Clutter vs Collections

I was at the grocery store yesterday and I picked up a home decorating magazine while I waited to check out. The cover featured a breathtakingly beautiful room, the walls of which were filled with floor-to-ceiling open bookcases. The shelving was painted a bright white and held a collection of blue and green vintage pottery.

The vases, bowls and other pieces were artfully arranged, with lots of room between them. I was instantly hit with the idea that I wanted to live that way, surrounded by those beautiful ceramic objects. I could find them at flea markets and thrift shops and I could display them on open shelving in my living room.

Then I snapped out of it.

What was I thinking? I don’t want to live that way. I don’t like to dust stuff. I don’t want to have things, even if they are beautiful, that I don’t use on a regular basis. And I can’t see myself spending time sitting in my living room, admiring the walls.

I actually have a few pieces of vintage pottery, but I use them; I don’t see them as a “collection.” The idea of starting a collection of things just to look at makes me feel uncomfortable. I used to have lots of collections, from teapots to baskets to quilts. I got rid of most of them, keeping one or two things that I really liked. The problem with collecting is that you always need to have “one more.” Now I am satisfied with what I have.

Do you have a collection? What do you collect? How do you display them? How do your collections make you feel? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

Clutter vs Collections

I was at the grocery store yesterday and I picked up a home decorating magazine while I waited to check out. The cover featured a breathtakingly beautiful room, the walls of which were filled with floor-to-ceiling open bookcases. The shelving was painted a bright white and held a collection of blue and green vintage pottery.

The vases, bowls and other pieces were artfully arranged, with lots of room between them. I was instantly hit with the idea that I wanted to live that way, surrounded by those beautiful ceramic objects. I could find them at flea markets and thrift shops and I could display them on open shelving in my living room.

Then I snapped out of it.

What was I thinking? I don’t want to live that way. I don’t like to dust stuff. I don’t want to have things, even if they are beautiful, that I don’t use on a regular basis. And I can’t see myself spending time sitting in my living room, admiring the walls.

I actually have a few pieces of vintage pottery, but I use them; I don’t see them as a “collection.” The idea of starting a collection of things just to look at makes me feel uncomfortable. I used to have lots of collections, from teapots to baskets to quilts. I got rid of most of them, keeping one or two things that I really liked. The problem with collecting is that you always need to have “one more.” Now I am satisfied with what I have.

Do you have a collection? What do you collect? How do you display them? How do your collections make you feel? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

What’s in Your Closet?

Recently I have been working with clients who did big clothing purges. They can’t figure out how they had so much clothing to begin with, and are amazed when they see the amount of clothes they chose not to keep. Shopping mistakes, gaining or losing weight, or just changing taste all contribute to clothing overflow if you put off dealing with them.

What’s most astounding is that there is still plenty of clothing left for them to wear after they pick the things they want to keep. I have not yet had a client who needed to restock after a clothing purge; rather, they found that they were able to access and enjoy the clothes that made them look good and feel good without having to search through things they weren’t wearing at all.

Research shows that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you are hanging onto clothes that don’t fit, don’t look good or don’t feel good, ask yourself if it’s time to pass them on. Someone else can benefit from the things you aren’t wearing and you gain space.

Full disclosure: I still have a teal textured leather miniskirt that I know I will never wear again. I had so much fun with it, 25 years ago, when it fit. I cannot imagine wearing it again, but when I see it hanging in the closet, it makes me smile. I think it’s time to let it find a new home.What’s in your closet that you’ll never wear? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

What’s in Your Closet?

Recently I have been working with clients who did big clothing purges. They can’t figure out how they had so much clothing to begin with, and are amazed when they see the amount of clothes they chose not to keep. Shopping mistakes, gaining or losing weight, or just changing taste all contribute to clothing overflow if you put off dealing with them.

What’s most astounding is that there is still plenty of clothing left for them to wear after they pick the things they want to keep. I have not yet had a client who needed to restock after a clothing purge; rather, they found that they were able to access and enjoy the clothes that made them look good and feel good without having to search through things they weren’t wearing at all.

Research shows that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you are hanging onto clothes that don’t fit, don’t look good or don’t feel good, ask yourself if it’s time to pass them on. Someone else can benefit from the things you aren’t wearing and you gain space.

Full disclosure: I still have a teal textured leather miniskirt that I know I will never wear again. I had so much fun with it, 25 years ago, when it fit. I cannot imagine wearing it again, but when I see it hanging in the closet, it makes me smile. I think it’s time to let it find a new home.What’s in your closet that you’ll never wear? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

To Find it, Put it Away

I have been wearing eyeglasses since I was in junior high. During that very long time, I have never lost a pair of glasses. Not when I only used them for seeing the blackboard at school or watching TV or (eventually) driving. I lost my first pair of glasses the week after I turned 50. And they were only a few months old. It was the day before Christmas and I drove all over town, retracing my errand-running steps. No luck.

The reason I’m telling you this is that I almost lost the replacement pair recently. That would have been two pairs in less than six months; a new world’s record for me. I hardly ever lose anything, actually, so it was truly shocking. I realized that my glasses flipped out of the outside pocket in my purse, which I usually keep zipped. I’m guessing that’s how I lost the first pair, too.

Although I often am accused of being compulsive about putting things away, I know that if I put my eyeglasses in the pocket and zip it closed, they’ll be there the next time I need them. I would rather be accused of being compulsive than have to pay for another pair of glasses.

If you habitually lose things, figure out where you are going to keep them when you are not using them. Be consistent about putting them back and you won’t have to worry about what you did with them. What can you create a home for today? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

To Find it, Put it Away

I have been wearing eyeglasses since I was in junior high. During that very long time, I have never lost a pair of glasses. Not when I only used them for seeing the blackboard at school or watching TV or (eventually) driving. I lost my first pair of glasses the week after I turned 50. And they were only a few months old. It was the day before Christmas and I drove all over town, retracing my errand-running steps. No luck.

The reason I’m telling you this is that I almost lost the replacement pair recently. That would have been two pairs in less than six months; a new world’s record for me. I hardly ever lose anything, actually, so it was truly shocking. I realized that my glasses flipped out of the outside pocket in my purse, which I usually keep zipped. I’m guessing that’s how I lost the first pair, too.

Although I often am accused of being compulsive about putting things away, I know that if I put my eyeglasses in the pocket and zip it closed, they’ll be there the next time I need them. I would rather be accused of being compulsive than have to pay for another pair of glasses.

If you habitually lose things, figure out where you are going to keep them when you are not using them. Be consistent about putting them back and you won’t have to worry about what you did with them. What can you create a home for today? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

Do We Need Social Shopping?

There are Web sites that let you share information and photographs with a select group of people online. Now you can share with everyone how you are spending your money by using websites like Blippy and Swipely.

Because it’s too inconvenient to call up everyone you know and tell them what you’ve bought, you can do it virtually. Whether you’ve bought antihistamines or a designer suit, you can broadcast your purchases with a few keystrokes.

Maybe you aren’t interested in sharing your personal shopping adventures, but you want to find out what other people are buying. You can snoop on other shoppers by looking at their profiles. You might even find out where they bought something and what they paid for it.

To participate, you need to enroll and give your credit card information so the Web site can update your purchases. If you don’t want to hand over your credit card information, you could type in everything you buy. What I can’t figure out is why would anyone would do either of those things.

Swipely claims to “turn purchases into conversations” and wants you to “recommend purchase experiences, discover new places and products through trusted friends, save money, and have more fun shopping.” Blippy says it is a “fun and easy way to see and discuss what everyone is buying.” I am afraid that if you are that interested in shopping, you are missing out on a lot of valuable experiences in life.

Supporters of shopping Web sites allege that you can become a more responsible consumer by posting all your purchases. However, if you want to capture your purchases to keep track of your spending, you can write everything in a notebook or on an index card. If you prefer to keep the information in digital form, you can use budgeting or accounting software.

Don’t be fooled by Swipely when they say, “Our vision is to reinvent how people shop, share and save by adding value to every swipe.” The only value you are adding is to the companies that track how people shop and then aim advertising at them to get them to buy even more.

Do you think social shopping is a good idea? If you do, how would you use it? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie

Do We Need Social Shopping?

There are Web sites that let you share information and photographs with a select group of people online. Now you can share with everyone how you are spending your money by using websites like Blippy and Swipely.

Because it’s too inconvenient to call up everyone you know and tell them what you’ve bought, you can do it virtually. Whether you’ve bought antihistamines or a designer suit, you can broadcast your purchases with a few keystrokes.

Maybe you aren’t interested in sharing your personal shopping adventures, but you want to find out what other people are buying. You can snoop on other shoppers by looking at their profiles. You might even find out where they bought something and what they paid for it.

To participate, you need to enroll and give your credit card information so the Web site can update your purchases. If you don’t want to hand over your credit card information, you could type in everything you buy. What I can’t figure out is why would anyone would do either of those things.

Swipely claims to “turn purchases into conversations” and wants you to “recommend purchase experiences, discover new places and products through trusted friends, save money, and have more fun shopping.” Blippy says it is a “fun and easy way to see and discuss what everyone is buying.” I am afraid that if you are that interested in shopping, you are missing out on a lot of valuable experiences in life.

Supporters of shopping Web sites allege that you can become a more responsible consumer by posting all your purchases. However, if you want to capture your purchases to keep track of your spending, you can write everything in a notebook or on an index card. If you prefer to keep the information in digital form, you can use budgeting or accounting software.

Don’t be fooled by Swipely when they say, “Our vision is to reinvent how people shop, share and save by adding value to every swipe.” The only value you are adding is to the companies that track how people shop and then aim advertising at them to get them to buy even more.

Do you think social shopping is a good idea? If you do, how would you use it? Click on Post a Comment, below, and tell us.

Organized by Marcie: Getting you organized so you have time to do what you love to do!

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/organizedmarcie