My Clutter Threshold is the point at which I have more stuff than I can handle. Or I have specific things I personally can’t handle.
Everyone has a Clutter Threshold and each person’s threshold is different.
I had a great idea recently. An idea with the noble goal of saving my still-newish couch from the teenage boys who sit on it. I bought a couch protector. Not a couch cover, but a couch protector. It doesn’t (even when used in an ideal situation by an ideal couch protector user) completely cover the couch, but sits neatly on top of the most typically grimed up areas.
I had the idea and considered the color of my couch and I think I even got out my measuring tape before I ordered one.
I did not, however, consider the fact that my couch is a DOUBLE RECLINING COUCH.
I always forget something.
I remembered after the package arrived on my doorstep, as I was pulling the protector out of its own protective cover.
But I tried anyway.
It fit, but because I couldn’t tie or wrap it in place, after a sit-or-two it was wadded.
And the wadding encouraged dumping.
And the dumping upon the wadding looked horrendous. And even when I straightened, it never stayed straightened for long.
There are people in the world who straighten well and straighten often. They straighten when only a little straightening is needed so there’s never a need for a full-on unwadding.
I am not one of these people.
I never notice the need to straighten until the wadding and the dumping upon the wadding has already occurred.
Ever.
And then I get frustrated. Because my couch looks like a big jumbled mess which makes the entire room look like a big jumbled mess.
My newish couch!
So I acknowledged that this couch protector was clutter for me. It was clutter for the simple reason that it was above my Clutter Threshold. Anything I can’t handle, that continually gets out of control, is clutter.
So I decluttered it.
And within thirty seconds of making that drastic decision, my couch was back to looking the way it was supposed to look. Which made the entire room look so much better.
I haven’t missed that couch protector for one moment.
Yay for accepting what I can and can’t handle.
I talked about ten things over my Clutter Threshold in a recent podcast here. You should listen.
--Nony
This makes me cry! That’s my old couch. We had to let it go. Reading this post and seeing those pictures, I didn’t realize how much I still miss that couch 🙁
We love it. With man-sized children, recliners are a must for comfortable family time.
Agree. The recliner is a good looking functional piece. Recliners work for people with back pain too. Delighted to see it despite interior designers considering them eyesores.
We bought the most beautiful couch years ago, it was the Biggest & Comfiest couch ever.
Custom made, chose size and pattern, cost us $2500.
The frame was guaranteed to last forever.
Life, babies, kids and cats had it in a sad almost embarrassing state. Couldn’t afford new fabric to recover, new house too small to store it so we had to throw it out. Now that I want a new couch I wish I could go back in time to re-find it. Sometimes it’s hard to let go…
I had a similar experience in January. I had always loved my BF’s, which is a protector from her dog.
I even I ordered a blue, quilted one like hers, plus the matching recliner version.
Unfortunately, I TRIED to skimp on price – and got what I paid for !
It is thin, just lays on because of no ties and therefore does not stay in place.
But, unlike you, I cannot bear to get rid of it- yet
The best laid plans… love how the kitty is undisturbed!
Actually, she’s a dog. And I won’t tell her several people thought she’s a cat in this photo. She’d be pretty offended as she loathes cats!
Hahaha! Please give her my apologies!! I was thinking you had a cat… don’t mind me, I squeezed out yet another baby and I think my brains are permanently scrambled.
Um…I think that’s a dog.
I live in a household with my grandchildren, 3 boys 5 and under. The new double recliner loveseat got a cover custom made by their Dad out of waterproof-diaper-cover material. Great, but the separate arm covers are always coming off, driving me crazy. I’m about to try sewing some pieces of Velcro to the arm and the cover…hoping strategically placing them will help.
Yes! She’s a dog. And she’s very thankful someone realized she’s not a cat.
I especially love that the dog barely moved. That’s the kind of help I can depend on from my dog too.
I had the same problem. Double reclining loveseat, one-piece cover that looks like yours. Our loveseat was very old, so we recently got a new couch, but it is wider. Our small dog loves to lay on the seat between our leg and the arm of the couch, so I definitely needed to keep that area covered. I took the old cover (which was no longer wide enough), cut it in half and hemmed the raw edges. Now I have a half cover on one side and one on the other side. It’s wide enough to cover the arm and the seating area. Much easier to straighten out one side and the other side doesn’t get rumpled if only one of us is sitting/reclining. I wish I had done this sooner.
I purchased several these ‘pet’ blankets to protect furniture from grandsons and a cat. They do become wadded or on the floor so easily. One of these days I’ll have decluttered enough I’ll have time to just vacuum and wipe down with a damp cloth more often. For now, I’ll keep straightening them. Ha!
Thank you so much for this! I love your blog because you make feel normal. I don’t see those messes until way late either and I thought there was something wrong with me….Thank you for giving me peace. : )
I love the mindset that a single item can be above clutter threshold. I think I often think of groups of things or types of things (magazines in general, I don’t keep them tidy so I stopped buying them) but a single item that’s not working or that only works with more effort than I care to give it is also above the threshold.
Thanks I’ll have to rethink my threshold.
Yesterday I had to clean up an area of my living/dining room space so I could put a giant cage in it, to house a sick cat while her injured paw heals. I spent two hours going through every piece of clutter in the floor and on the adjacent chairs. I divvied it all up to go back to the spaces where it supposedly belongs; but the problem I’m having is that ALL my spaces are equally cluttered, so when I picked up the five items that belonged in my bedroom, or bathroom, or studio, or kitchen, and returned them, there was no place for them to go in THOSE spaces, so it ended up making those spaces worse, just to get this one clear area in another one. WHAT do I do? And what do I do FIRST? I’m in despair.
You have too much stuff for your space! I live with this- being satisfied with less = more happy with my space.
I think we have this exact couch!! You have excellent taste. We ended up taking a king size flat sheet, folding it half, and putting it on the seat part of the couch. Looks neat-enough most of the time, easy to pull off to wash, and keeps it safe from puppy claws and minor crumbs/spills.
We tried a couch cover that worked for our old couch and nope. Into the donate box it went.
I have issues with ‘protecting’ new or new-to-me furniture or really ANYthing that could get dirty, dingy, damaged, scratched, torn, nicked, faded, stained, shedded, you name it. And then expecting (& correcting) my family to follow the ‘rules’ I’ve invented to maintain the ‘protection’ creates a whole new layer of egg shells to walk on! When I finally realized that my ‘fear’ of whatever-it-is not looking new or ‘perfect’ after it’s put into use was making me hard(er) to live with & stressing ME out, I took the cover of ‘protection’ off of almost everything. I sometimes feel a little twitch when something gets (fill in the blank), but I remind myself life’s too short & relationships are more valuable than any object. Someone has said, use stuff & love people.
Oh thank God, Nony! For a horrible moment, I thought your dog was the culprit! As for a clutter threshold, I guess I automatically have one these days for items coming in my house or a room. But I need to work on my clutter blindness-that gradual accumulation of out of place stuff that happens when I’ve got a big project going. Which is like constantly right now. We moved to a vintage singlewide with 2 additions right before the pandemic took over everybody’s lives, so we’re behind about 18 months on all our projects (blaming it on that anyway). Thank you. Eh . . .one more thing – “anything I can’t handle that gets out of my control” sounds a bit like my children and greats and grands from time to time . . . just sayin. 😀
i was so worried that you were going to declutter the dog!
I just read this on June 5, 2022. Yes! I have been trying to be “good” and recycle the voluminous amount of mail we receive on a daily basis. Ok maybe not so voluminous day to day, but when I neglect it for weeks or this time months, it takes on a voluminous character. Today, I decided that I can just throw that junk mail in the trash without feeling any guilt or sense of obligation. Environmental protection starts at home baby! I feel so much better after tossing the mess out. Freedom!!!!!
Thank you Dana.
You scared me – I first noticed the dog and thought you were going to declutter him or her. (Just kidding – I know the dog is a family member which trumps decluttering.)