hoarding

Diary

Moving Time and Living Out of Boxes

10/23/2010

Remember all those times I complained of not having my own office anymore? Of everything being transitional and having our stuff in boxes and in storage? Well we finally settled down into our new home. It took so much work to get here and I’m excited to get to share it with Colette!

I’m unpacking all of my favorite things. Things I forgot even existed.

Which reminds me of the purpose of this post, to remind you that you also own things you don’t even know exist.

Living without all of my things for over a year (I had my clothes and computer of course!) really helped me pinpoint my hoarding problem. I found I had packed and moved boxes upon boxes of stuff, most of which I didn’t need, to our new apartment. Not that my house was cluttered.. as you can see from the previous articles featuring my first apartments.. but I’ve always had too much to display! So what’s the point?

It really forced me to take a look at everything as I unpacked items one by one.. it made me really appreciate the things I had missed and realized I should donate a lot of the things I had forgotten about.. in getting rid of your excess items you can focus on your favorites OR things that really matter!

I’ve been clearing and storing.. I have this silly stack of vintage and kitschy cookbooks that I can’t seem to part with but I had to move to the closet because I felt the amount of books was getting a little overwhelming.. I’ve found that rather than collect a lot of something you like to display.. it’s best to display your favorites and possibly part with the rest (unless it’s your hobby, like Blythe is mine).

I like to have people over a lot and I’d rather them see things that really matter to me and my environment rather than a cluttered collection of dusty maneki nekos. Perhaps some of my favorites from Japan and a cute family photo? I have a thing for jars of candy.

Today is the day to get your life in order. To sort, shelve and box. To donate and to reuse. Look around and notice the clutter, notice if there’s anything that you’re not attached to. Make room for favorite things, clear spaces for new treasures.

If I can do it, you can do it.

I had originally planned to include photos of every home I’ve ever lived in but of course my computer crashed upon arriving in our new home. Did I say how anxious I am because I’m unable to work or access client files?

I thought you should know, however, that I’ve finally moved into my new office and work will ensue very soon. There is SO MUCH I’ve missed and so much I appreciate now. Most of all you.

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Design Your Life

Minimalism vs Hoarding and Decadent Interior

09/24/2009

If I could just… if this was.. it still doesn’t *feel* right!

I’m often finding myself stuck when designing new layouts for Miseducated — it started so collage heavy as I was using tons and tons of popular icons.. then I started seeing the collage thing EVERYWHERE and it was feeling cluttered so I obviously cut it down… :p I always feel that deconstructing and ridding of any excess is a positive thing.

Now why is this?

My room was very cluttered as a child and I hoped for a day when I would have my own modern, minimalist house.

As you can see my minimalism kind of lost the battle with whimsical nonsense and fantasy candylands. Obviously I find my *greatest* satisfaction in cuteness, well-designed, minimal yet colorful homes (Jeu de Paumes went RIGHT UP my alley, didn’t they yours? ^_~).

.. but is deleting and deconstructing making it better really? Is it just my fucked up sense of things?

I *know* hoarding isn’t healthy, it’s very hard to overcome like any addiction… so does that mean that minimalism is the goal? We simply *must* know! I’m very familiar with hoarding regarding my own life and have studied it extensively in my obsession with psychology and helping myself and those around me.

(… and while we’re at it, why do you *insist* on using asterisks *everywhere*?!

Because I often despise italics, use bold for other things and have a strange need to use the only flower on my keyboard over and over and over! As well as inserting random thoughts that have no relevance to the subject at hand –if anything this NEGATES minimalism–because of course, I am a crazy rambler. With all positives come negatives. ^_~)

Hoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them.
Hoarding, also called compulsive hoarding and compulsive hoarding syndrome, can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
People who hoard often don’t see it as a problem, making treatment challenging.
– Mayo Clinic

Minimalism

A twentieth century art movement and style stressing the idea of reducing a work of art to the minimum number of colors, values, shapes, lines and textures. – ArtLex

Funny thing is.. minimalism is many times regarded as ‘rejective art’ and I think of it as ‘perfective’ art — it’s a very tough thing to master correctly — it can be done both very right and very wrong.

A minimal lifestyle… now that’s exactly what I admire. When applying the rules of minimalism to your life and home it helps a lot if you’re moving (I was) or organizing absolutely everything — it’s good to do yearly (*spring*cleaning)!

1. Evaluate your possessions that sit on shelves.
2. Find a place for everything.
3. Enjoy what you have.
– Christian PF

Zakka

Another design movement, but in Japan. Generally means improving your environment and seeing beauty in the mundane.

When I see zakka it reminds me almost of a minimalist cuteness and innocence, it is completed with the sweet kitschy illustrations and/or designs that are *just enough* to add color and sweetness into the room. It’s very natural and inspired by country lifestyle.

Which lifestyle do you lean towards? 😉