What are some reasons people give for keeping unnecessary clutter? People give all kinds of excuses for keeping their clutter. Some of the reasons that people give for keeping unnecessary clutter, according...
Some of the reasons that people give for keeping unnecessary clutter, according to Lorie Marrero, who is the owner of "LivingOrder", a professional organization company that creates organizing solutions for homes and businesses, are:
"I might need it someday."
"I paid good money for it."
"It's still perfectly useful."
"It was a lovely gift."
Now let's examine those excuses in more depth. First the famous "I might need it someday." can always be countered with "You haven't needed it yet." Or "Even if you do, how on earth are you going to find it under all those other things?" All too often, the items we say this about are usually a dime a dozen and can be found in any local store. So, when you find yourself using this reason to hang onto something, consider that if in the rare instance that you do need it in the future: How hard it would be to find the item and how much it really would cost. You will be surprised at how spacious your "Junk Drawer" becomes after truly taking stock in its contents.
"I've paid good money for it." Is common reason many of us hang onto an impulse buy. But you have to ask, is the money you would be losing worth your sanity to keep it? You can donate the item to charity and write it off as a deduction or just give it to someone that you know who'll truly appreciate it and use it. This way, you can be proud that you gave someone such an elaborate gift. Either way, you'll get rid of the unnecessary clutter and you'll feel good about doing it.
"It's still perfectly useful." But, exactly for whom are you speaking of? You obviously have no further use for it. Once again, donate it to charity or find someone to give it to that will honestly find it "perfectly useful".
"It was a lovely gift." This may be the only honest excuse uttered when it comes to the reasons behind hanging onto unnecessary items. We do not want to seem ungrateful because something was "a lovely gift" or at least the thought behind it was lovely. This is a tricky situation, but as Lorie as said before in other interviews, very rarely will be people notice if you have one certain thing that they gave you displayed or not. Even if they do wonder where it is, decorum will usually prevent them from inquiring about it. A hint in this area is to have it out, placed in a prominent area. Someone is bound to like it and inquire about it and then you can offer generously to "let them have it". If the subject ever comes up with the original presenter, you can honestly tell them the you just had to "give it so and so, they admired it so much" Throw in a "and I already have so many lovely things from you that I just didn't feel right denying them" and everybody wins! You have made someone happy by giving them a gift; you have made another happy by giving them the complement that they have such good taste that no one can resist their items and you have made yourself happy by gaining some much needed space.
After thoroughly examining each of the most common reasons people give for keeping unnecessary clutter, you may find yourself re-examining the frequent excuses that you use to hang on to things.
