Space and Clutter

I grew up in a family of pack-rats. My grandmother held on to everything -- M.Y. San and Danish butter cookie tin cans, empty jars of mayonnaise, ketchup bottles, old bicycles, unused and broken appliances, outdated clothes... you get the idea.

Photo from the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland








I can still remember her carefully removing the labels and sterilizing the bottles before keeping them. She stored her loot in an orderly fashion, much like how Wall*E did in the movie. However, as years passed and her collection grew, her backyard started to look like a junk shop. I once saw giant rats hiding behind old bottles of Coke and Magnolia Chocolait. Eeek!

While reading this month's issue of Yes! Magazine, the featured celebrity housewife reminded me of my lola. The pretty wife/host confessed that she does not throw anything. She's not kidding! She was able to fill their 110 sqm. master's bedroom (almost as big as our whole apartment) with rows of boxes and knick-knacks. She and her husband now have 4 container vans parked in a vacant lot out of the city to store things that they can no longer fit in their basement. Beat that!

This got me thinking. I always thought that our house would look less cluttered if we had more storage space. After seeing the cluttered bedroom of the said celebrity, I realized that clutter has nothing to do with space, but everything to do with purging. I just need to be vigilant about throwing or giving away things we no longer use. Better yet, I have to learn not to bring into our home more stuff.

This is easier said than done, especially since I am very sentimental. It's a daily struggle. Sigh...