When I decluttered that back corner of our gameroom recently, I discovered a lot of things in the pile were photos or wallhangings or signs that I knew I wanted to keep but hadn’t found a place for yet.
So I had to wrestle with myself a little/lot.
Do I find a corner somewhere else to stash these things until I have time to decide where/if/how to perfectly display them all?
Do I pile them up and clear everything else and pretend I’m done?
Do I stop Decluttering Day and declare it Decorating Day?
Do I pretend I wasn’t really going to finish this project anyway and walk away? And go eat candy?
I decided to just make it better. I put up a few pictures (that were already in frames) on pre-existing nails throughout the house. Then I leaned the rest up somewhat neatly in the places that were available nearby.
And it was better. Not done, but so much better:
And even though it’s far from perfect and the broken collage is hanging whompy-jawed on the wall, I smile when I walk through this room now.
And smiling is so much better than crying.
Awesome! I have to say I agree that your better IS better than a stack of those pictures tucked away somewhere where you don’t get to see them. Now you are enjoying them, even if they aren’t in the right place for you yet. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!
Don’t ruin good in pursuit of perfection. Perfection is an illusion. 🙂
This is from 2014 and I am just reading today 8 years later. I love your phrasing on the pursuit of perfection. It is simple, positive and motivating. I wrote in in my monthly planner. Thank you and Dana too!
It’s now February 2025 and I’m just now seeing it. I took a screenshot of the quote on my phone because this is something I need to start following. Trying to find the perfect solution or get “it” “just right” has led to so many delayed or abandoned projects. I know now that it’s part of my undiagnosed ADD, but I need to do better, and this will help me. Thank you all so much!
whompy-jawed – I love that word! and you’re right – this is better!
I say it all the time. smile…
My dad used to say “whompy-joe-sideways.” Loved seeing this similar expression!
I think that better is true reality, because we can always do better, as our needs, wants and experience changes..so do we. Perfection is a centerfold spread in some design magazine that showcases a clean home’s 15 minutes of fame. Except for chocolate and that annoying game that always made me jump as a kid no matter how much I was anticipating it. Being okay with Better is not the same as settling or giving up. 😀
oh and “Whompy Jawed” is my new favorite phrase…
1.) My dog stared at me all whompy jawed in anticipation of getting one of his stinky treats….
2.) My cats stares at the dog all whompy jawed in anticipation of his demise
3.) I stare at my husband all whompy jawed in amazement to the fact he took out the trash without being asked
4.) I stared whompy jawed at the other car in the roundabout as it actually yielded to a car making it’s way around the circle…
You must live in Indiana. They have so many roundabouts. I hate them as they give me so much anxiety.
Redding California has tons of roundabouts.
Yes! You can always work on it more another day. I love it. I love how you talk through things.
Yes better is still better than it was before 🙂 Great realization Nony!
I love your blog!! I found you awhile back and love reading old and new posts! I seriously laugh out loud sometimes. Thanks for being an inspiration.
Welcome, Tera!!
I’m really working on the whole idea that even a small improvement is worth celebrating. I have a messy store room in our basement and today I found the energy to organize … some of it. I am 8 months pregnant, so the energy is lacking many a day. There is still an ugly pile of clothing that needs put away, but I know I’m out of energy for the day so I’m rejoicing in the progress I made, and will NOT give way to frustration that much more needs done in that room.
I’m new to you and really enjoy you site, posts and podcasts. Thank you for helping!!!
I agree. It is better and that’s a challenge for us when we want it to be perfect or not at all. Thank you so much, I listened to eight of your podcasts yesterday in a row because I felt it could have been coming from my mouth. So inspirational. Might I add, I listened while I decluttered lol
When it comes to the home, I am also – most definitely a slob. Today I cleaned hubby and my room and when he asked me how my day was going I mentioned I was cleaning the room and he thanked me for doing that! *sigh* My own hubby in the short years we’ve been married has accepted that I never clean! I don’t mean to be negative because I am doing so much better than when we got married in 2010. (sorry for being so long-winded) So it really helped when I started accepting “better” when cleaning. ps – that area looks great!
Love it! I like to say that there is no before and after, only during!
I’ve found recently, like you, that going for better is the best choice when you just don’t know what to do. We have been under an extraordinary amount of of stress with health and financial issues, but thanks to your posts, our home is actually getting better. Even my kids have started to declutter after seeing me get rid of large amounts of “stuff”. I keep working on it in its and bursts, accepting that it is going to take a long time. But cleaning up for company is easier and easier, and more is cleaned than in times past.
My new “mantra” is if I haven’t used it 6 months (or 3 or 6 years…don’t ask), it shouldn’t take up real estate here! Thanks for helping me learn this lesson!
I used to want to be all perfect and it would prevent me from doing anything. Now my new pholosophy is “better is good”. With some health issue, I know I’m never gonna be able to make “perfect” in one session, so I accepted the “better” option.
It changes everything.
The desk is always my biggest problem as I am a writer and can’t just “dump things after 6 months. That being said, I make too much of a mess and am trying to get things under control.
Thank you for that simple concept. Just what I need at the moment.
I’ve recently caught myself saying “it’s good enough”. I like your better is good. Time for a cup of coffee.
Thank you so much my like minded friend! My grown children say my house is “well lived in”. I love them so much! My creative brain and my ADD (did you see that squirrel?), oh where was I going……! I have been receiving your emails for nearly a year now I think and have read one of your books. I gotta say, that each time I go over an area, or through a drawer, etc, it does get easier. To declutter that is, now I am really working on the container concept to help with my inflow problem. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me feel like a normal creative human!
I have been trying to reclaim a room that turned into just a storage room. It was the bedroom of my youngest who left home 20 years ago! I have gone through it so many times in the year since I found a A Slob Comes Clean. Following the rules. And it was so bad that it really never looked better. There was just gradually less stuff in it. I guess I should look at that as improvement.
I have been trying really hard not to just move things and make a mess in a different place that still needs to be cleaned up. Youngest and her husband came over the other day to help me. They drug everything out into another room. We did paint and scrub the floor. But now I have all that stuff to still go through. There is still trash and still duh clutter. I’m not even close to asking the two questions. But it would be so much worse if I hadn’t been going through things in there over the last year.I have the book on paper, but I think I need to check the audio book out of the library again. It helps to listen to it
Check if your library has an audio app. My library uses “Libby” and I can look for audio books while at home, check them out and listen – all from home.
I use Libby on my phone – so helpful.
Yes, I use Libby. Thank you for the reminder.
If anybody is interested in an update… I did finish the room. New rug, re-purposed draperies, pictures on the wall, a sewing corner set up. And a cozy reading chair and lamp.
I was really happy with the results.
But the room, the kids drug all the stuff into then needed to be done. I kept going through the stuff getting rid of things putting things different places slowly making improvements. Until Daughter and her husband came again and said let’s paint this room today! So what was left of the junk went back into the first room. But there is a lot less of it now and I still can get to the reading chair and the sewing corner. The second room has improved a lot but isn’t really finished. So I’m still going through things gradually. It’s only been four years and I am constantly improving things. I have hope now. I didn’t before.
Oh my, Sally! Good for you! I really appreciate your giving us an update on your progress. It is very encouraging. I, too, am slowly going through things, mostly paperwork. It takes such a long time. I also want to part with some large pieces of furniture that don’t fit in the house that we moved into just over a year ago. And I plan to donate a bunch of fabric to a local quilting ministry. So much to do…one step at a time.
My darling husband said today, “Dana is kind of bossy.” when I said, for the millionth time this year, “Dana says ‘better is better.” He was joking, because during this lock-down time, we have gotten a LOT of areas of our house and outdoors better and they are starting to look pretty wonderful. He has done a lot of work and quotes you while we’re working.
However, I had to comment on this post because I noticed your Uncle Sam penny bank on your bookcase. Our very young sons bought me the same one about twenty years ago and it sits on a bookcase in our den. Cute!
Is whompy-jawed the equivalent of catawampus? Lol
Absolutely!
Great concept, Nony. Thanks for sharing! It’s important for us all to recognize that “before and after” is just a thing in magazines where they’re trying to sell you things [like baskets you can label]. Sure, nice containers help, but there’s nothing like going through and freeing items to go to someone else, or disposing of items that don’t and won’t serve anybody.
I am seeing this only just now 8/24/23 which has to be almost 10 years since this was first posted, and it is utterly relevant to this day. By the way, this space you made better is now best – if it were my space, I would actually consider it DONE. It looks so good now!
Dana, there are so many ads your video is impossible to watch!☹️About 10 seconds of video interrupted by an ad, then another 10 seconds and another ad. Any way to fix that?
Because I like YouTube and can’t stand ads, I pay for YouTube Premium ( not youtube tv) so there are no ads at all.