Too Much Stuff!!
Thank you so much for checking out the first Simplified Home blog post!
Before we get too much into specific decluttering and organizing topics I want to talk about the reason most people call us, and that is the stuff itself. Almost all of our clients call because they are feeling disorganized and 95% of the time it is because they have too much stuff. I think we all want for our things to be organized so that we can see what we have, find what we need and hopefully be aesthetically pleasing. However, all of the sorting, labeling and organizing tools in the Container Store won’t help if you have too many things for the amount of space you have.
Here’s a few statistics to let you know you are not alone:
The average American home contains 300,000 items
Americans but 40% of the world’s toys but have 3% of the world's children
It's been estimated that 18% of families have an additional storage unit spending 37.5 billion a year
The average home size has nearly tripled in the last 50 years and most homes are full of stuff.
I know most of us realize we have more than we need but here are a few benefits of doing something about it:
More time. According to the National Soap and Detergent Association, eliminating the clutter in a home would eliminate 40% of the time spent cleaning the average American home. Plus less time spent searching and maintaining things.
Potentially more money. You don’t spend money rebuying things you already own but can't locate. Of course if you get rid of a large amount of stuff there will occasionally be things that you once owned but need to rebuy someday. We can’t know what things they will be but I maintain the benefits of not having all of the things outweighs the occasional repurchase.
Better mental health. There is a link between clutter and depression. Also the sense of pride and wellbeing from being organized is hard to measure but very real!
Better Physical Health. A UCLA study linked high density of household items to high cortisol levels; the hormone associated with increased heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar. There is also evidence of links to better sleep, diet and overall health
More satisfaction with your home. Your home should be the place where you can relax! Ideally you should be able to sit back and do things you enjoy rather than looking around at all of the things and have them weigh on you.
One of the things we have learned after all of these years of helping people to declutter is that each person's idea of what is cluttered is different. One person could think of a space as tidy and clean while another could feel it is plain and without personality. The most important thing is that you love your home and it is organized to work for you!!
