A few months ago, I did something I swore I would never do EVER again… I moved house… AGAIN! I met someone who is awesome and also has a house… full of furniture… just like me. It was a big decision and not one we took lightly. One of the things we needed to take into consideration was just how much stuff we both had. We were well aware when I first moved in we needed to seriously declutter. Not to mention redecorate but that’s a story for another day. We also needed to overcome a few issues between us. I’m going to share with you how him setting himself (us setting ourselves) a seemingly impossible goal has helped solved both of them. (He might go mad at me for sharing this with you but I hope one day he’ll see the funny side!)
Problem #1 The ‘Gathering’
One of the things I love about this guy is that he is such a super tidy person. Although, his tidiness is a bit… well… superficial. Whereas I’ve always been a ‘place for everything and everything in its place’ kind of person, he is very ‘surface tidy’.So where I would rather have something left out on a surface until I find a home for it, he’s the complete opposite. His tidying tactics seem to involve gathering things into piles and putting them somewhere out of site. The house looks tidy but every cupboard, drawer, nook and cranny in the house is full of junk. (Or it might not be but we won’t know if it is or not until we sift through and find out.)
Problem #2 ‘The Hoarding’
Every single room is piled high with boxes of stuff. My stuff, his stuff, stuff that we don’t really use but can’t throw away because such and such bought it… Or it might come in handy… One day. I’ve been quite eager to chuck anything I don’t need because I’m sick of being surrounded by it all. Trying to get him to part with anything has been, well… difficult.
Only setting an impossible goal is going to motivate us to declutter this house
" data-orig-size="1080,810" data-image-title="More clutter" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/www.whatrachdidnext.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/IMG_20181003_190219-e1540726570315.jpg?fit=1080%2C810&ssl;=1" aperture="aperture" />My clutter… his clutter… everywhere we look, there’s clutter!The Challenge
That was until a few weeks ago. My dearest darling man invited some ‘friends’ to stay. Friends who just happen to be rather famous rock royalty! I’m not going to name names because it wouldn’t be fair to them. All I’ll say is that they’re an awesome band from Seattle, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their most critically acclaimed album with a world tour. My partner is their biggest fan and they’ll be staying at our place the night of their gig at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. So basically, we had four weeks to turn the house from looking like Steptoe and Son’s yard into comfortable sleeping arrangements for four band members.
Men Need the ‘Right’ Motivation
At first, I admit, I wanted to freak out. But I didn’t, I held my breath, counted to ten and smiled sweetly. Whilst counting, I realised this presented me with the most awesome opportunity!
“The band can’t stay if we don’t get rid of some stuff because they won’t physically fit in the house.”
I said. To which he replied:
“Great! Let’s do it, let’s declutter!”
I couldn’t believe it! For months, I’ve been trying to get him to get rid of stuff that’s accumulated over years but he’s been reluctant to see why he should. As soon as a famous band said they were coming to stay, all of a sudden he became Mr. house-proud! It would appear that all he needed was the ‘right’ motivation (or an impossible goal!). Thanks guys!
Ever since we started decluttering I’m pleased to say, we’ve been on a bit of a roll. Once he could see the benefits he got totally on board! I’ve lost count of how many tip runs we’ve done, IKEA runs too. But we now have, in several boxes dotted around the house, what I hope will solve all of our clutter problems.
Seriously, how many guitars does a man need?
Not Quite The Happy Ending You Were Hoping For
I’m afraid, if you were hoping for a happy, fairytale ending to this story, you’re about to have your sky-high hopes well and truly dashed. This is not a glossy, shiny blog post that shows you how glamorous and beautiful the life of a blogger is. It’s more of a work in progress right now. I do promise that it will be the ‘before’ post, shortly to be followed by a nice shiny ‘after’ post.
Is it just me who finds myself in these ridiculous situations or have you ever given yourself an insanely impossible goal? Did you meet it or was it a disaster? I would love to hear from you… and if you have any decluttering tips, I would love to hear those too!
Rach x
