Clutter Confessionals

I have been doing quite a bit of purging (Summer! Boredom! Staying inside!) and I can’t help but think about all of the psychological reasons we hang onto things. I live in a smallish house (1,900 square feet, three bedrooms and a small “office” that I converted into a closet). It’s more than enough space for one person, not enough space for someone with so. much. stuff.

I tell myself that I am a collector (and I am, so some of my clutter is warranted), but sometimes I’ll open a cupboard or try to find something in my guest bedroom closet and think, “a hoarder lives here.”

There’s the clothes, obviously. I am working on a big post about decluttering and purging my closet because that’s always requested when I do an AMA. But as I go through, room by room, I’ve been thinking about the main reasons I hold onto stuff:

1. Guilt: I spent the money on the thing; I can’t get rid of it.

2. “I might use this if . . .” in which case the “if” becomes a personality transplant. Like, if . . . I suddenly started cooking elaborate pasta dishes every night, or if . . . I were to move back up North. The “if” is usually rather far-fetched.

3. A residual scarcity mindset, leftover from the pandemic. If I don’t have an ample supply of seltzer, cat food, toilet paper . . . I get a little bit itchy.

Let’s break it down.

GUILT //

For me, this is the easiest one to get past. I feel guilty about spending money on the thing I didn’t use, but now it’s taking up space in my closet/china cabinet/pantry. When something you don’t need takes up space, it makes it harder to access the things you truly love and want to use. Also, as Kelly Klein taught me in our styling session, it’s bad energy. You should be able to walk into any area of your home and easily find whatever it is you are looking for. So get rid of the thing in your way. Give it to someone who will use it, sell it, whatevs. But most importantly, learn from this one, and stop buying things you won’t use. For me this means being really thoughtful. If it’s a piece of clothing, there needs to be a hole in my wardrobe for it. If it’s a thing for my kitchen, I need to know I’ll really use it!