Comments on: The Amazing Clutter-Free House. http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/ Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:39:27 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: David http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-3350 David Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:29:18 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-3350 Judith - everyone has their own version of clutter-free. In my house, I put everything away as I use it. I wash the dishes when I am done eating. The magazine goes out the door when I am done. The mail gets sorted as it comes in and then put in recycling. This is my "normal", but that doesn't mean its the same for everyone. You can have your own vision of clutter-free that doesn't have to match mine or anyone else's :) Judith – everyone has their own version of clutter-free. In my house, I put everything away as I use it. I wash the dishes when I am done eating. The magazine goes out the door when I am done. The mail gets sorted as it comes in and then put in recycling. This is my “normal”, but that doesn’t mean its the same for everyone.

You can have your own vision of clutter-free that doesn’t have to match mine or anyone else’s :)

]]> By: Judith http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-3349 Judith Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:51:22 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-3349 I love the idea of truly clutter-free, too. But, I must admit, life on a day-to-day basis does contain "extraneous" things, even if only temporarily............ like the newspaper I read this morning, which is in the crate under the bench in the dining room (where I read it) and which will be emptied on Saturday. Do I really need to put it in the garage or trash each day so the room is "clutter free" at all times? What about the kids' backpacks and my computer & briefcase I put by the front door each night so they're ready for the morning. Is that clutter? Ir the small pile of mail I will get to after supper? Or the pile of Christmas cards I will be working on in late November that will take 2 days to finish writing and addressing? Are they clutter, sitting there on the desk overnight? I worry that sometimes our vision of clutter-free lives is a vision of a kind of perfection that can only drive us crazy because it is truly unattainable. The house you saw was STAGED. As in play-acting. Kept like that for only a while, not as a permanent way of life. When are things clean enough for us? I love the idea of truly clutter-free, too.
But, I must admit, life on a day-to-day basis does contain “extraneous” things, even if only temporarily………… like the newspaper I read this morning, which is in the crate under the bench in the dining room (where I read it) and which will be emptied on Saturday. Do I really need to put it in the garage or trash each day so the room is “clutter free” at all times?
What about the kids’ backpacks and my computer & briefcase I put by the front door each night so they’re ready for the morning. Is that clutter? Ir the small pile of mail I will get to after supper? Or the pile of Christmas cards I will be working on in late November that will take 2 days to finish writing and addressing? Are they clutter, sitting there on the desk overnight?
I worry that sometimes our vision of clutter-free lives is a vision of a kind of perfection that can only drive us crazy because it is truly unattainable.
The house you saw was STAGED. As in play-acting. Kept like that for only a while, not as a permanent way of life.
When are things clean enough for us?

]]> By: Cristin http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-2014 Cristin Thu, 21 May 2009 16:29:46 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-2014 I have been working hard to purge unnecessary items from my home, but I am always struggling between simplicity and personality. I don't see one family photo in the pics above. I actually think this home looks too generic. I want more from my simplicity...not only keeping necessary items, but also items that speak to me, tell who I am and where I have been. If anyone has examples of this, I would LOVE to see! I have been working hard to purge unnecessary items from my home, but I am always struggling between simplicity and personality.

I don’t see one family photo in the pics above. I actually think this home looks too generic. I want more from my simplicity…not only keeping necessary items, but also items that speak to me, tell who I am and where I have been.

If anyone has examples of this, I would LOVE to see!

]]> By: michele http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1543 michele Thu, 07 May 2009 14:00:40 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1543 Back in 1980, when I was just out of high school I took a trip to an event out of state with some friends. We crashed at a friends house and it was amazingly sparse and clutter free. A couch, chair, coffee table, tv and rug in the living room, a dining table & chairs in the dining room. nothing but a microwave in the kitchen and everything fitting into cabinets or simply not there. A bed and chest in the bedroom, a desk and simple bookshelf in a 2nd bedroom/office. I can still see it. Very Zen. There was nothing in that house that wasn't essential. It was very minimalist and there is a part of me that has always wished I could be like that. I always seem to accumulate stuff that I don't really need. Back in 1980, when I was just out of high school I took a trip to an event out of state with some friends. We crashed at a friends house and it was amazingly sparse and clutter free. A couch, chair, coffee table, tv and rug in the living room, a dining table & chairs in the dining room. nothing but a microwave in the kitchen and everything fitting into cabinets or simply not there. A bed and chest in the bedroom, a desk and simple bookshelf in a 2nd bedroom/office. I can still see it. Very Zen.

There was nothing in that house that wasn’t essential. It was very minimalist and there is a part of me that has always wished I could be like that. I always seem to accumulate stuff that I don’t really need.

]]> By: KC http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1521 KC Wed, 06 May 2009 23:03:34 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1521 I do have moments like that! The usual time is when I have been away from home and walk in the door and think "We have too much stuff!". My living areas are particularly due for a major decluttering exercise so that will be my major chore this weekend. I have two bookshelves groaning with books (and other sundry items) so that will be the primary focus. I don't have young children so once something is tidied it tends to stay that way for quite a while. So it is worth the effort of doing big cleanups. I think I will take some before and after photos so I can really understand what a difference it makes. I do have moments like that! The usual time is when I have been away from home and walk in the door and think “We have too much stuff!”.

My living areas are particularly due for a major decluttering exercise so that will be my major chore this weekend. I have two bookshelves groaning with books (and other sundry items) so that will be the primary focus.

I don’t have young children so once something is tidied it tends to stay that way for quite a while. So it is worth the effort of doing big cleanups.

I think I will take some before and after photos so I can really understand what a difference it makes.

]]> By: David http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1512 David Wed, 06 May 2009 18:23:16 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1512 Added a few pictures... Added a few pictures…

]]> By: David http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1511 David Wed, 06 May 2009 18:22:56 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1511 We wondered that too, but the listing agent said it has been like this since the first time she ever saw it. :-) We wondered that too, but the listing agent said it has been like this since the first time she ever saw it. :-)

]]> By: Michael Janzen http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1510 Michael Janzen Wed, 06 May 2009 17:57:21 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1510 The first place (condo) my wife and I bought was like that, especially at first. The people that we bought it from were into ultra-simplicity and it was so exciting to see a lace like that we set it similarly. Now we're trying to find our way back. :-) The first place (condo) my wife and I bought was like that, especially at first. The people that we bought it from were into ultra-simplicity and it was so exciting to see a lace like that we set it similarly.

Now we’re trying to find our way back. :-)

]]> By: SavvyChristine http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1507 SavvyChristine Wed, 06 May 2009 16:34:14 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1507 That makes me wonder if they have all their extraneous Stuff stashed away in a storage unit somewhere: boxes and boxes overflowing with toys and half-empty plastic snow globes from that 1989 trip to St. Louis and the like. :) I would also like to see the pictures, even if they are bad ones from your iPhone. That makes me wonder if they have all their extraneous Stuff stashed away in a storage unit somewhere: boxes and boxes overflowing with toys and half-empty plastic snow globes from that 1989 trip to St. Louis and the like. :)

I would also like to see the pictures, even if they are bad ones from your iPhone.

]]> By: David http://simpleorganizedlife.com/the-amazing-clutter-free-house/comment-page-1/#comment-1505 David Wed, 06 May 2009 15:06:29 +0000 http://simpleorganizedlife.com/?p=74#comment-1505 Ah, good idea. I have a few bad ones on my iPhone, I should add those later today. :-) Ah, good idea. I have a few bad ones on my iPhone, I should add those later today. :-)

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