Have you ever watched the show Hoarders?  It’s a show about how someone can be so overrun with clutter that they literally cannot get through the front door.  I am not a hoarder, but after watching an episode and thinking “Don’t throw that away! You can repaint it and use it in the bathroom.” I have had to face some facts.  I think now is the time to make some changes before the Discovery Channel shows up at my door.

My husband has declared me the most “Disorganized -Organized Person, Ever!!!”  Ok. He didn’t say “ever” and he would never use 3 exclamation points, but he might be on to something.  I try. I am definitely a type A personality. I have lists. I have calendars. I have cute little baskets to store things in.  But it doesn’t matter if I have to straighten things when I go to friend’s houses, when it comes to my own, I fall short.

The title of this blog- “Not My Mother’s Clutter”, pretty much sums it up.  Growing up, I never remember my mother having a mess or an organizational problem.  My mother has a perfectly kept home; a beautifully decorated house that could easily be photographed for a magazine.  Sure my mom probably has a closet somewhere that hides things like sheets that she never intends to use, shampoo bought on sale and stuff that my dad insists on keeping that she can’t throw away.  But from my point of view, she has it all. Beds that are always made, laundry never left in the dryer, and shoes that are always put back in a perfectly organized closet. And most of all, she always knows where her keys are. 

 Do I have a mother complex? No.

 Do I have a mother’s house complex? Absolutely!

 But my mother’s clutter does not have a 6 year old energetic boy adding daily to that clutter.  Growing up with 2 girls, my mother’s clutter was never made up of hundreds of little Lego pieces, tons of Star Wars themed items, and a boy’s fascination with rocks. 

My mother’s clutter was never allowed to spread to playrooms, bonus rooms or spare bedrooms.  Growing up, houses weren’t built the way they are today.  We had just enough space to avoid killing each other and not enough that the extra bag from Target would easily get shoved aside. 

My mother’s clutter certainly never filled a SUV.  We did once have a Ford Aerostar Minivan.  She never allowed it to become the catch all that my car seems to be. I can confidently say that if MacGyver had my car to pilfer from he could save the world from zombie ninjas and still dress appropriately for a nice dinner out.

But most of all, my mother’s clutter was never really clutter at all.  My dad is in sales and we moved a lot.  Moving around every year or two, you tend to break everything down to the basics and shed all the things that aren’t worth packing and hauling around.  And maybe that is my problem.  I have now lived in my home longer than I have ever lived anywhere- 6 years.  Not a lot, but enough time to not have to sort and purge, time to fill the rooms with stuff that I couldn’t live without and most importantly to learn to pretend that the clutter isn’t truly a problem.

  

In order to take control before it’s too late, I am creating this blog.  I am exposing my closets and clutter to you to get ideas, suggestions, and some tough love.  Feel free to voice your own organizational questions. I am eager to see what practical and clever ideas everyone can provide.  But most of all, it must be money conscious.  Each project will have pics posted, great ideas that were explored, the cost to overhaul, and most of all the opinion of real world use.  With your help we can create an environment that doesn’t quite reach my mother’s, but one uniquely and wonderfully my own.

I am picking my first project and will soon be airing all the dirty details for all of blogdom to see....