old but your child is driving now? GET RID OF THEM!

Collections:

> Should be displayed together in one case, shelf and/or room. Not scattered throughout the house in groupings of 2 or 3. Make a statement and group together.

> If you can’t remember who gave item to you, where you got it or why you have it-get rid of it.

> Display your items and enjoy your collections. A collection in a box in the attic is just junk in a box.

> Custom shadowboxes are a great way to display items from an event, a person or collection. (I’ve designed many shadowboxes for clients to display artifacts, money/stamp collections and wedding memorabilia).

Photos:

> Get rid of any photos that you don’t know where picture was taken, who is in it, multiples or are embarrassing. If you don’t want your friends/kids/relatives seeing these pics at any time, get rid of them

> Transfer your pictures to a CD to get rid of bulky photo albums. Either get the scanning software and do it at home, or take to a photo store (Walgreen’s, Kinko’s) and they will do for you for a fee. One client of mine downloaded his photos onto his computer and he made his photos his screensaver, so he got to enjoy his trips, family and friends everyday!

> Make digital scrapbooks as a way to organize your pictures. A great company is Creative Memories who has software you can download for you to do yourself. They also offer free webinars, online training and personal consultations. Contact Gretchen Powers (as disclosure Gretchen is a design client and friend) at www.mycmsite.com/gretchenglenn to see all that is available and sign up for a class or consult.

Toys:

> If your kids are driving, yet you still have their strollers, binkies and leggosthey must go. (the toys, not the kids!). Age appropriateness is key for toys and books. Saving toys for not-yet-born grandchildren is a waste of space and time (cleaning/organizing).

> Donate working toys/books to a shelter, children’s hospital, library book drive or school. If a toy is broken, fix it, sell at a rummage sale or throw out.

> If you aresaving baby toys and clothes because you MAY have another child please keep these thoughts in mind-what if you don’t/can’t have another child and what if the child you have is of a different sex than the child you have now? I have a friend who had a baby girl. She saved everything and organized by size and if item wassex’ specific or unisex as they werethinking of having another child. After 4 yrs, still no 2nd baby, there were 8 large Rubbermaid tubs stacked up in the basement. I finally convinced her to donate items to those who could use clothing/toys. They did have another baby the next yeara boy. Remember-there’s always baby showers!

Have I stressed and overwhelmed you enough to get started purging? I’ve gotten emails at 2a from attendees of the clutter workshops cursing me out as they couldn’t go to sleep after the class and were cleaning out drawers and closets! Ha ha. Hopefully, this month’s column has done the same for you-minus the cursing me out! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to get rid of the old and bring in the new energy. So-your projects for this month are to go through at least one room-make room for those new Christmas present, make room on your desk for a new project you’ve been meaning to start, or start purging in anticipation of a relocation or large-scale remodeling project. You will also make morethoughtful purchases when you go shopping after going through thisclutter Detox. Do you really NEED the new item? Will you USE it? Do you LOVE it? These questions will also help keep you on budget as well! Remember-nothing new and exciting can enter your life if there’s no room for it to stay!

DeAnna Radaj is owner of Bante Design LLC/3E Products-an Integrative Lifestyle Design company. She is a nationally recognized speaker, author/columnist and design consultant. Visit the Bante Design LLC website for updates on workshops and appearances.