Reply #15: Just don't let it get to this state: [View All]

[Lorien]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7370151

I have too much stuff myself. I work at home as an illustrator and animator, so there's a lot of equipment here and LOADS of books. I built floor to ceiling bookshelves in one room in my home, and topped them off with crown molding (my home was build in the 1920's, so it has a lot of moldings anyway) and put cabinets at the base. That helped me cope with some of the clutter. I've also done my own version of "california closets" in all of my closets and organized items in plastic containers that are labeled with a P-touch label maker. When the piles of stuff start to get out of hand I schedule time in my daytimer to tackle them. Get some bottled water, your ipod, and order pizza and plan to make an afternoon of it. Sort piles into "keep", "toss", "recycle," "give away," and "sell". Put all the "keep" items in a box then go room to room with the box when you are done, putting each item in it's place (as opposed to taking items to their place as you work). Only plan to do one or two areas in a weekend-otherwise you'll get overwhelmed.

Once everything is sorted and tucked away, the best thing to do is avoid buying stuff! Not so easy in our consumer culture, I know-but just turning off the TV, or at least the commercials-can help with that.