The show Hoarders is fascinating to me. People crying over garbage being thrown away. Someone living in a home where a cat skeleton (or several of them) goes unnoticed for years. It’s just interesting. I think a part of me finds it interesting because I see a little of myself in it. Just a teeny tiny bit. I like stuff. I like my stuff. I see potential in almost everything and I have a tough time getting rid of things. I know you wouldn’t believe it with the amount of furniture and cool antiques that leave my home each week, but it is tough. I always have to fight the desire to keep everything I like or might want later or might need or might regret selling or giving away.
This brings me to my current project…cleaning out my office. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might be thinking, “Didn’t she clean out her office a few times already?” Yes. I have. A bunch.
Exhibit A:
But this is a space that I just can’t keep clean.
Exhibit B:
…and C:
Why is my vacuum always sitting in the middle of the room? Hm. Anyway, it’s like a glorified closet and dumping ground. Well…I’m sick of it. So, this time, I’m not organizing…I’m purging. Majorly purging. Mercilessly purging. I’ve been working on it with Mini Mustard Seed (my intern, who happens to treat me like I’m a hoarder) for a couple of days now and I’ve been reducing the amount of stuff by about two thirds. I’m pretty proud of myself. Things I use seasonally or on rare occasions are getting moved to the basement, which is also getting a good cleaning. I’m pitching anything that I’m not going to use and I donated a bunch of my painting books, mural supplies and home decor stuff that isn’t my taste. It’s tedious, but coming along nicely so far.
Here’s my vision (I wish I had the technical ability to put together an inspiration board)…
There is an awkward door that we have blocked off, but not covered or removed. We don’t want to remove it, but I would like to cover it with a tongue and groove paneled wall treatment that can be removed, if desired. I will then paint the entire room in a soft white with bright white trim. A blue/gray French armoire, mirror fronted dark wood armoire and a white washed primitive cupboard will store the things I use all the time. A farm table with a wall-hung bead board cabinet positioned over it will be my main work surface. I want the space to be beautiful, function and a place that inspires. I’ll definitely keep you abreast of the progress made.
If you’re interested in some up-to-the-minute details, you can follow me on Twitter at @missmustardseed.
One final thing…I have finally decided to switch my blog over to Word Press, so my URL will change and the look of my blog will be a bit different. I’m working with the same designer, so my overall look will remain intact. The move is supposed to be seamless, but I wanted to let everyone know in case anything funky happened. My new URL will be www.mms2.wpengine.com. I’ll definitely keep you posted and you will hear my panicked cries for at least a 382 mile radius if something goes horribly wrong.
49 Responses
Yes, unfortunately I can relate a little to some of the people on Hoarders. It's the dead and "missing" pets hidden underneath everything that does my head in.
I do like to keep things just in case i might need them later, but I blame that on being an artist!
Your shelves look great and goodluck with the rest!
Oh, I can identify! My family says that I am a hoarder but I took a couple of different online tests and I am a "Harmless Packrat" and a "Non-Clinical Hoarder". It's the 'things I might use someday" that I have trouble getting rid of. On the show "Hoarders" I do cringe when they throw perfectly good things someone else could use in the dumpster with the cat skeleton.
I love this post.
Think its my favourite so far.
I've read your blog EVERYDAY since i found you via Barb @ Knack. Looking at your blog has inspired me to makeover my home, I am only about 10% of the way through but already its making a difference to my life. Then today you write this post and it couldn't be better timed.
Its amazing to see that someone normally so organised shares just a little of what I have in spades! I am a hoarder.I have trouble throwing away things i might use. But every now and then I get mad at myself and purge.
Thank you for everything you bring to your readers and my life.
I would really love to see a timetable of your week so that I could help crack my time management and procrastination.
Your biggest fan
Christina
mclarenstables@aol.com
Your move to WP will be fine! And I can't wait to see the finished office, the details sound wonderful!
Debbie
I struggle with two genes, the purger and the hoarder. You see my mom was the classic purger. She tossed everything that wasn't nailed down. My dad, he is the hoarder. The attic is stuffed with things that might be needed one day. So I have an internal battle going on. I feel the need to constantly purge, but also wonder what I can make over!
Looking forward to seeing your new office. I know it's hard to keep a sewing/crafting area clean when projects are going on.
Yep. I had to move from my home office and now the clutter is scattered through the house – not overtaking any once place but a corner here and a surface there until I can haul it to storage. Will be interesting to see your WP blog (have toyed with the idea myself)
@Pinetreehome, my mom was the same way. My dad always said you can't put anything down and walk away or she would pitch it or give it away. I have lots of stuff, and I love my stuff, but I can't imagine ever feeling the need to keep a dead cat like on that Hoarders show! I like things to be clean and neat! So I guess I'm not a hoarder…yet.
Kudos to you! seems like I need an intern…or will mini you travel to my house?! LOL
I've never been able to watch a complete episode of Hoarders. I'll turn it on, watch for a bit, then I HAVE to turn it, I flip back over, but only for a bit & then (I HAVE to) turn it … etc. That program makes me unable to breathe & feel panicky :/ But I want to watch because, I too am fascinated. (I also whisper prayers while watching it "Oh Lord help those people. Help them God" 🙂 I'm sure my anxiety is the stuff another program should feature! LOL Good luck with your purging project … you can do it (BTW, all the things you deal with are so lovely, I dont know how you get rid of anything! 🙂
I'm the opposite of a Hoarder! I have been known to throw out perfectly good things in my purging frenzies! (including my husband's passport!)
I do have a room that seems to accumulate crap, no matter how often I clean and organize it though.
Good luck with the cleaning and am off to follow you on Twitter!
Nothing will go wrong with your switch to WordPress. Marina is the best. If all goes well with you I might do the same. I'm a chicken though so haven't had the nerve to do it yet. Good luck!
I love that show too. Unfortunately both of my parents were hoarders. My father passed away about five years ago, but my mother still lives in a five bedroom home stuffed to the gills with stuff. If you say anything to her she gets so angry. I think I watch the show to help me not become like that. Every time I watch it I go and purge something. Right now my garage looks a bit like your work room and I am working on getting it under control. I have promised myself no more new projects until the old ones are finished. I am doing really good with that one so far. Thanks for all your great ideas and tutorials.
Every time I need to get motivated to clean, I watch an episode of HOARDERS. My house isn't as bad & there are definitely NO dead animals lying around. But seeing that stuff in their homes makes me want to NEVER infringe on my kids having to clean up after me. I can't wait to see your finished pics. I love following you & all that you write.
I have been using WordPress since my blog's inception and love it. I have no doubts you will as well.
The intriguing part of Hoarders is the denial. At least you've admitted you've got a problem. That's the first step to recovery. (Yes, I am laughing. It's what I keep telling myself.) Good luck!
Your Friend,
Deborah
I haven't ever watched Hoarders…only heard about it. I am the furthest thing from a hoader! Organizinging is one of my favorite things to do! A great accronym to remember is SPACE. S=sort. P=purge. A=assign a place for everything. C=containerize. E=equalize and keep everything in it's space and clean. =D Can't wait to see your new office space! 🙂
It sounds beautiful. I can't wait to see it and good luck with the move!
Just went through a major purging and cleaning of my office. Ugh, it is a process. I was telling my husband though how happy I was I did it, because I last week I was knee deep in creating some things for an upcoming sale, and I worked so efficiently because I knew exactly what I had, and where everything was! Love the ideas you have. It will feel so good when it is completed. Have a great weekend!
I call this weeding my home…its a good thing and always leaves me with such a wonderful sense of relief and freedom…from to much STUFF! Organisation is another thing altogether 🙂
Blessings
I totally saw that episode with the dead cat skeletons! WOW! That was an crazy lady! I live in chronic disorganization. I'm so jealous of organized people! I'm accepting that at 41 it just might never happen! I do have my vacuum in the middle of the room pretty much daily, weekly, yearly, etc!
Oh yay for organizing! Can't wait to see the after photos. I switched from blogger to WordPress in May and it went well. I am so glad I did because my blogger blog got deleted for a number of hours for no reason. That made me realize they control it, not me… and since I didn't want that to happen again, I got my own space, url, and switched to WP. You'll love it! Feel free to email me if you have any questions about my experience.
Oh! I love that S.P.A.C.E. Acronym! I was super organized until I had kids (and got on FB and Blogging)! Haha!
I'm so excited to see your office makeover! I know it will turn out great. My office tends to be similar…the place of constant different phases of projects. Things don't always get put away, but I'm getting better.
I'm thinking of switching to WordPress while I'm still 'little' lol 🙂 Maybe that will make it easier in the long run? Also….I'm curious as to what 382 miles means…anything???
this SAME thing happens in my office too! What the heck can it be? Straighten it out and voila bomb hit it….anyway I remember hearing Martha Stewart say that a left out in the open vacuum cleaner is the sign of "intent"!! I always loved that she said that!
I don't know why but it makes me feel SO MUCH better to know that you are not totally perfect and organized. Wow, you ARE human. 😀
You just always blow me away with everything you get done and done so beautifully.
I have been a bit of a hoarder, now I'm a bit better but I'm working on becoming a Minimalist!
But I must say – really, HOW could someone have a dead cat and not know it? Guess I'm glad I don't have cable….
Good Luck with your WordPress move, thanks for the heads up, I'd panic if I lost your blog!
🙂 – Cindi
Hoarders makes me feel a lot better about myself and my work bench. I know as bad as it looks it could be 1000x worse!
I'm watching "Hoarders" right now, and I'm fascinated by it too. I tend to hoard craft supplies and vintage items I plan to "up-cycle". It's easy for me to move ready-to-sell antiques out of my home, but supplies are another story.
I love seeing real life photos! My little studio can go from clean, tidy and cute to massive destruction in minutes!!!! 😀
I have a room like that. Seems no matter the purge it refills quickly.
Oh wow! I am so impressed by your bravery. Airing your dirty erm…laundry sure takes guts! I hardly think that a small-ish room with a few unfinished projects constitutes a hoarder, but I hear ya. There's so much good 'stuff' around. I'm just happy that not all of it has to live at my house. 🙂
My unfortunate personal combination is that I'm a horder but I can't stand clutter. I can't throw anything away I might need but it makes me crazy when stuff is everywhere. So, basically, I'm always crazy.
I too am in the process of trying to create a workroom that works – can't wait to see what you do!
And, I'm on WordPress and I'm sure you'll like it and the changeover will go smoothly.
David
Marian, I'm so happy for you! It's just awesome you have someone to help you get your business "stuff" organized. You're so crazy busy, I can totally understand why you don't have time to do it.
I'm JUST starting out; moved the very first few pieces into a store a couple days ago and I'm already overwhelmed with the chaos in the garage, basement, computer room and … I am very ADHD, which has forced me to be very orderly throughout my life. Extraordinarily scattered on a normal day, but when the house is picked up, I can function. When it's not, little puffs of smoke come out my ears and things short circuit and I end up with that mushy brain you mentioned the other day.
Anyway… I feel your pain. Good luck with your changes:) PS, I have to share one exciting piece of news with someone who can truly relate to starting out. Our most expensive piece of furniture sold at the store the very first day – yeah!
Take care – Shelly
I'm interested to learn the difference between WordPress & Blogger. I'm using Blogger and can not believe the little box I'm forced to try and design my blog posts in. I've already found out the hard way that if I go back in and change the smallest thing, it sends my post back into "draft" mode and the only option is to re-post it (which means everyone subscribed gets your post all over again…)
Blogger switched things up a couple days ago, so I'm hoping this issue is resolved, we'll see.
Always inspired by your work. Looking forward to seeing the finish on the armoire your assistant was sanding down the other day. I picked up a similar one to put in our bank lobby along with several other pieces. They're featuring Shizzle Design the entire month of December and I can set it up any way I want – yeah! Hoping for great exposure.
OH, why are offices just the WORST place to organize??! I get the heebie-jeebies watching that Hoarders show. all the garbage, dead animals. ICK!
i watch hoarders. and your post is me to the tee. ive got a booth in which i put 'THINGS'. I too, have a hard time getting rid of things. im hoping to purchase a new house soon. an old house to match my style. everything im keeping, i hop to put in new home. but i do know exactly how you feel. and haha i have a "room" that looks about like yours. i tryto keep it organized. nope, not happenin anytime soon. imusing the packing /moving factor. anyway, thanks for this post. im sure many of your readers relate in some way or another. happy labor day weekend….
I think you'll be very happy with WordPress. I think it's easy to use and will grow with you.
When you think of all the things we bring into our homes each week, it stands to reason that purging needs to be a regular part of life. I don't have a promlem letting go. There's a sense of freedom attached to it.
One step at a time…
I'll watch a hoarder show when it is on, too. It's a mixture of horror, repulse and fascination when I watch. I usually clean up my home the entire time it is on. It inspires me to throw away and straighten up.
I need to do some purging, too. Maybe they'll have a show marathon come on soon.
Seems I never had this disorganization/hoarding problem when I was single, but after kids….I just cannot keep up. You will probably need a little warehouse to rent soon. I work out of my home too and it really is hard to keep it organized when you don't have enough room. It is a work in progress at all times. Thank you for sharing and just being yourself!!
Not to worry! You have some of what I have, military dependent syndrome. We moved so much that I had to give away a lot of things ALWAYS. It seems like I am buying back all the things we gave away. Also, as a crafter you see the use in the odd scrap of wood, button, handle, piece of ribbon etc. You could have a few small bins that are labeled hardware, textiles, fibers, wood. That would solve the little extra piece problem. I would also remove all Commodities from your office. Like pillow forms and batting. You don't need them close at hand, to look at or perseverate over.
I watch hoarders so I won't get like that. But remember, these people have serious mental illnesses. They are not just collectors. They all have had serious, specific tragedies in their lives also. Their conditions are also exacerbated by malnutrition and dehydration.
I think one of your problems is that your office is your "landing pad." When you come home from anything, especially shopping, it all ends up in there. A solution Might be to keep two shelves in a closed armoire completely empty for your purse, keys, mail, and current purchases. That would also hide your stuff from the little boys and the husband. The less mess around, the happier they are. I am already planning to go to NJ to the Visiting Nurses big sale in the beginning of Oct. Eddie mentioned it in his latest post. The Little Red House seems to get the best bargains there . Ann
OK, this is probably the closest I've felt to being your equal – maybe even excelling over you in the clutter! LOL!! You see, I have no basement and no attic for any storage or work area. I have a LARGE room in my upstairs that gets used for my craft/scrapbooking space as well as my storage area. Sometimes there's paths, sometimes there's just spots you can hop to – if you're lucky. ;^) It's awful at this time of year when I'm working on craft show projects. Stuff is in the works and stuff that is finished is waiting for packing – lots of stuff.
I have a TOO BIG house full of TOO MUCH STUFF! So I can relate. My question: where did you donate your art books etc? I'm not the least interested in getting money for what I have but I don't know where to donate it. (I live about an hour from you.)
I absolutely love your blog and yes, I, too, can relate to the show Hoarders. After seeing your before & after photos of your home, I feel inspired. While I live in a rented house, surely there is something I can do with all of my treasures to make it feel like MY home. Just not sure how to go about it?? Any tips? Thank you for all that you share. Cindie
You will love WP and my vacuum is always in the middle of some room on any given day. What? that's not normal. I figured that was a natural occurrence in every home, we just don't talk about it 😉 But with two teens and two dogs, there is always something to vacuum up, so why bother putting it away!
I can tell you why you vacuum cleaner is in the middle of the room…its a DYSON!!!! hell, at $400 a pop, they deserve center stage. I have two because one day, the cord broke on mine (the pink one) and I convinced my husband that I could not live without it for even a day!!! I swear i fill my canister twice a day in my dirty old house. I love love love mine and they both live out in the open, like any other $400 accessory would!
My MIL is a hoarder. Before meeting her, I never knew that kind of illness existed. It's shocking, and some cases are just awful, but I have empathy and, to a degree, can see how the slide happens. It's a bit like gaining weight…a few lbs can quickly become overwhelmingly hard to control in what seems like no time at all.
Great job on the purge. I should do one also…my craft room looks much the same, vacuum and all!
i am relieved to see someone else's studio looks just like mine does 99% of the time. Mine is also a 'dumping ground' and I really had a laugh at the vacuum cleaner always in the middle of the room coz I regularly have exactly the same prblem!! Weird- wonder how it gets there?! LOL!
I find every time I watch Hoarders I'm up and cleaning before the show is half over. I can't stop myself from watching. I need to purge my craft room but I always feel since I paid money for something and didn't use it I would be wasteful to get rid of it.
I don't know anything about WP ( I use typepad) but I have a friend in Toronto who's WP blog got deleted without warning and from my understanding it was to do with her trying to do a sponsor post or something like that. They don't allow ads or monetization? She never got her blog back and not a single response from WP when she tried to contact them for help.
Doesn't it feel freeing letting a lot of that stuff go. I have a motto, if I don't use something within 6 months to a year its has to go. Twice a year I do a major cleaning of closets, bedrooms and the garage and I purge. It feels liberating. Can't wait to see what your office looks like when you are all done.
Thank you for letting us see the "imperfect" and the "messy". It's real life folks! We all have spaces that keep getting messy and cluttered and it take courage to let us peek into the messiness! Thank you for being real! So many blogs out there are beautiful but also guilt-inducing because we only see the beautiful and perfect side of their lives!
My dad, aunt, and grandfather all are hoarders. not in their homes as much- because other people live in there with them- but my dad has 2 storage units PACKED FULL of stuff he doesnt even know waht it is any more… my aunt is similar. their dad- lives with his 2 youngest kids (both in their 40-50s) and his wife- and all there is is little goat trails through the house between the piles of newspapers and crap.
its scarey.
i used to keep everything, but when i got old enough to see what they were doing, I started purging. and now i do it fairly regularly. there are some things i hold on to, but im good about actually realizing the things that will never get used, and getting rid of them.
so good for you purging your office! I know its hard. but it needs to be done!
Love this post. I have the same Dyson vacuum and it is always sitting in the middle of some room with the hardwood floor attachment sticking out too! I too will be doing a before and after of my craft room. Good luck and can't wait to see your magic!
~Michelle
Hoarders fascinates me as well and I don't know why. However, when they start revealing dead animals, I turn the channel. Just can't deal, especially if I am snacking on something at the time:) I have an office just like yours that ends up as a catch all no matter how many times I organize and clean so I can relate. On the flip side, I love the creative challenge of making it neat and functional.