The first decluttering webisode I made was of my Kitchen Drawer Project.
I had so much fun making it, but the real fits of laughter for hubby and I came from watching the outtakes.
The outtakes PROVED what I have claimed for our entire twelve-year marriage: I truly do not see open cabinet doors.
I do not choose to leave them open. There’s no spite or decision-to-irritate-him involved.
They simply do not register to me. It’s one example of what I call Slob Vision.
And the outtakes of that webisode . . . prove me right.
I left the camera running as I went through the various items that I was decluttering. It was only during the editing process that I saw that I had opened the cabinet door just above my head early on, and left it open until almost the end.
Not only was it open, but it was in my way. Because there was a Donate Box sitting on a chair (just outside the shot) behind me, I had to twist and physically move AROUND the open cabinet door every time I went to the camera to say something.
Move around without ever seeing it.
Want to see the proof? Here’s the outtakes video:
If you don’t see the video, click here to watch it on youtube.
This was hilarious! I also don’t notice open cabinet doors until my son points them out. He’s six. 🙂 My husband has given up on reminding me and just shuts them for me.
I love it! LOL I don’t see open cabinet doors either. Don’t know why. Bugs my Honey to no end to see open cabinet doors though!
I love it!! It made me laugh outloud! I needed that! Thank you! I also think, I need your e-book. I get depressed looking at the messes in my house and don’t even know where to start! :'(
I had a total overwhelm day here today. Then threw a mini temper tantrum (all by myself) about the junk my husband leaves around. He replaced broken bifold wooden doors on my laundry area–and has left the broken doors there for two weeks now. They are leaned up against the back door that he likes to use. He just moves them and puts them back over and over. I don’t even want to get into the back yard ridiculousness……
I don’t comment often but had to on this one…I too, am horrible about leaving cabinet doors open! Once, we had guests over and our guest went to get herself a glass of water and asked, “Why are all the cabinet doors open?” I had been so nervous trying to prepare coffee for them that I had scurried about looking for clean mugs and coffee and did my wost habit…leaving cabinet doors open.
In fact, I leave them open so much that my husband whispers “I see dead people.” (One of the first scenes in I see Dead People move (forgot the name of the movie) is when the mom leaves the kitchen for a moment to get something and comes back to the kitchen to see all the cabinet doors mysteriously opened.)
I thought of that exact same scene, and I saw that movie YEARS ago, lol. I leave them open occasionally, and when I realize it’s open, I’m always surprised it is. Oops.
Nony, I ♥♥♥ you!! You might have single handedly saved my 21+ year marriage by proving that leaving cabinet doors open is not intentional! My dear husband leaves multiple cabinet doors open, and I could not believe that he didn’t know it. After reading your blog I do believe, and your outtakes made me laugh. I am certain that I have similar blind spots (what? there is a Christmas ornament that needs repair sitting on the kitchen cabinet, and it’s March?). Thanks for sharing and being so honest.
Oh my goodness! That sounds so much like me and my husband! My hubby (who is generally the least slobbish in the house) has this thing about leaving the cabinet doors and microwave door open. Now, normally this wouldn’t bug me (I’ve gotten used to closing them, or dodging them), but the house we’re leasing right now has the microwave installed in the absolute worst spot for my health and sanity. It is installed right over the stove, which isn’t bad except that when a certain well-loved man leaves the door open, the bottom corner of it is exactly at my head height. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve turned around and wound up smacking my head on that stupid corner of the door. Of course it’s funny at the moment since I’m not currently nursing a bruise. 😀
Oh my goodness was that funny! And so raw and real! I LOVE it! I love your website and book and how “true to you” you are able to portray through your blog and book. Thank you. You’ve made me feel that I am not alone. Hugs, Nicole
It makes perfect sense though. You opened that cabinet door to put something away. You continued decluttering–who knows? You might have had to put something else away–so it could be argued that you were just economizing your efforts–though dancing around that door 10x plus the backwards thing you did–well, that sort of wrecks that idea, doesn’t it?. Still, that move was impressive!
Thank you for keeping it so real.
That is so true! Although in our case, it is not open doors, but just stuff left standing… I have been trying to house-train the BF for ages, and every time I point out that he left chocolate wrappers, beer bottles, cups, … on the table, it seems to surprise them that they are indeed there. I guess he is just so far into his head that he cannot spare a thought for these mundane things.
(To be honest, I tend to do the same, but only with my office. My office is also known as “The room where everything gets dumped, where people climb over stuff piles to work at the desk and which has to be cleaned out in a frenzy if there are visitors staying over night”.)
That’s so funny! It prob took years of practice to get that backwards move down. Ha ha ha
oh no! not at all! to us slobs, it comes very naturally!
this is SO me. i’ve often thought i should just go for that open shelving look, because i leave the doors open anyway, lol! i’ll come into the kitchen, and realize (all of a sudden) that there are 10 cabinet doors all wide open. i leave them like that almost all day–especially the ones that open up to our cups and plates and other “most used” items. slob vision is a real thing. i love reading your blog, because you could seriously be describing me. FWIW, i was actually SO relieved last year when i realized that i have adult AD/HD–actually, I’ve had it all my life. Elementary school report cards: “Ruth is extremely bright, but doesn’t live up to her full potential. Her desk is always a mess, and she is constanly losing assignments. She does not use time wisely. If Ruth could get herself organized, she could enter the gifted and talented program, but she’d need to turn in assignments on time to qualify.” etc. etc. Sound familiar?
btw: I *did* “give up” on almost all closet doors in the house! i have so far removed all but one set–i even removed the door to our coat closet which is right by the front door! those doors didn’t help me at. all. they either stayed open and let the mess spill out (because why clean it? it’s a closet, and i can close the door if company comes over!) or they just hid all the junk, and became a black hole. now, i remove the doors, and just treat the closets like extra square footage. the old coat closet? now a little mail station with a small desk in there. the old bar for coats? replaced with TWO (just two!) hooks: one for my coat, and one for my purse. (the kids all have their own cubbie system at the side-entry door of the house.) slowly but surely i am making progress! doors are not a friend to my slob brain!
I laughed out loud at this. Totally me. You should see our kitchen. I walk in there all the time to discover at least 3 or 4 cabinet doors wide open. Thanks for being so candid!
I too, have slobvision. I laughed at the outtakes because one, I saw myself and two, I just watched that webisode yesterday and totally did not realize the cabinet was open. My son is an OCD messy like I am, just in different ways. He sees cabinet doors and drawers that are open, even the slightest bit, and goes around closing them. All doors must be shut or it drives him batty. 🙂
I laughed out loud at you not noticing the open door in the original webisode Dottie! Thanks for the giggle.
Love it! I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’ll make several passes around the kitchen before I go back and close the cabinet door. I’ve even banged my head a few times on cabinet doors and the microwave door (above the stove)!
HAHAHA!!! I love it!
This my me and my mother! Drove my father NUTS all the time if we’d been cooking or doing dishes. He eventually gave up saying anything and just closes them after us. Even now as an adult I still have this problem, but to a lesser degree than I used to. My dh has the same slob vision as I do but it’s slowly improving and I leave less cabinets open nowadays!
I am laughing so hard, because my hubby gets after me for the same thing. I am notorious for leaving cabinet doors open ,and a few injuries involving them have happened throughout our almost 17 years of marriage which have ended with my husbands famous lecture “how to shut a cupboard door” complete with demonstration. Oh and I loved that video it was the first time I heard about you and your blog!
I laughed so hard! I was greatly relieved that I’d finished my coffee. I really needed.
I am so so with Cabinet doors, but this video is a great metaphor for all the things I step over 18 times when it would have been easier to pick them up and put them away. I do have a thing about pushing in chairs or not pushing them in, and then I get frustrated because I can’t move through the dining room. I get just as mad as if I’m not the one who left them that way.
I’m convinced it is hereditary… my dad does the same thing… thus I do it. We both have been know to scatter sugar across the counter while mixing up the sweet tea…. and leave it there! As you said, no spite involved. Simply have NO idea that we did it.
Thanks for all the inspiration!!!!!
Oh my goodness! That was hilarious! I kept thinking, Ahhhh, you’re gonna bang your head. SHUT IT!
I’d have had a black and blue forehead…. you are clearly toooo skilled in the art of open door avoidance 😉
Whats funny about this to me is that I almost always actually close the cabinet doors, actually open cabinet doors drive me crazy but hubby ALWAYS leaves them open! And in general he is less of a slob than me….then again I am beginning to think its not so much that I’m a slob as everyone else living in my house is and I’ve just given up and learned to tune it out :).
You made me laugh out loud. Thanks. I needed that.
To funny!!! Bwahhahahahaa!!!
My dad and I both do this! Drives my mom and my husband nuts! It is compounded in our kitchen by doors that you really have to shut like you mean it if you want them to stay that way – even if I do remember to attempt to close them I rarely do so with enough intent to make it stick. I just found this blog the other day. SO glad to find my people. (p.s. my mom has always called it “Clutter-blind” rather than slob vision – but same dif)
way too funny!
Thank for posting this Nony. Maybe my husband has Slob Vision too!!
Reading that was such a blessing to me. Now I know I am not alone and if I just keep trying…….this house will persevere. Thanks for what you do. Who knew a blog on deslobification could be such a beautiful ministry?
Oh lord… this is ME!!!
OMG! That is so funny! But I actually was thinking, How did she film this? The door wasn’t open in the original webisode. Reading the comments made me realize it prob was. I had to watch it again to see it for fact. I never noticed. And I DO see them at home, usually. 😀
Epic. Just – epic. Slob vision is REAL! I’ll have to show my husband this. Proof!!! I feel like the M&Ms in the Santa commercial; “It does exist!”
Thank you for sharing. At least you closed the cabinet before you left the room. My husband is always telling me that the cabinet monster must have stopped by.
🙂
Oh my goodness! This is especially funny because just today I shared your post on “How to clean a really messy house for guests” on my FB wall and my MIL commented that we should just not let it get that bad in the first place, to which I replied that cleaning as you go makes perfect sense, except I am so easily distracted that I don’t notice just a small mess, I notice the mess after it is a complete disaster. I absolutely have to follow a checklist, or I don’t notice the mess at all until the walls start closing in. Open cabinets, however I DO notice. They drive me nuts! LOL!
This has been a very stressful situation to me and my body parts for a very long time. My sig other always leaves cabinet doors and dresser drawers open and, of course, they are all aligned with either my head or knees. I swear, I’m going to need a knee replacement soon if this keeps up. I have been accusing him of booby trapping me on purpose. After seeing this, I guess it’s true when he says he doesn’t realize he’s doing it. He and I are very much alike in most ways except one. I’m very OCD and notice everything to the tiniest detail. I can tell if a picture on the wall is an 1/8 of an inch crooked without even trying to look. He is totally oblivious to his entire surroundings. It has been a constant struggle trying to find a balance. Well, not balance, just me learning to let some stuff go. I’ve been following you and watching your vids and it has helped me greatly to understand his point of VIEW. I think you may have saved our relationship, or saved his life. Now, if I can get him to watch your webisodes, I’m sure we will finally find that balance. Thank you. I love that you keep it real. Been searching for someone who doesn’t just talk about crafty labels on pretty baskets, but shows the real life struggles of living with(or without) stuff.
That is so funny. I do this all the time. Of course, I “yell” at the kids for leaving them open, but I do it too, and secretly consider it not a flaw, but a specialized skill that I can work around open doors and piles without injury. People who trip or bump are just clumsy! Haha. Slob Vision at it’s best!
I laugh every time I watch this because I can relate (After watching this, I looked in my kitchen and yep, the cabinet door where we put our glasses and plates is wide open) I appreciate your ministry so much!
Hey soul sister! Bless you!
This is so funny!! My husband does this ALL THE TIME!!! It drives me nuts!! I can’t stand seeing them open! He also doesn’t see all the garbage wrappers he leaves all over the house. I always wonder why he sees these things at work and fast food restaurants. He doesn’t leave garbage laying (lying?) around those places, so why is he blind to it at home? I have slob vision too. It seems like it goes from perfectly clean to a complete mess overnight, but of course it slowly happens throughout the day. I’m trying to be better at opening my eyes to it throughout the day.
Thank you for the insight! It’s not an issue with me, but it helps me to understand those that really don’t see things that I see
🙂
I have that too. Not quite that close to being in the way but my husband says he can always tell when I have been in the kitchen -every door I touch does not get closed. I now often walk in there and close the majority of the doors. Blinkered!!
Hilarious! My husband is the cabinet door (and microwave) guy. Drives me batty and to constant injury. My kids leave their shoes right in front of the cubby where they actually belong for me trip over daily. Also drives me crazy. Me? I have made an art out of stepping over things or picking a path through rooms when it would take me 10 seconds to just pick.it.up. But I never notice it’s there until the kids step on it and break it and then I could kick myself for not having noticed it was there and just picked.it.up. Guess we all have our things. 🙂 Just wish there was a way to train them out of theirs! LOL!
Funny only because off the total truth behind this!
A GF said I had no “sense of closure”. I have no intensely felt compulsion to complete things on a short timeline or maybe at all! I think that pretty well describes my experience.
I can deal with numerous projects “in progress” and visible. After loads of psych courses and tests and such, it seems that I mentally live in the “world of possibility” always seeing what a thing “can be” rather than (exactly) as it is. Yes, cabinet doors “occasionally” get closed. She, on the other hand, had to totally wrap up, complete and clean up from one project before doing anything else. If she did not, she felt an active sense of distress.
Not sure how much is nature or nurture.It was an interesting experience observing and talking with a person who was so far to the opposite end of the spectrum from me.
I love that you write from a perspective like mine! Maybe there is hope for my home yet!
Very interesting! I always say that we see the world differently than others, and this has to do with why creativity and these issues often (not always) go hand in hand.
I had to laugh at this. I’m that bad that if I leave any lower doors or drawers open, my dog shuts them with his nose.
What a wonderful dog!!! I wish mine would do that!
Is this video still available? It doesn’t show up for me here and I can’t find it on you tube. I would love to see it! Just found out about you last week. I have hope! Thank you!
Not sure why it wasn’t showing, but it’s there now!
I get so furious at my 23 year old son leaving cabinet and microwave doors open all the time. After reading your blog the last several days, I figured out he just doesn’t see them. (Confirmed in a conversation with him last night).
I asked him to get all his clean clothes out of the laundry room (piled on washer, dryer, and floor). He carefully got all the ones on the washer and dryer but never even noticed the ones on the floor.
I now realize that I need to gently point these things out to him, instead of getting mad or thinking he is doing it on purpose.
Thanks for helping this slobbish mom (I can be neat and tidy at times) and my slob son understand each other.
Thank you for this! Someone recently pointed out that I didn’t close the cabinet door in the break room at work. And I completely owned it. I’ve injured myself more times than I can count running into the doors I left open. I shared what happened at work with my husband and it’s given him permission to point out when he sees it. Fast forward several weeks and he commented that no doors were open!
Thank you for sharing your experience and hope.
My thing is stepping over things in my way. Laundry baskets? Shoes? Boxes? Mail? Groceries? They do not exist to me. “Why didn’t you take the laundry basket up? You had to step over it to get to the stairs!” 🤷♀️
From the 1st time I saw the original video, I thought you were decluttering the CABINET so didn’t see the issue with the open door. I just now figured out that you were decluttering the DRAWER UNDERNEATH the drawer!
oops … underneath the cabinet…