Tara Heibel: Meet The 'Perfect House Plant'
A 50's Home Gets A Modern Day New Look
...and your family, your coworkers and friends. Honestly -- it's not so bad. Who knew that a mess can sometimes get a positive message across?
Hillary Stein, Flickr
If you have messy: Closets
Chances are you are: Nostalgic -- perhaps a bit too much.
Sam Gossling, author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You notes the connection between old items and our ties to their past. If you've got an out-of-control closet, it doesn't mean you're a pig -- chances are, you're trying to hold on to past events and people through those small mementos.
How to change it: Letting go can be hard. Don't put pressure on yourself to empty out the closet during a quick cleaning session. Instead, take some time to go through the items and identify what justifies keeping in a special place and what you can part with.
If you have a messy: Desk
Chances are you are: Creative.
"Messiness is related to creativity because it tends to juxtapose things that don't normally go together." says Columbia University Business School professor Eric Abrahamson, over on Penelope Trunk's site.
How to change it: In the same article, Illinois-based career coach Kelly Crescenti suggests setting up a filing system and then spending the last 15 minutes of every day organizing your piles and clutter into that system.
If you have a messy: Bed
Chances are you are: Going through a dry spell.
Eek. While you probably realize that clothes, magazines and crumbs on your bed aren't super sexy, have you thought about the subliminal message they're sending? Over on The Nest, they break it down: "A messy bed could be a sign that you don't think of your bed as something you need to keep accessible so you can hop into it on the fly."
How to change it: Try an extra laundry basket for clutter, an extra 10 minutes every morning to put things away or a new, bigger nightstand.
If you have a messy: Sock drawer
Chances are you are: Structured and detail-oriented.
Yes, this one surprised us, too. But Chemistry.com's latest study found that people who are ordinarily the most orderly have the most chaotic sock drawers.
How to change it: Bring in smaller containers to break up the drawer -- this video shows you how.
Tell us: What's the messiest space in your home -- and what do you think it says about your family? And then, find out your cleaning personality!
Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)
I buy almost everything except food and clothing from online penny auctions. Most people aren't aware of the almost unbelievable deals that they can get from online auction sites. The site that has the biggest selection and the best deals is hTtp://bit.ly/BiggestDeals and I checked with the Better Business Bureau and was told that it is all legit. How they can sell gift cards, laptops, cameras, and all kinds of goodies that we all want for 50-90% off, I don't know. I do know that I bought my son an iPad there for less than $100 and my husband a $250 Loews gift cards for $48. Why would I even think about shopping anyplace else?
ReplyWHEN did it go from HOARDING to NOSTALGIA?!?!
ReplyWatch the tv show Hoarders; then you will know.
A mess confined just to a closet doesn't make someone a hoarder. A mess confined to the closets kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, hallways, patio, backyard, porch, basement, and guest room makes someone a hoarder.
Okay...Just what does a neat, organized, color-coordinated closet mean? I already do that thing with drawers and cabinets and it does help. I even use a lazy susan base in a cabinet for my seasonings and spices...another one for vitamins and medications that are not in the daily organizer (this not only keeps things neat but the organizer lets you know if you took meds, etc.)
ReplySherry, that well-organized life sounds like a person with control issues. I included myself in this group of people who needs to have everything very planned and structured.
It means you spend too much time in your house, get out and enjoy the world, you will live longer. No one will call me Mrs. Clean after I am gone. Rather have them say "she was a friendly smiling person."
I wrote about this very thing on my blog this morning. www.enoughhomeless.blog.com
ReplyThis is such a stupid article.
Replyi couldnt agree with you more.
Amen
I see no purpose for this article??
we have piles, and piles and piles, and we do use the stuff, the problem is we went from a 3 bedroon double wide into a 2 bedroom single wide, and have 2 shed's out side and they are both full... oh we are in our 70's
ReplyI don't know what your piles of stuff are comprised of, but I would bet you could easily live with 50% less. And I realize that you are in your 70s ( my parents are in their 80s) but if you own a computer you could scan many of your papers and store them and retrieve what you really need only when you need it. I recently had 32 bins on my patio and most were filled with my childrens things. Last week we narowed it down to less then half. My kids were surprised how much they used to think was important. We were all happy to see it all go. Its alot of work , I know, but it was so very very worth it. Best of luck to you. :)
My dad was a Hollywood certainty, but still playing the electric guitar and singing in the Jetson Emerald City of the midwest. You get to figure out the city. He then converted to the Lordy, Lordy and became a CHANGED MAN. He met my very pretty mommy, Christian gerl with a figure like MM. Getting to the point, a predator wanted my dad's two very high end guitars, and my mother sold the predator one of these treasured guitars at a junk price. My daddy headed to the Lordy, Lordy, real early due to negligent cardiology advice from an extremely successful Catholic predator Hospital, called Saint Joseph's. You know, good ol' Joe. Catholics don't really like Southern Baptists at all, but are Roman Holiday predator silent when taking your money.
Honey, your junk may include some priceless items. You need to do a little lookin' into it and separate the wheat from the chaff (i.e. the junk that is indeed prettty crappy). Who knows, you may collect stuff that's more interesting than you think. Good luck.
My husband wants to clean his office, but feels he won't be able to find what he needs, in his mess he knows where anything is at.
ReplyPresident Obama doesn't understand anything about the macro or micro aspects of economics of a country. So we have symptomatic journalistic stories about personal organization, with dimwit psychologists who don't know squat about math. Obama admitted that as a failed lawyer with credit card creditors calling, and he's so stupid he talked to them like it was AA, that he became a politician. Would a senior in high school from Jr. Achievement please tell Prez. bama that corporated execs take the investors money and run, basically. Hard work is also for bourgie stupid people, slaves, or sex workers. Intelligent work is great. Next president please. Dumbo needs to be fired.
ReplyI used to collect crap. One day I heard my grandmother had a 3 bedroom house. One for my grand-prarents, one for at least 3 or 4 of my uncles and aunts and the 3rd was my grandmother's junk room. I went home and started throwing stuff out. I did not want to be like that. I, also, used to collect things like those beer mug shot glasses. I have about 5. I went to a flea market and some guy had 20+. I saw that and since I didn't want to spend that much and I decided he had a bigger collection than me. Believe it or not, I stopped collecting stuff. Besides that, my kids threaten to throw everything out when I die, so I'd rather have someone else have it and let them worry about it! When I'm asked what I want for a present, I tell them 'food' or something practicle them I'm going to use, not look at. I'm still tossing out stuff but I'm not going to become a neat freak. It sure makes it easier to find stuff!
ReplyI LOVE watching the show Hoarders. I am always interested in the psychology behind each case.And it makes me want to clean and organized in my own home.
ReplyI do allow myself one paper pile... and then once a month , sometimes more then that, I go thru it and end up throwing away 50% of it. I'm working towards not even having one paper pile.....
I just finished cleaning up that one paper pile.... IT FEELS GREAT !!! :)