Decluttering

This post is my response to an article about decluttering.   That long, babbling post essentially boils down to the fact that most decluttering hints seem to be about placing value on possessions, budgeting for things that are important to us, and valuing not just what we own but the people who can care for these products.

Check out this cool t-shirt on snorgtees!

I hate the idea of "the great old days" because things weren't all sunshine and smiles when I was younger. Yes, folks stayed where they grew up, and lots of people knew each other. However, that didn't make our lives some hunky dory place of joy and happiness. I like that nowadays folks will report child abuse instead of just making sure their kids didn't play at "that family's house." I like that it's ok to call someone out for being a racist jackass or a misogynistic asshat. However, this decluttering movement is probably easier in small communities where everybody knows each other.

1. Sharing Centers
I wore a lot of hand-me-downs as a child. There are photos of me in the same outfits my cousin wore, and then my sister got to wear the hand me downs that survived me. Only she was way tiny, so our five year old outfits were put on her in fourth grade. Sucks to be her.  

I never got to be a Princess!

The same was true for things like Halloween costumes. We borrowed or made costumes, and one family friend made these huge, elaborate costumes. She'd lend them out on Halloween. My dad wore her bunny costume to be the Easter Bunny at church. At some point someone loved clown costumes because my sister and I kept wearing them over and over. 

Most of us had board games and/or video games. Rather than all owning the same three games, we'd each person had a few games (there were, of course, duplicates), and if we wanted to play Julie's game, she'd bring it with her when she came to visit instead of asking my parents to buy a copy of it.

Then my sister got to be itchy!

Orange clown costume was itchy.

  This worked really well for us, but I lived in a small community. I went to Girl Scouts with the same kids who were in my school with who were on your town softball team. My parents had gone to high school with my friends', and if they hadn't they quickly got to know each other because there was one dance studio in town, several towns sent their kids to the same high school, etc. They ran into the same people at every single concert, daughter/daddy dance, and whatever other hellish events parents are forced to attend. That isn't true anymore. People are living all over the place. Most of the folks I went to school with are scattered all over the country, so it's not like I can go over to Evie-Lynn's place to play Dr. Mario. If I want to play Dr. Mario, I'll have to get a copy of it myself ;-) My friends' children go to school in one town, dance in another town, and play intramural sports by their parents' work place.

So growing up where we didn't all have the same damned things in our houses, I love the idea of Sharing Centers. It's a great idea for folks to be able to borrow "items" from a shared products library. Why on earth should everybody on the block own and store carpet cleaners that we only use twice a year? 

I wish they had something like this in the Boston area, I'd love to participate in it!




2. Swap Till You Drop

I thought this was what relationships were like!

My mom and grandma and their friends were constantly trading romance novels back and forth. One person would read their book than bring the book to someone's house and go home with another. I started collecting them in my room, and when I moved out of the country at 15 my stack of Harlequins was distributed to quite a few people! My friends and I traded stickers and clothes and jewelry. I have coworkers who do clothing swap parties, but I can't participate because they wear sizes 0 to 6. 

I should throw a swap party. These days, though, I'm so lazy that I just donate everything. At least it's being reused.

3. Buy Quality Not Quantity


It was much easier to locate good furniture when I was a kid. I still have the bookshelf grandpa built then gave to my mom.

The clothes were sturdy enough that I wore my cousin's old clothes and then my sister wore my old clothes. My mom's living room furniture came from my grandparent's house. The "sofas" were actually convertible beds that she had slept on when she lived there. My high school bed was given to me after my dad's friend's mom passed away in it. When my dad's friend's mom passed away, they gave me her old bed. These pieces of furniture could handle being used by generations of children before they fell apart. Honestly, I'd love to own quality furniture, and I finally purchased my first quality piece at 41 - an expensive bed and bed frame with a headboard (I haven't had a headboard since I was eight and in bunk beds, and I am loving it!). Most of what I owned in the past was press board. Bookshelves made of press board can't handle the strain of lots of books and several moves. However, it's easy to get your hands on press board furniture, and when we live all over the country it's a lot harder to raid family member's attics.

4. Know Thyself I am a huge part of the consumerism culture. I make myself feel better by buying more things without making sure it really fits me. However, I didn't use to be that way. I stalked my favorite $20 candlestick holder for months. It kept going further and further into clearance, but I couldn't afford it. I finally snagged it when it was $8. Ten years and multiple moves later, that candle stick is still in my dining room. The majority of pieces around my home are new, though. I didn't hold onto or care about the random chochkeys I picked up because I had a bad day and wanted to cheer myself up.

I feel like this could be addressed with budgeting as much as with knowing what I want. If I want a new item to hang on the wall and my budget says that I only have $50 every six months on home decor then I'm going to take my time picking something out. I won't be grabbing a $20 wall hanging from Target because it's cute and on sale. I'll wait and find the right piece - something that I'll want to keep for a long time.

The other way to address this is to stop buying cheap crap at Target. I like original pieces of art. I used to purchase original art for an ex, and I was gifted one piece of original art. It's a beautiful, signed one of a kind piece. If I budget more carefully I can get more of these items, support an artist, and have something that I'll keep forever. So budgeting, caring for and supporting people in my community, and knowing each other are really what this would be about for me.

5. Use Local Repair Centers

It is so hard to find someone to fix your belongings! I've started buying shoes worth saving and taking them to a shore repair shop, but I can't do that as easily with other products. I've been searching for an affordable typewriter repair company since 2007. There's one down in NYC, but it costs $60 to ship a typewriter there. Yes, I still use a typewriter in my job for certain things. Yes, it's old fashioned, and yes, I've tried to find a replacement for the times I need it. There is no replacement. That being said, Tucson's got a great organization, BICAS,  that will help you learn to repair and even build yourself a bicycle! 

Barney!!!!!!

This is not about getting your belongings repaired, though. This is about the value we place on people's work and the value we place on our belongings. If we buy a crappy desk, we'll just replace it with a new crappy desk. However, if I purchase a heavy, solid wood desk and drop a bowling ball on it, I'll want to repair the desk instead of replacing it with a cheap and affordable piece from IKEA. To be clear, I have dropped a bowling ball on a desk, and I have broken and thrown out the desk. 

We all talk about valuing people who know how to fix things around the house, but we don't place any value on the people who make a living fixing things. When was the last time you heard someone say that a parent owns a shoe repair store and that they want to learn cobbling? That guy who rebuilds broken bikes in his backyard is seen as having a hobby where he tinkers with things. People who can build and repair items are few and far between - I'm in awe of my friends who know how can fix my blender, but in reality, I live in a city where I can't find someone to repair my blender, so I have to buy a new one.