Grasping what I call The Container Concept has changed my life/home. Many of you have told me it has changed yours too.
Today and tomorrow, I’m going to share a few examples of how it works.
While decluttering recently, I excavated the glasses in the photo above.
My first decluttering question is: “If I were looking for this item, where would I look for it first?”
I’d look for glasses in the cabinet where I keep glasses.
Duh.
So I took them to that cabinet immediately. (That’s the second part of the first decluttering question.)
But when I got there, there was no room for these glasses.
Phooey.
I looooove these glasses. They’re polka-dotted!!! They’re big!!! They’re perfect for my ice-water obsession!!! I know this because I recently decluttered their Ugly Siblings. The ones I’d used to death.
I knew I loved these glasses. I was so excited to find them.
But once I arrived at the “place where I would look for them first” . . . there was no room for them.
My Glasses Cabinet has just enough room for the glasses I have. The grown-up ones I’m so proud to use. There isn’t space to add three (even three stackable) cups, no matter how loved.
The cabinet is my container. Its size is finite.
A container is meant to contain. The size of the container determines how much/many of something I can keep.
Really. If I try to put more into a cabinet than it can actually hold . . . doors don’t close, stuff breaks, and/or items fall on my head.
And even if I avoid those three pitfalls, it’s just plain hard to get to what I need.
So at this point, I had to make a decision. Should I get rid of some glasses that are already in the cabinet so I can keep these re-discovered ones? Or should I stick these perfectly-good polka-dotted beauties straight into the Donate Box?
Because I can’t keep both.
They don’t fit.
It was tough, but I purged the polka-dots.
Something had to go.
--Nony
I think I need to take a look at my glasses cabinet again too. Great reminder Nony! Real life examples of other people struggling just like me really help 🙂
This is by far a favorite of mine too. Though, I’ll be honest- I’m have to REALLY think hard about it! My mind understands— but my heart Keeps cluttering things up! I’ve had to ask myself this quetion plenty of times when declutter; ” what’s love got to do with it?” Yep!
We say we LOVE th
Oops! iPhone phat phingers!
Anyway- we use the word love in all the wrong ways — that is why we have trouble decluttering!
Well I do anyway-
So you don’t really live those glasses or there is no way you could have tossed them right?
Just saying– ” what’s love got to do with it?”
Pat
Pressing send now!
Some college girl is going to be so happy when she finds those at goodwill!
I love those glasses too! I have come across this situation many times. One very similar occasion was when I came across a set of stackable dolphin glasses my sister-in-law gave me. I had NO room in the cabinets for them, but they were just too darn cute to throw away. My solution? I got a box that I put in the basement that now contains “things” (like the dolphin glasses) that I think my boys can use when they leave home. Both are in college now and some of the things I have been happy I’ve saved as they have been able to already put a few of the things to good use (and it has saved me money)!
Hi, Gail. I like your solution of a “things” box for your sons. It’s kind of like an old-fashioned hope chest, wherein girls would put things that they will use to set up housekeeping when they get married. It has a good and useful purpose, and I think it’s a great alternative.
Your sons will appreciate these items eventually.
Remember – a hope chest is a finite container as well. Beware of the ‘I’ll keep this for my kids someday’ trap. My grandma recently moved in with us and I had to empty her house… into mine. ::deep sigh:: I am working through all of the things she was saving to give to me, to my dad, to my kids… it’s a lot, and 9 times out of 10 we (the prospective recipients of the things she saved) don’t have any use for the things she cluttered her house up with for us…
Well done Nony!
I was thinking of you last week and of the post when one of your readers put forward the idea of ‘how much is it costing me to store this item?’
I’ve been re-organising the bedroom and making it work better for me and in the process getting rid of some stuff. When I first moved here I only expected to live here three or four years and so I kept all the bubble wrap which I’d used in the move. And I added to my stash with every piece of bubble wrap which came my way, after all, I’d need it some day. I’ve been here six years and my stash had grown into three large bags full, either under the bed or in the closet. I recently decided that I love living here and that I’m staying here for quite some time, hence the re-organising.
Three large bags of bubble wrap take up a lot of room in a one bedroom, one living room, kitchen and bathroom apartment. That’s a big space cost. How much will it save me when I do finally move? I priced out the cost of a new roll of bubble wrap and found it’s only 6.29 GB pounds for a very large roll. Just not worth keeping the old stuff until that move happens. So, I kept a small amount in case of wrapping presents etc and got rid of the rest, thus freeing more space for my re-organising.
Re-organising and de-cluttering in one go. That’s what I like.
Go you!! Love this story!!
Happy Dance!!! I love it when things ‘click’!
Tough decision! Great determination that you showed! WTG!
absolutely LOVE this post. You are good for my heart (and my 702 square foot condo). thank you Dana.
I think I need to make the container concept my next skill to master. Great stuff, lady. Keep it coming!
I am with Sarah. Mastering the container concept needs to be my goal right now. And remembering that things like my desktop (which is here SOMEWHERE) and dressing table are NOT containers. Given how much I dislike clutter, just conquering that would solve most of my problems.
As for the glasses… Those are SO cute! I can see why you had to think about it, but good for you for making the right choice. 🙂
This is SO a problem hubby & I both have!!! Horizontal surfaces are EVIL, LoL — be they tables, counters, dressers, sinks, etc o.O This is why we got rid of our big dining room table that we NEVER used (always ate in our very cozy kitchen)!
It was a junk & clutter catcher and nothing more! It made the whole room look bad, so we just gave it to someone who needed it & found a little square table to fit in our kitchen that all 5 of us share, haha. It felt SO good to get rid of 😀 even though our parents thought we were nuts :-p But now we have more room & less clutter, win win!! 🙂
Lets both repeat this to ourselves ad nauseum, “Horizontal surfaces are NOT containers!!!” 😉
“Horizontal surfaces are NOT containers!!!”
Yeah. I can totally get on board with that. Just not a horizontal board. 😀 My office is so tiny – something like 12 feet by 7 feet – that I need to be really organized. I have no room for anything that doesn’t belong, and certainly no room for anything out of place, lol. OR a desk with too many piles. 🙂
It takes strength to make that decision. That is a hard choice. It could have been so easy to find another container to keep those in, but we know that can become a problem in itself. Again…great decision making!!
whaaatttt???? do you mean i’m the ONLY ONE with one cabinet for crappy, overused, probably should-have-been-tossed-long-ago cups, and a COMPLETELY separate cabinet for “grown up” glassware (that rarely if ever gets used?)
oh yea, and we are ignoring the fact that both cabinets are nearly overflowing.
i have recently (like you, i see) been trying to make more of an effort to use my “grownup” things ceramic bowls and glass glasses. so i know, logically, i should purge my plastic/resin smiley-face tumblers that i bought when i went to college. that i also bought matching bowls for.
i am also learning that the fewer dishes one actually has, the more often one has to wash them. which means fewer total dishes can possibly accumulate as dirty.
i mean, but it is pretty sad that i had to start storing cereal on top of the fridge because too many of my cabinets were occupied by pots/pans/dishes/glasses/tupperware….
fortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) we’re moving, so i’m forcing myself to not even pack the things that i know i shouldn’t keep (the new place is about the same size as our current place, but different layout-so any delusions i have about there being more space are just that–delusions.)
Proud of you girl! You are my idol and motivator!
Can you come live with me? :(. I have the book but the reality is way harder!
I think I would have learned to look for them in a different cupboard. Of course, since I have enough coffee mugs for the whole neighborhood…for a week, I might not have been able to FIND another cupboard to put them in.
My son recently found a mug he wanted at Goodwill. For .49, how can you pass, right? But it immediately started a one in/one out conversation. Before we paid, we had identified a mug that could go. When we got home, we actually got rid of three! Go us!
Go you!!!!
I have a dilemma directly connected to this issue. My son recently bid on and won a Coca-cola basket at a charity silent auction. Included in the basket were TWELVE really cool glasses and he LOVES them. I do not particularly like (or dislike) the glasses but they just don’t fit.
I thought about inviting him to help me solve the problem. However, this particular kid of mine (unlike the other two) always puts himself last and would get rid of the glasses no matter how much he wants to keep them just because he would think that is “right” thing to do.
Any suggestions on how to address this?
If he still lives at home maybe start him a hope chest….then when he gets out on his own he can use them in his home.
Your container concept has changed my life!!!
Our problem is that we have 4 adults in the house. We all have our favorite bowls and cups. And my daughter seems to have a water mug addiction! I’m not sure what goes where anymore. Nothing makes sense where to keep stuff. Trying to work in the kitchen cupboards all week.
Why is this painful to read?