Most popular New Year’s resolutions
o Lose weight.
o Get organized.
Spaces to organize first
o Purse or wallet.
o Car.
o Home’s entry.
o Top of dresser.
o Top of night stand.
o Bathroom counter.
o Kitchen counter.
o Dining or kitchen table.
o Desk.
o Computer desktop.
What: 12-step program for people who have trouble getting rid of stuff.
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mondays.
Where: St. Luke’s-San Lucas Episcopal Church, 426 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver.
Information: Trish Palin, 360-750-8679, or www.clutterersanonymous.org
National Association of Professional Organizers’ blog, “Get Organized”: www.napo.net
Organizer and owner: Megan Vaughn.
What: Happy Space organizes homes, offices, moves, estate sales and more.
Information: 360-448-8978, megan@happyspaceorganization.com or www.facebook.com/HappySpaceOrganization
After her divorce, Trish Palin had about six weeks to move her belongings from a three-story house to a 500-square-foot trailer. She had accumulated lots of stuff over the years. Her packed-to-the-rafters house was emptied by 22 trucks from Goodwill and other charities.
“It was like moving from a washtub to a thimble,” Palin, 71, said. “When I write my book about clutter, it’s going to be called ‘A Trail Runs Through It,’ ” she said with a laugh.
Palin’s big move was 20 years ago at midlife. Now 71, she still struggles with accumulating too much stuff.
She’s so passionate about helping people deal with clutter that she started a local chapter of Clutterers Anonymous a year ago. The group, a 12-step program, meets weekly.
Americans own too much stuff and are drowning in clutter. Last year, the second most popular New Year’s resolution was to get organized, according to the Statistic Brain Research Institute.
“Some people say that Clutterers Anonymous has saved their lives,” Palin said. “It’s so bad in many cases that people can’t even bring in a repair man if something is broken.”
At the meetings, people share their struggles, triumphs and fears with people who understand.
“It’s a safe place to be,” Palin said. “It’s everything from clearing the kitchen table or your car all the way to receiving eviction notices for clutter.”
People struggling with clutter sometimes isolate themselves in shame Palin said.
“We make excuses, often meeting people somewhere else and never inviting them home,” she said. “We’re very vulnerable to people who we call ‘normies’ because they don’t understand.”
Clutterers Anonymous defines clutter as “anything we don’t need, want, or use that takes our time, energy or space, and destroys our serenity. It can be outgrown clothes, obsolete papers, broken toys, disliked gifts, meaningless activity, ancient resentments or unsatisfying relationships.”
Being involved with Clutterers Anonymous has helped Palin form new habits. Before, shopping was a reward. Now she practices not buying.
“It’s helped me let go of things I no longer need, want or even liked,” Palin said. “It’s changed my beliefs. You can’t buy anything unless you have a place for it.”
“You can’t organize clutter,” Palin said. “You have to let it go.”
She has learned to say no to friends who are giving away free stuff.
“Free is not free. Free takes a toll by crowding your space,” Palin said. “My goal is to create more open space, which gives me peace of mind.
“Everybody knows someone who is a clutterer,” Palin said. “It’s time for us to come out of the closet. Just get started. Do something.”
Professional help
People who need more help conquering their clutter can hire a professional organizer such as Megan Vaughn, owner of Happy Space Organization.
Vaughn practices what she preaches. She and her husband live in a modest 1920s home in the Hough neighborhood. It has only two closets. Yet the rooms are open and inviting. Nowhere does clutter rear its ugly head.
“Your home should be a haven,” Vaughn said. “Being an organized person is not about getting rid of all of your stuff. It’s important to keep things that trigger good memories or make you happy. But if entering a room makes you anxious, that’s not a good thing. Being organized is setting up a system of dealing with clutter.”
Vaughn’s system follows these steps: sort, eliminate, assign a home to what’s left and maintain.
What: 12-step program for people who have trouble getting rid of stuff.
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mondays.
Where: St. Luke's-San Lucas Episcopal Church, 426 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver.
Information: Trish Palin, 360-750-8679, or www.clutterersanonymous.org
National Association of Professional Organizers' blog, "Get Organized": www.napo.net
She lives by the adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place.” Throughout her home, Vaughn uses trays, bins, baskets, buckets, bins and corkboards to organize stuff.
Just inside the front door, shoes were tucked onto shelves on an Ikea bench. Mail was deposited in a tray on top of a chest.
On a shelf in the linen closet, an old metal bucket held cleaning supplies to tote from room to room.
In Vaughn’s home office, nary a stray paper cluttered her desk. Instead, a large framed corkboard displays a calendar, invitations, favorite photographs and an index card with this message: “You have everything you need!”
When Vaughn first meets with a client, she asks them what an ideal space would look like. Then she makes a plan to achieve that ideal space.
Keeping memories
Junk mail, old bills and other papers pile up quickly. Vaughn suggests opening mail over the recycling bin or paper shredder. After she’s paid a bill, she shreds it. She scans important papers to create a digital copy.
On her basement stairs, Vaughn keeps two cardboard boxes labeled “donate.” As she comes across items her family no longer needs, she drops them into a box. About once a month, she takes the box to a favorite charity.
Many people collect special objects, but they shouldn’t overwhelm a space, Vaughn said. She suggests considering new ways to use collections. For instance, if a T-shirt collection is taking up precious drawer space but the shirts are rarely worn, Vaughn suggests sewing a quilt from the old shirts or taking a photo and making a framed piece of art.
“You still have the memory, but not the clutter,” she said.
When people are emotionally attached to objects, it’s hard to let go of them, Vaughn said. Perhaps you have a mug that belonged to your grandmother, who is no longer living. You don’t like the mug, but you recall seeing it in your grandmother’s kitchen.
“Giving away that mug is not throwing away your grandmother,” Vaughn said. “Take a photo of the mug and then donate it.”
Holiday decorations
After the holidays, when people are adding their new gifts to their old stuff, it is a good time to consider each new item. If you keep it, you must have a space for it, Vaughn said.
“The gift is not the person who gave it to you,” Vaughn said. “Give yourself permission to be honest about the stuff you have. Is it functional? Does it bring you joy?”
Taking down the Christmas tree is a great time to weed out unwanted and broken decorations.
In early January, many stores sell specialized containers for ornaments, wreaths and more. But if you’re storing junk, throw away the junk and don’t spend money on containers, she said.
In her basement catch-all room, Vaughn stores three bins of Christmas decorations plus a few bins for other holidays.
Often, people stuff their basements, attics and garages with stuff they don’t need, she said.
“We’ve all got things we aren’t dealing with,” Vaughn said, opening a cupboard. “I have three punch bowls in here. Who needs three punch bowls?
“It takes a lot of energy to tackle your stuff,” she said. “Once you’ve created skills and have systems in place, you still have to deal with your stuff.
“But once it’s organized, it shouldn’t take more than five to 10 minutes to tidy up because everything has a place.”
