By Rita Wilkins
The Downsizing Designer

There is a clutter crisis in America and it’s making us sick… literally.

According to a recent study found by the national Association of professional organizers:

54% of Americans are overwhelmed by clutter.
55% experience stress because of clutter.
33% hang on two things they no longer want, need, or use.

Just look around at the unopened boxes in your garage, your basement, or your storage unit.

For those of you who follow me on social media, have read my book or blogs, you know how committed I am to helping you clear and cure your clutter, so you can start over and enjoy a simpler life with less where you have more time, money, freedom, and energy for the things that matter most to you.

Whatever it is that you wish you had more of… time, money, freedom, that’s what is available to you when you declutter and live a simpler life with less stuff.

What does it mean to have a love-hate relationship with clutter?

It is when you have opposing emotionally charged views around clutter.
You love it AND you hate it!

These Are Just a Few Examples of Love-Hate Relationships With Clutter

1. Paper Clutter

Did you know that paper clutter is our #1 clutter challenge?

How many of you receive unsolicited junk mail each day?
How many of you have old newspapers or magazines that you will read when you get around to it?
How many of you cut out recipes or articles that you intend to use or read someday?

Most of us despise that kind of clutter but as much as you say you hate paper clutter, I bet you could find some in your own house right now! I know I can.

And yet…

How many of you have saved old love letters greeting cards, or journals from years ago?
How many of you still have your kid’s first-grade artwork stored in a box somewhere in your house?
And how many of you have newspaper clippings from when you were junior prom queen many years ago?

You love these papers… or at least you are emotionally attached to them because they bring back good memories so you naturally have difficulty letting them go.

In conclusion, you love some paper clutter and at the same time, you hate other paper clutter.

And as it builds up, so does the clutter in your house.

What do you do with it? What is the cure for paper clutter?

Here’s the solution: create 3 mental reminders:

· Ditch it to remove it

i.e., Old newspapers, junk mail

· Deal with it because it requires action

i.e., Bills to pay, invitations to respond to

· Digitize it to save space

i.e., birth certificate, photos, kids’ artwork

If you make a habit of using these 3 D’s every day (ditch, deal, digitize), you will soon see a huge reduction in your paper clutter. I highly recommend using a decluttering checklist to assist you.

Need a Decluttering Checklist?

For as low as $ 4.99, you can have this Quick Start Guide to help you get started and stay clutter-free.

2. Book Clutter

The 2nd biggest clutter challenge people want a cure for is too many books.

If you are inundated with books and you love them on one hand, but you hate how they collect so much dust and seem to be overtaking your home.

The cure for too many books is simpler than you might think:

· Start by sorting your books into 3 piles:

- Keep
- Donate
- Re-purpose

If you are donating, consider one of your Little Free Neighborhood Libraries that are popping up everywhere, a senior center, a prison, or a local church or community library.

If you are repurposing them or decorating with them, give your shelves or your coffee table a fresh new look.

An aside… It’s always interesting to be curious and try to understand why you bought certain books in the first place.

- Self-help
- Aspirational
- Inspirational

Perhaps it’s time to revisit and reread those books.

Other things people hang onto that cause a love-hate relationship with clutter.

3. Old Photos

Our family recently spent a wonderful day together sifting through 8 boxes of photos that had been stored in our parents’ basement and then in my sister’s basement.

In an effort to declutter the many boxes of family photos that were taking up the room in her home, she invited us for a lovely dinner and photo sorting.

It was so much fun to share stories and our memories of childhood with each other. Over the course of several hours, we reduced 8 boxes of photos to 1 box and then scanned them so that we could still share memories on one tiny thumb drive.

You can also check out my recent blog: 3 Steps to Intentionally Design a Clutter-Free Life

4. Words

Another way we show our love-hate relationship with clutter is through our words and intense emotions about clutter. It is what we say to ourselves and to our partners each day.

Can you hear yourself saying any of these things?

My husband loves to keep stuff, he’s a packrat.

I love to purge.

My wife loves yard sales and thrift shops.

I hate to shop. Period.

My wife loves to read books.

I love my Kindle.

This love-hate language creates barriers to solving your clutter crisis.

I’m a designer, definitely not a therapist, but I have heard these conversations so many times before when I’m with my clients who are in their 60s and who are decluttering for retirement.

While I don’t have a cure for that, I do recommend having a heart-to-heart conversation to find common ground so you can clear the clutter in your home and your lives once and for all.