Hello all Dh is decluttering. This is good, very good, but I will admit it is causing a lot of mess.
He started in the loft (attic), then began on the storage room and now he is into cupboards and areas that he hasn't been into in a long time. He's even been into his wardrobe (closet) and drawers. He has got to the stage where he has created more mess than he started with and is at the 'despondent' stage. He's thrown out loads of stuff, on average he has taken three car loads of stuff to the dump to be thrown away since the 1st of March. Six car loads have gone to charity in the last week alone. When he suggested we had a car boot sale (garage sale) I was quick to suggest that it would be less work and less time consuming to just donate the stuff. He thought about it for a couple of days and then read my essay on 'garage sales' and decided to just donate the stuff. 'Too much like hard work' was his comment. He is doing really well, I am proud of him. Its very strange to watch him go through the process, to know exactly what he is feeling and how difficult it is, I want to 'step in' all the time and give advice, encouragement and help but as I remember the difficulties of the process I have only offered it when it has been asked for. I will admit there isn't a room in our house that hasn't been affected. There are piles every where. Only DH knows which ones are which and where they are going. I try not to disturb the piles and not to comment too much on the mess. I have been cleaning around them when DH is out. I also realise that this decluttering is a reaction to the current 'predicament' he finds himself in. He is on 'Garden leave' which basically means the his job ends at the end of this month but for this month he doesn't have to actually go to work although they are still paying him. He hasn't as yet got a new job to go to. He did have but it fell through at the last moment. So I deduced that the decluttering is a 'reaction', he is controlling his life in the best way he can. There are many reasons why we declutter and many things that start us on the Journey from clutter. I do not know which one is best, if any are. I am just thankful that he has started. I had to be 'mortally embarrassed' to start my journey from clutter. At the present moment in time DH is part way through decluttering his stuff in: the attic the bedroom the cupboards in the living room (family room) the workshop the garden shed the conservatory and last but by no means least the Kitchen. As I said before there are piles in every room, as well as bags and boxes. The attic has 50% less stuff in it than before he started and all the other rooms in the house are filling up fast. Its a difficult time for both of us. Personally I feel a little annoyed that the space I fought so valiantly to conquer has over night been lost to clutter, but the other half of me recognises that there is a process going on and all I have to do is wait, be patient (not my strongest talent) and all will be well in the end. I just hope that DH finishes the task before he gets discouraged and gives up... been there, know how awful that feels. There is one room of my house that is, for the moment, unaffected. Its my computer/office/craft room, to which I have been escaping a lot in the last couple of days. He would have to be really desperate to even try and put stuff in here LOL. Trouble is, all this advice about getting it out of the house the fastest way possible, donating stuff rather than selling it, makes me look at my box of books that I currently have at auction and wonder should I just let the auctions lapse and tote the whole lot down to the charity shop with DHs next load? Just goes to show, when its someone else's stuff its easier to offer advice than when it belongs to you..... Louise Seriously cluttered in England !!!
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