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I too have a quilt on my headboard! I wish my headboard was taller as the bed is against an outside wall that gets very cold here in Michigan

I also have a huge clutter problem. I was making progress on my clutter but then my daughter and granddaughter moved in with me and all their clutter moved in too.

Why yes, I have found the way to have a perfectly kept home - hahaha. I can’t even type that without laughing. 
I figured out a long time ago that I don’t like to dust any more than I have to so “usually” am not attracted to what I call dustables.  I’ve also over the years let family know that I don’t care for dustables.  That’s helped at least keep gifted clutter at bay.  
Paper clutter is an ongoing issue.  Why do we have to keep all of this stuff.  I realize much has moved to online, but I don’t like online clutter any better. 
And keep at it I suppose. That’s all we can really do. 
Love the idea of a quilt over the headboard on an outer wall.  Beautiful and practical. 

No clutter here - we've decluttered on and off over the years and now we have almost nothing left to declutter.  We have done many trips to the trash and treasure market to donate everything we don't need or use, and simply excess stuff that we had in cupboards -  I have also sold quite a lot of things that would be useful for others to have, and only putting a minimum amount of dollars on them or actually giving them away.  We are now down to having quite a lot of space in our home, and I don't 'do' dusty surfaces as we live in an area where dust is aplenty.  I have very few ornaments and the like, only ones that do have some sentimental value or are of personal value, and have sold or donated the rest.  I also gave to my daughters quite a lot of things that came from my mum and these days I'm very happy with my minimalistic home, so easy to clean and freshen up.  I wouldn't go back to having a cluttered home now.  Our main objective was to lessen any burden on our girls when we leave this mortal coil, so we pre-paid our cremations, and have left nothing for them to sort through and wonder why we'd kept it - we want everything simple for them, as I've had the experience of clearing out years and years of stuff from my families homes when they died.  It has also made it much, much easier on us in our older years to have nothing that clutters up our lives.

I dislike anything on counters or tabletops. It's an ongoing battle. Finally after years I have a bathroom counter completely free of stuff. Except all that space was too inviting and my husband keeps his 2 pairs of glasses in their cases on the bathroom counter now. Never did that before.

My mom used to say children like clean rooms because every time she cleaned a room we kids would go in it and mess it up! Lol. Now my grandkids do that!

I found others in the house would use my clutter to hide their clutter so several years ago I made a real effort to eliminate my piles of clutter.

I use baskets to hold small items. If that doesn't work and it is precious I put it in my curio cabinet. 

From my Stillmeadow Sampler book by Gladys Taber, which I am enjoying so much : )

The truth is, life has a way of accumulating treasures which you cannot part with and yet have no place for. This is also true of memories, I think. There are some you cannot part with but have no place in your present life.

Xx

Like Lady L, I hate dusting, it's my least favourite housekeeping job, and I didn't have anything ornamental anywhere until about a year ago, when I was 45.  I looked around and realised that there is no real personality in my home.  Of course, I've bought furniture I like (in the affordable range, unfortunately I have champagne tastes and don't have anything I truly love furniture-wise), but there weren't even photographs on display and never had been.  I've spent the last year trying to add personality and spark to my home, to make it feel cosy to me, and to give my rare visitors an idea of who I am and what I like.  So I've actually been cluttering instead of decluttering lol.  Somebody asked me if I'm a hoarder a while ago.  They'd never even been in my home, I just mentioned I was picking little knick knacks up if I loved them.  I said no, I love a lot of the items that come into my home, I don't collect or keep things because I can't pass them up or let them go.  That's not to say that there is now no vacant surface, far from it, and I've probably bought as much as I'm willing to dust now, but the piles of other stuff builds up around my home and that does annoy me.  A hobby here, papers filling up a chair at the dining table, pencil cases, pens, notebooks over there.  I've gone through stages of realising I didn't have storage, so I spent a couple of years buying storage items, but never seemed to have enough storage!  So I have spent time on and off for many years now decluttering mostly non-sentimental items.  

I also realised for myself, that even if I only use something once a year, then that's something I need in my home.  It doesn't make logical or financial sense to me to get rid of things that do actually get use.  Not everything needs to be in constant use, some things we need rarely, but we do need, and when I want or need to use them, I don't want to pfaff about buying and borrowing the items, I want to grab and use them right away. 

My needs and wants have changed over the years, so I declutter sometimes and re-clutter other times.

We live a minimalist lifestyle. We have everything we need, but no decorative clutter. I don't want to spend too much time cleaning or tidying up. When we go to bed in the evening, the apartment is tidy, the dishes are washed and put away in the cupboard, etc. Only then can I start the new day peacefully. We only have a few mementos left. They're in a box in the attic.

About 3 years ago, my husband and I found a large curio cabinet to house all the things that I love and cherish from my family at a secondhand store.  It has my grandmother's China in it, that I use on special occasions, as well as a tea set my grandfather brought from Japan after WWII. I love keeping these things out, but since they are enclosed but still visible, I don't have to worry about dusting them all the time. 

Joanna B- I, too, love Gladys Taber books! 

The G Taber books are wonderful resources. 

I don't usually have clutter. It's just my personality. I like everything in its place. Each morning, before I start my day's work, I do what I call straightening. I start at the back of the house and change towels in the bathroom if needed, make the bed, and put things back where they belong, room by room. It only takes a couple of minutes. Later, I'll get out my soap and rags and give a room a good cleaning. Straightening isn't cleaning. It's chasing everything back to where it belongs. :) 

I have a desk in my bedroom and that's where any paper that wasn't immediately thrown away goes. It might pile up for a few days, but my straightening routine usually catches it before it gets too bad, and sorts the paper where it goes, and the things that need shredding I set on top of the shredder, if I don't immediately shred them. 

It's the sight unseen places that go crazy. :) My big winter goal this year is to take everything out of my bedroom closet and reorganize it. It's been a sort of catch-all for things I didn't know what else to do with. I also want a better system for my clothes for the changing seasons, since I now change my clothes instead of using the heating and cooling so much. 

I keep a few sentimental things. They're in a sea grass chest in my bedroom closet, and I'm going to go through that too this winter. With the world changing so much, I think it's important to have tangible evidence that things used to be different. Like greeting cards with the lovely things people wrote inside of them in their own very different handwriting. It's like owning books instead of ebooks. You can go visit your fond friends when you want to and reread favorite stories, touching and holding them. It's a different kind of experience. But I don't need every greeting card, so I only save the very special ones, just like when I ran out of room for my books, I could only save my most favorites. 

I have been having fun experimenting with hot water bottles and my bed warmer soapstone that, so far, I've used every way but for bed warming! On a cold day, I tucked a hot water bottle on each side of me while sitting in my favorite chair watching TV, but it was the soapstone that stole the show, so to speak. :) I love that soapstone! I used it for my feet, I tried sitting on it, and I even put it in my lap. It's so warm and cozy! It's too heavy for my lap, but I wished they made a smaller one for that purpose, because that kept me the warmest and most comfortable. My son's computer desk is cramped underneath because of how it is made, and he has to take his warm, fluffy slippers off to fit his feet properly under there, using just socks instead. He asked to try the soapstone for his feet and loved it. He's now getting his own soapstone for Christmas to have for all his life. :)  Maybe it can become a trendy gift, Merry Christmas, have a soapstone? :) :) 

I'm not much for clutter.  It really stresses me out, so I've always been really organized, with everything in its place. I got rid of a ton of things this year, mostly things I stored and don't miss. That new, poor purchase-type junk all gone.  In AZ it's sooo dusty, so it's rather a turn off to have a lot of things out. For some reason, when it's my house, things look like too much, yet if I take a picture of my house (good for decorating), it looks too stark.  My husband though likes everything out - medicine, vitamins, all that technology plug ins - all that ugly, that drives me absolutely insane. He battles just leaving everything lay.  So the vitamins are in a basket, I gave up on the bathroom (his side), and the technology plug-ins I keep having to work at.  I'm good at paper, and all that is filed immediately, mail tossed or filed, HOWEVER.... I can't manage recipe paper, meal plan, etc. to save my life.  But I've always been a clean as you go person, so it comes natural to me. If I can't get rid of something, which isn't a huge problem with me, I may put it in a box for a while and change a very few items out from time to time, but it being stored, must fit in the storage place - no piling.  I think Christmas stuff is sooo cluttery!  Drives me crazy. LOL.  It's just more junk to dust.  But I do like "just enough" and that definition is different for everyone.  I don't want stark though. I like a personality, but I really like functional decor, which means using antique or thrifted items! One thing I disliked was staying at my mom's house and having to move all her breakables in the bathroom and spare bedroom, so I could utilize the space while I stayed. When I see spare rooms, I see a lot of stuff on an end table and bathroom counter, and I think that may not be very comfortable as those who stay have nowhere to put some of their basic things.  So I keep it relatively bare.

What a great idea!!! I had called it a hot rock in my other post. LOLOL!!!

I like a few things for decoration, but I, too, hate to dust so my decorative items are minimal.  I would clean bathrooms all day long rather than dust.  Unfortunately for me, I have a relative who loves lots of "table scapes" in her own décor, and she keeps giving me decorative things to sit on surfaces when she visits.  I put them out for a while then quietly try to make them disappear, and I've made sure to casually drop in the fact that I hate dusting a few times during our conversations.  I am making minimal progress, but one day...

I have gone through my closets and decluttered, but it's time again - where does that stuff come from? - so that's on my list for when I retire (which will be soon).  My parents were champions of hiding clutter.  Their entire house was neat and tidy as a pin, until you opened their closets, looked under beds, in the guest rooms' dressers and behind the sofa which was pushed up against a wall and hid stacks of paperbacks.  I have promised myself to never do that, and so far, I'm not clutter-free, but I'm doing much better than they did.

I had not heard of the quilt over the headboard idea.  My headboard is against an exterior wall, however, there is an 8-foot stretch of windows over the bed, so I'm not sure a quilt is going to do much for me.  I have curtains and they are kept closed almost all the time.  They are pretty ruffled curtains and I love them, but I've been wondering if I should put thermal curtains up, instead.  The windows are east-facing, and since the hurricanes, a lot of morning sun blazes in those windows.  The big tree that shaded them is gone now and I'm waiting on the replacement tree to grow up.

Now I need to find one of those soapstones!  Can someone give me a hint?

Joan S -- I got mine from Vermont Soapstone. That's where Grandma Donna got hers when she did an interesting post about soapstones and their history, so I got one from there too! 

I've never been a person who likes clutter. I homeschooled our youngest children right through their education and would declutter "stuff" at the end of each term.

Now I'm retired this year I've been on a mission to get rid of things like excess furniture etc. To store needed craft things I use storage crates with lids and stack them on top of each other in the corner of a room or behind a door. Needless to say I decluttered my handcraft items as well.  Our home is neat and tidy.

I'm not into a lot of knick knacks and have asked friends not to buy me gifts. 

Grandma Donna Wrote,

Stephanie G, besides the Vermont soap stones, I do have a smaller soapstone that I found several years ago at a thrift store.  They did not even know what it was.  I love the smaller one and like to wrap it up and put it in my lap.  Keep a lookout for them.  Also, you may have some but they make covers for the hot water bottles and have instructions online to make them. I have not decided to crochet, knit or sew them from flannel. 

Back to the soap stones, I can imagine sitting in a buggy, wagon, or an old vintage car with my feet on the soapstone as they did long ago since the cars did not have heaters.  Also they most likely sat in chairs with a good book and snuggled in. 

I was a bit bummed when I wrote yesterdays post with another load of contents coming back to our house to go through.  I know that one day I will have our house back to like it was, clean and organized and just have to have patience until we finish with cleaning out Madge's house.  Four different households in the past several years and their lifetime of items is a lot to do and with that comes memories sad and happy.  I feel better today because I have made more progress than I expected, we stored many things in large totes and now will go through them one at a time, keeping it less invasive in our home. :)  

Dear Grandma Donna -- you got a mess that most of us will never have and have handled it with grace and compassion. You know that every one of us at the forum would be at your house helping out if we lived close by. I only wish we all could! It must be so frustrating not having your house the way you want it. :( 

I had to laugh when I read you saying that "I do not care if people think me strange for this is my home and I do what makes sense to be able to pay our bills and not have any debt" because that is so perfect! These are our homes and we'll do what we want! :) I don't care what people think of my oil lamp with a solar lightbulb in it because it's there for when an emergency comes or I need to save money not using electricity! If you came to call on me today my living room is neat, but my kitchen table has things we're sorting through and I wouldn't be embarrassed about it but would tell you about what we're doing. The only reason I don't consider it clutter is because I know it will go away soon enough. Clutter to me is unnecessary things that overstay their visit and never go home! My pretty little ceramic birds on my cabinet had better never fly south for the winter because I'd miss them. If I had come to call on you, as you took the ducks and quail off the mantle and put them away, I'd be putting them back when you weren't looking. :) :) When I say I don't have clutter, it doesn't mean I don't live in my house! There's a story I could tell you about my bedroom It's very unique. :)

Thank you for the suggestion about finding smaller soapstones. I'll keep a lookout. They are so very practical! People knew what they were doing in the old days. I do have the covers my hot water bottles came with, but I'd like to try and knit some and give the other ones away. 

when I was in my teens and 20s, people kept giving me cat knick knacks for every type of gift, simply because I had cats.  I'm not cat mad and I never had knick knacks out anywhere, so they would go into a box in my linen cupboard and get sent to the op shop every so often.  Hints about not wanting things to dust never worked on my friends and family either.  Good luck!  :-D

Thanks for the fine post, Donna. I am quite sure that I am the most cluttered person on here. I could learn a lot from you, more tidy people. However, I did have what was a big win for me. I had two junk drawers in my kitchen that got so bad that it was hard to even get them open. I could never find what I wanted, so I ended up buying more. One day, I got really sick of it and so I took all of the stuff out of both drawers. Then I organized it into groups that made sense to me. Then I went to Dollar General and got plastic boxes with lids. Then I put the stuff in the boxes and labeled them. There is just enough room to fit scissors alongside the plastic boxes. Under the plastic boxes, I put manuals for whatever I think needs to be saved. Now I can find what I want in those two drawers.

Joan S., I think not everyone makes the connection between hating dusting, which just sounds like a general complaint about housework, and hating dusting around small breakable items.  Or even if they do, they see the knick knacks as a given, and dusting around them as just a part of life.   

My kitchen table and counters were always clutter magnets until I got my latest cat, Hank. Hank does not like clutter. He will push everything off the table and counters onto the floor. For the first time in my adult life, I have a totally naked kitchen table and clear countertops ????

Yay for you Becky Sue K!

I bet you feel good every time you go into that drawer now!

My adult daughters and I often share pictures of our latest decluttering triumph.

I live in an English cottage and it simply wouldn’t suit my surroundings to have it minimalistic and spare, I don’t have loads of dusty collectibles but have curated four small seasonal displays that sit on my mantlepiece and I enjoy changing them as the weather changes. Along with these I have china  & glass that I inherited from my aunts, grandparents and parents, I try to use these on a regular basis and they invoke so many happy memories of family get togethers in days gone by. 
As for Swedish death cleaning I would have been mortified if my parents had thought that they should dispose of all their precious possessions just to save me having to sort through them when they died, to me it was the last act of love to ensure that many of those pieces found new homes amongst their numerous grandchildren and friends, everything else was sent with love & thanks to charity stores to find their next family

Becky Sue K-I love this idea and will be using it. I really like that the containers are see-through and labelled.

I have a memory jar.  It's big, like one you'd see in an old fashioned candy store.  I found it at a garage sale for only $5.  No plans for it, but just liked it.  As I was cleaning things out, I had a bunch of things I wasn't wanting to give up, but didn't see the point of keeping them tucked away.  And I thought of my giant jar.  I have my Grandpa's wallet, old Italian Lira, pins from junior high, small gifts from a young love, etc.  Way more than you can imagine and it isn't even a third full.  I have a scroll with the items in it and where I got them.  I figure that either a relative would find it a mini treasure chest or even someone spotting it in a thrift shop.  It's a time capsule, of sorts.

Lainey T_2 I love the sentiment you've expressed.

Debby B, a memory jar is a wonderful idea. Sometimes it's those little things that a family member might really want. 

It's interesting reading the comments, I realize different people define "clutter" very differently.  Some of you seem to limit the word to what's sitting out (which is the least serious kind in my view) and some include deliberate decorations (which I wouldn't.)

To me, decorative items deliberately placed are not clutter, no matter how many there are.  It's also not my style to have a lot, but when I'm in someone's home who does have every surface covered in little figurines or something, I don't think of it as clutter.  To me surface clutter is the accidental stuff: If there's a pencil, some paperclips, a hair tie, a handful of screws, a piece of junk mail and a pair of gloves shoved between the decorative items, that surface is starting to look cluttered, but I would still just call fixing the problem "cleaning" and not true "decluttering" because it's just a matter of putting things away.  Dry plastic freezer containers sitting on my kitchen counter more than a day make the counter look cluttered, but they're something I use and just need to find the time to put away.

When I talk about "decluttering" (which I've had to do a lot of because I took over a family home from a borderline hoarder) it's not about surface clutter at all.  It's going through everything stored away in the attic, basement, closets, and outbuildings, making difficult decisions about what to get rid of and how to get rid of it responsibly.  Silverfish-eaten magazines from the 90's and flashlights with notes that say "broken" in the battery compartments are clutter, even if they're put away in storage totes in the attic!  At least those are easy decisions for me.  Burn the magazines and see if the e-waste place can recycle the flashlights.  Then I find something like a tent with broken poles.  Definitely don't need to keep the whole thing, but do I want to salvage some of the water-resistant fabric or mosquito netting for anything before throwing it away?  And what to do with 3 dozen mason jars with slightly chipped rims?  Do I want them for non-canning use, or might someone else at least?  Then box after box of paperwork that's a random mix - old tax documents that must be burned or shredded, personal letters, recipes torn from magazines, handwritten family recipes, the warranties for appliances that kicked the bucket decades ago.  Each item has to be looked at.  That's what I mean by clutter, and the process of sorting through it is so mentally exhausting that I can only do so much of it at a time, or I start to get sloppy, keeping things because that's the easy option in the moment (runs in the family!) and not because it's actually the right option.

Decluttering of my own personal possessions is much easier because I had far, far less to begin with, but sometimes emotionally difficult because it's all stuff that at some point meant something to me.

Lainey T_2, 

I feel similarly that death cleaning away sentimental items, family heirlooms, antiques, is taking things much too far.  I know that when my grandparents died, I was glad to get certain things like Grandma's teapot collection and some of Grandpa's old books, and a box of letters from relatives around the world. 

On the other hand, I've never heard anyone say they wish their deceased family member had left behind more tax paperwork and charging cords that don't go to anything.  It's a balancing act for sure.

In my own life I try to take mortality into account for certain things, like maybe something "could be used for an art project" but am I realistically going to get around to doing that project in the number of years I have left?   Supplies for a project I meant to do and then lost interest in are probably not going to be very meaningful to loved ones when I'm gone, so I figure it's my responsibility to give such things away now.  

Very interesting discussions about clutter! Reading all of this, I've come to the conclusion that clutter is things we don't deal with in the moment. Like my bedroom closet, or even my kitchen table where I have new categories of winter clothing that I haven't decided where to put yet. Maybe the answer to clutter is being in the moment. It's a lot easier to make the effort in the moment than have to face a whole closet reorganization! Maybe thinking that it's easier to "do it later" is a lie and I need to schedule my day to tackle everything as it comes. I get focused on a task and think doing other things later is a convenience, but I don't think that anymore. I think I need to go to my kitchen table and think though where to put things right now. 

Happy Saturday everyone!

I define clutter as things that aren’t put away where they belong (which in some cases can be the situation for months or even years if the items don’t have a place — my grandmother had a lot of this type of clutter) and things that are put away that don’t have a purpose and should have been discarded or donated.  Like Stephanie G, I like to do a daily sweep of the rooms and put away things that were left out.

I think there is also the clutter of “too much”, when the items meant to decorate and beautify our homes become invisible to use because they aren’t given room to breathe and space to shine.  This can apply to knick knacks and such.

My husband and I have been talking about clutter lately, the invisible kind that has been put away and seems well organized but is still more than we need or want.  He is on a vacation for a couple of weeks and is decluttering and organizing, so I feel inspired to do the same — either helping in the areas he is working on or working on my own spaces.  This morning he is going through the vinyl records, discarding any he was unable to properly clean (most of our records were inherited or purchased used) or listened to but didn’t like.  Retirement will be here very soon and we are thinking about how to minimize the amount of time necessary to maintain all of our stuff!  We also want to be able to use what we have easily.

That is one thing we are trying to figure out, what do we keep when we are basically hitting stop on our earning years and entering our fixed income years.  There are things that in the past we might have donated because we didn’t need them at the moment, but now we are thinking about the next several decades.  For example, I have more water bottles and travel coffee bottles than we need right now.  Many were gotten for free from our Buy Nothing group, and I only ask to be considered if they were the brand we already have so the lids and silicone seals are interchangeable.  Part of me thinks we have too many, and part of me acknowledges that water bottles get lost or forgotten and it could be a hardship to replace a bottle several years from now — living on the retirement budget for several months has helped me realize how the impact of the “miscellaneous” expenses that pop up. 

This thought exercise is being applied to many areas in our home, not just the water bottle cupboard.  What do we have?  What do we need?  What might we need in the future?  Is what we have easily accessible?

I’ve seen videos by some retired people who are minimalists, and I think they must be fairly affluent and perhaps not be homeowners.  The advice to keep just 2-3 favorite sweaters ignores the fact that over time the sweaters will become worn and need replacement (after mending and other repairs, of course).  I could pare down the sheets and pillowcases, but I know that over the years the will be needed, so I choose to store them rather than donate them.

It was nice to read the post and everyone’s replies!  I’m off to check for clutter in the house and then to tackle some organization

I love your jar idea Debby B! To be able to walk past it and every now and again look at it, or have a dig around to pull things out and touch is such a lovely and personal touch to the home.  

Kimberly F I often go through my linen cupboard in particular and think about how many of the same items I have, but I've decluttered in there so often, I don't want to get rid of all my spares, or all my lovely tablecloths, pillowcases etc.  You're right, things are wearing out and I'm glad I have the replacements already! I know from living below minimum wage most of my life, needing to buy new sheets can be a hit to the budget.

I also learned a valuable lesson when I was 30 and got rid of every single thing I owned that didn't fit in my car and took off to another state.  A year later I was back and had to spend an enormous of amount of money over a couple of years buying absolutely everything for a home from scratch.  I couldn't afford quality items because I needed so much at once, so as the years have gone by I've re-spent money on the same items to replace them, sometimes more than once.  It no longer makes sense to me to get rid of too many things, and I would never be a minimalist. There were a lot of things I got rid of before my move, that I thought I never used so it was fine to let them go anyway, yet found myself having to buy again because actually, even though they were used rarely, I did need them.  Personally, I'd rather have a little bit too much than not enough. As long as it has somewhere to be stored and I will be able to find it again.  

The kind of clutter I dislike is big boxes of random things that have no home, paperwork without a home, and piles.  I'm terrible for creating piles of things; there's always so many things I'm looking at/using/reading/working on and there are piles in every room lol.  I'm not sure I'll ever truly break that habit.

I want a home that when I need to open a cabinet or closet to get something I don't have to move 15 things to get it. Put all the stuff back I moved. Use the item then have to move all 15 again to return the item to its place or just shove it in there and create more problems.

I want to see the tops of my counters and tables. 

I don't want to be searching for something because I don't know where it is because I have no designated places for odd things I need or want to keep.

I'm slowly clearing out my mom's place. She has jewelry mixed in with other junk like batteries,  sewing notions, random coupon in a sweet little table's single drawer. Why? Because she probably had no idea where to put it. It's tedious going through that. 

To me the biggest problem is keeping things you have no idea what to do with it. So it gets deposited with all the other things you don't know where they should go.

I have a hanging shelf by the basement door that I organized a few years ago to hold all that stuff that usually ends up in a junk drawer. I used plastic cups and little storage containers from Dollar Tree. It's helped immensely. I probably should sort through it and see if I need to purge anything.

Now my junk drawer holds pencils, markers, tape, scissors, rulers etc my grandson & I use regularly. I love it. 

Kimberly F., 

I keep spares of anything important as long as those spares are in new or like new condition.  I will very likely die with some of those spares still in storage, but that's my goal.  I've always thought it's such rediculous hypocrisy when an elderly person passes away and people think it's "sad" that they had nice things put away that they never used, whereas no one takes that attitude when an individual dies with unspent money in the bank. On the contrary, it's considered tragic to die pennyless. 

I don't see the two forms of safety net as fundamentally different.  I hope to die with unspent money in the bank, uneaten food in my cupboard, and yes, at least one set of brand new sheets in my linen closet. All three were there to give me peace of mind. What would be sad is if I died in a bed covered in threadbare rags of sheets, stone broke and worrying about where my next meal was going to come from!   

I try to wear just two sweaters in rotation all winter, but I keep 6 to 8 more in reserve.  When the two in use get too stretched out, I get rid of them, so there will be room in the drawer for the next nice sweater I find at a thrift store.  What I don't do is store old stretched out sweaters I've stopped liking to wear, just because they're still warm and I could maybe squeeze a few more months of use out of them in an emergency.  The space is much better used for a like-new sweater with years of use left in it.  I also don't put all my sweaters in rotation at once, because then at some point I would end up with a whole drawer full of sweaters that were halfway through their useful life, which again is not an efficient use of space.

(Edited to ramble less.)

I like the idea of spares. Usually my spares are in my house because they were purchased bargains or gifts. I'm blessed to have-- spare foods, spare sheets and hand towels,  spare  tablecloths & napkins, spare coats and shoes (my daughter's feet got bigger after she had a baby & she gave her shoes to me). 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who has spares of everything. I probably have two years' worth of food on hand, too. A group I am in on Facebook that is about eating WWII rations is doing a pantry challenge this month, so I am trying not to go to the store. I numbered my pantry shelves, and now each day I try to eat at least one thing off the shelf for that day. So on the 16th, I take off shelf 16. It is really helping me to use up food that I've been ignoring.

On a different note, I got my 1930 calendar. It is actually a reprint from 1975, when they had the same days as in 1930. If anyone wants this calendar, you can buy it on eBay. I think it was about $13. It looks like you can also get the Liberty 1931 calendar for about $13.50 also.

Becky Sue

What an interesting read. For me clutter are items not put away in their right places. I'm a soft minimalist. I have thoughtfully chosen sentimental items such as keepsakes and decor that is kept simple, cosy but not stark. As for household items we have what we use but not multiples. Linen is kept to two or three spares. It keeps things easy to clean and look after. I've always liked order and simplicity. We all have our differences how we see and approach things. I think that if it feels good to us, is manageable and brings us joy/contentment then it's fine.

Mel, that's exactly my favorite thing about my memory jar- occasionally just pulling something out and looking at it!   Do you remember Kiddles?  Big fad in the late 60s.  I had a Kiddle bracelet that I wore everywhere for years.  It's in there.  An old Spiedel ID bracelet with my name engraved from my first boyfriend at 13!  Some silly, some sentimental, but all too precious to either box up or dispose of!  My close friends love me to occasionally take a couple of pictures of it and send to them because they love looking at things in it.  I never expected it to be such fun !!

Hello!  

This is my first time commenting since the October break.  I can't keep up with all the comments!

I struggle with clutter, and I mean so much clutter that it is a time waster for me.  I can't find things I need.  I have always been this way, but it has become worse in the past year while dealing with all my parents stuff. Unfortunately, one can be too attached to things.  Also, I seem to get attached at first sight!  

General paper clutter from junk mail is a problem too, and gets worse as one ages.  We are still covered by employer sponsored insurance, but because we are both "medicare" age we are bombarded with information during the open enrollment period, and my Mom's mail comes here too.  Add to that junk mail for investment opportunities, hearing screening, cremation and funeral info, home care pitches, and retirement communities, it really piles up.  I sort it soon as I get it, either into the recycling bin or into read later.And yes. I am on"no junk mail" lists, but apparently that doesn't cover a lot of mailings!

I am always decluttering.  Mostly because my life is always changing and so I pick up and discard interests and decorative items.  I do tend to keep things for a long time and still have tools and things I acquired when I was a teen, 50 years ago.  And I can be sentimental, but usually only for a while.  As in I might keep something for a few years and then realize that I am ready to part with it and so I do.  Harder to give up are items that were attached to some kind of goal that I was very dedicated to pursue but I seem to have aged out of or simply can no longer afford.  I have just started giving up my marital arts uniforms for example, realizing that I simply cannot return (and if by some miracle I do return, I can acquire a new uniform).  

I am planning to sell my house and move to a condo for my retirement years, both to save money and decrease maintenance needs (especially snow shoveling!).  At first I was sad about it but over the last year I have gotten more attached to that vision of a less strenuous life as I age.  Recently saw a studio sized condo for sale at such a reasonable price and realized how much it would ease my finances as well as help my independence as I age.  And now I am just holding that vision of this 650 square foot space (it has more closets then I do now), and now am on a renewed decluttering mission to fit my essentials in that space and still live in joy.  Interesting what doesn't make the cut when I think of it that way.  

I often declutter in terms of percentages for some reason.  As in when I feel I have too many books and/or need more room for new books, I just make a decision to declutter 25% of that category.  It makes it so much easier to remove what is not essential.  Every once in a great while I wish I had something back but so often can find it again at a very reasonable price

Good luck with your decluttering!

Grandma Donna Wrote,

This has all been very interesting what all of you have written so far and really thought provoking of what we consider clutter.  Charles and I have a small home and I think our problem is just having more items in our home than there is room for.  

Many times it has to do with what our personalities are or what our talents are.  Some of us sew or knit, crochet, paint or do woodworking and others enjoy going out. It would not be any fun if we were all the same. 

There are many things people like to do.  Some people enjoy collections and others do not.  There is a need for space to keep yarn and fabric and all that goes with that.  Some people love to cook and have things easy to reach and some people like things cleared. Some people love sports or working out and there are larger items that may go with that. 

Several of you have mentioned duplicates and I feel that is a problem here too, and sometimes it is the same thing in a different version from a different era. 

Charles and I have been talking about this and we are going to try something new.  We are going to clean and box up items that we are not ready to make a decision on to get rid of, and we will put these items in different size, large and small clear totes or boxes with a list on each tote, what is in the tote and have it "donate ready" for us or for our Children. We already have the totes because of clearing out my parents house and Charles mothers house.  This way if we decide we want to use something we can take it back into the house. This will require cleaning out our small storage room and re-organizing that space "again".  We have made the mistake before getting rid of something that we needed or really miss having.  This way we can let go without letting go because we have already let go of many things. 

We have found that when we go through the older items that our parents had, which many of their items are things our Grandparents had, the quality of the older items are much better than what we can buy today.  There are many items that I donated mine and kept theirs.   Also, we are still clearing out Madge's house so each time we go there it stirs the grief. 

I feel I am ready for simple but I am comforted with things around me that have good memories. and so this is going to be our new way to move forward,  I feel that after a year or two we will know which of those items need to go to donations.  :) 

Grandma Donna I think that's a brilliant idea!

LainyT_2:  Beautifully said!

Debby B: I would love to see a picture of your memory jar! What a great idea!

So interesting how many comments there are about clutter! Clearly we all deal with this one way or another, either by mastering it or longing to master it. 

I have several of Gladys Tabers books by my bed. Her writting is soo comforting

i have read alot of your post but never comment. I just wanted to say you are very interesting and a "kindred spirit", I thoroughly enjoy your blog and appreciate all the hard work. I really enjoy reading others ideas ....Thanks yall

I know that many of us are trying to avoid screens but I was not feeling well over the weekend and stumbled onto the YouTube channel called Through Lucy's lens.  As far as I can tell all of her videos are simply video tours of various period restored homes in the U.K. with a lovely emphasis on the warm and cozy bits of house tending.   I am not providing a direct link as you can just search in YouTube,  but offering it as a suggestion.  Donna I hope that is all right

Grandma Donna Wrote,

Tara D, I am happy that you have joined in the many conversations that we have going on here in the forum. :)  we welcome you to our little community. :)

Sara M, thank you for typing out the link instead of linking to the video.  Yes, it is okay as long as it is something historical, instructional, or related to the post.   I have never seen "through Lucy's lens" until now.  A very interesting youtube channel that she has there. :) 

I would like to give a recommendation, if I may. If you go to YouTube and type in India Rose Crawford and choose the short Cleaning Day with Frog, Frog will be picking up all the clutter! I find the shorts very wholesome and cute to watch, but what I'm also looking at and studying is India Rose Crawford's skill with knitting and sewing. I have small children in my wider family that I could be making gifts for, if I learn how! I am a Patreon member at $1.50 a month to support her work, so I just got notice that Frog will be hanging their laundry in a new short tomorrow. Frog seems to be a kindred spirit! 

Thank you so much for the recommendation Sara, I’ve subscribed as that seems right up my street :