This quote from artist and textile designer William Morris is a pithy prescription for avoiding clutter in your home.
Have nothing in your house
that you do not know to be useful
or believe to be beautiful.
To earn its place in your house, office, closet or life, according to Morris, each thing must:
- Serve a useful purpose and/or
- Make you happy.
Which means you can count as clutter anything that:
- You don’t use regularly
- Doesn’t work
- You find ugly
- Has unpleasant memories or associations
- Is tatty or dirty or broken or uncomfortable
- Doesn’t suit you
- You only keep because it was expensive
- Was a gift but has so meaning for you
- You will use one day… maybe.
Take Morris’s words to heart.
For everything in your world, if you don’t use it or love it… then let it go.
Valuable info. Fortunate me I discovered your site by accident, and I’m shocked why this accident did not took place earlier!
I bookmarked it.
Superdry men’s Germany Trophy Collection t-shirt.
My group decisions are:
Serve a useful purpose: family heirlooms and/or make you happy displaying your finished art.
Doesn’t work = electronics/computers can be donated to be repaired and sold to disabled people
Has unpleasant memories or associations = items from divorce or end of life = bad memories you may be able to sell some of the items
Is tatty or dirty or broken or uncomfortable = trash broken, stained or unable to clean
You only keep because it was expensive = consider selling the items unless their antiques [antiques hold their value]
Was a gift but has so meaning for you = re-gift or pass on or donate
My group decisions are:
Serve a useful purpose: family heirlooms and/or make you happy displaying your finished art.
Doesn’t work = electronics/computers can be donated to be repaired and sold to disabled people
Has unpleasant memories or associations = items from divorce or end of life = bad memories you may be able to sell some of the items
Is tatty or dirty or broken or uncomfortable = trash broken, stained or unable to clean
You only keep because it was expensive = consider selling the items unless their antiques [antiques hold their value]
Was a gift but has so meaning for you = re-gift or pass on or donate
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Thank you for simplifying it!
This is a great website for helpful ideas to finally get rid of your clutter! Now if I could just put all of this into action, I WOULD BE A HAPPY, HAPPY CAMPER. ;0)
Susan, can I suggest you find ONE idea in ONE post that feels motivating, and DO THAT. You’ll generate momentum, which will help you do the next thing, and the next. But just START TODAY, my friend. 🙂
Thank you for the suggestion Michele. I’ve been following you for a few years & I love your ideas. Keep up the good work!! 🙂
🙂
Thanks for this bit of advice. I’m off to let some things go now!
Well what that has been mentioned in the above article by the author seems to sound very much touching and is a fact in real, its better to let go of things that are not required or doesn’t add to any significant use for our daily purpose so as to avoid the clutter.