Alas February is here, daylight is longer and it seems the snow won't be here anytime soon. And as any person living with a hoarder will know more DAYLIGHT=more SHOPPING hours at shops/discount stores and carboot sales.
I was impressed with my dad not buying anything last month. This month he is a "proud" owner of second hand hi fi system with cd, tape player and speakers. I don't care how almost new it looks or how cheap it was. Like most technology of the 80's it is bulky, ugly and unwanted- CD's are no longer purchased but songs downladed on to phones and MP3/IPOD players but our hoarder hasn't cotton and fails to understand why anyone would wan tot get rid of it. The HIFI now sits on top a bookshelf in our front/lounge room for visitors. I can guarantee you it won't be used, it will accrue dust and be an eyesore.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Monday, 15 February 2010
SPACE Rules part two
Organising your house:SPACE stands for Sort, Purge, Assign, Containerise and equalise.
Yesterday we looked at Sort and Purge. Today...
ASSIGN a home for objects.Storage is about being able to take your things out again with the greatest of ease. If you can't find something, can't reach it, or can't use it because it was improperly stored, what good is it anyway? Instead of asking, "Where should it go?" try asking yourself, "Where do I use it?" and "Where will I look for it?" e.g Computer games should be next to the console/computer
CONTAINERISE
Keep like items together in containers that won't slide off the shelf. The container should be appropriate-too big then you are tempted to overstuff items that should not eb thee and make it more difficult to retrieve what you want at the right time. Storage containers are an opporrtunity to show your style and according to budget. Possible containers;bags, boxes, bins, bottles, bowls, and baskets. There's a variety of materials to match your decor.
Yesterday we looked at Sort and Purge. Today...
ASSIGN a home for objects.Storage is about being able to take your things out again with the greatest of ease. If you can't find something, can't reach it, or can't use it because it was improperly stored, what good is it anyway? Instead of asking, "Where should it go?" try asking yourself, "Where do I use it?" and "Where will I look for it?" e.g Computer games should be next to the console/computer
CONTAINERISE
Keep like items together in containers that won't slide off the shelf. The container should be appropriate-too big then you are tempted to overstuff items that should not eb thee and make it more difficult to retrieve what you want at the right time. Storage containers are an opporrtunity to show your style and according to budget. Possible containers;bags, boxes, bins, bottles, bowls, and baskets. There's a variety of materials to match your decor.
SPACE RULES PART TWO
I ACE: Assign a home, containerise and equalise.
Assign a home-look at each object and decide if is needed, used and how often. Have a bag for charity ready. Each item should have a "home" where it should be stored accordign to what it does e.g hairgel shoulD be kept where you do your hair ideally the bathroom near a mirror. Avoid getting distracted fom the task upon finding something old that brings back memories, you've found an old exercise book and you go off and show someone. Kitchen items in kitchen, display items in living room, clothes in bedroom in drawers and wardrobes.
CONTAINERISE
Storage come in all shapes, sizes and materials.Choose a suitable and keep similar things together in it so that you can find it. Think about where it will fit in the room.
EQUALISE
I believe this means having a balance. Regularly review what is needed and where it needs to be stored. Could be every month or 3 months either way mark it in your diary.
*the space rule is from a organise your life article i read.
Assign a home-look at each object and decide if is needed, used and how often. Have a bag for charity ready. Each item should have a "home" where it should be stored accordign to what it does e.g hairgel shoulD be kept where you do your hair ideally the bathroom near a mirror. Avoid getting distracted fom the task upon finding something old that brings back memories, you've found an old exercise book and you go off and show someone. Kitchen items in kitchen, display items in living room, clothes in bedroom in drawers and wardrobes.
CONTAINERISE
Storage come in all shapes, sizes and materials.Choose a suitable and keep similar things together in it so that you can find it. Think about where it will fit in the room.
EQUALISE
I believe this means having a balance. Regularly review what is needed and where it needs to be stored. Could be every month or 3 months either way mark it in your diary.
*the space rule is from a organise your life article i read.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Note to self-sort house:SPACE Rules
How to sort your home?
When you enter a room think SPACE, no not the lack of it but how you are going to get space following the SPACE rule:
Sort
Purge
Assign a home
Containerise
Equalise
You will need to be focused don't get distracted by old memorabilia and go and show it to mummy?
Follow the above in order to get more organised around the hoard.
Sort- With each item ask d i use it/love it or is it costing me money? Start with the large items that are in your face. Categorise them together eg. trousers, gardening tools.
Put items for another room, returning to others, or mechanical parts in their own piles near the door. When you get the urge to run, take a deep breath, stretch, and remember your goals.
Purge
GET RID of items broken, battered, and really don't matter to you any more -- clothing beyond repair, uncomfy shoes, dried paint, dead batteries,"Purge" doesn't necessarily mean to throw something away. It means that it should be removed from the rest of your possessions. You can toss it in the bin, recycle it, give it to someone who can use and appreciate it, or sell it.
Think of purging in economic terms. You pay for clutter with your time, energy, and money -- in rent or mortgage -- for all the space you use to house your stuff, even if it's deep in your cupboards or stashed in the attic. If you're paying £15-£20 or, more likely, closer to £30 a square foot for office space, is it worth it to pay for clutter?
Next post will part of the SPACE rule
When you enter a room think SPACE, no not the lack of it but how you are going to get space following the SPACE rule:
Sort
Purge
Assign a home
Containerise
Equalise
You will need to be focused don't get distracted by old memorabilia and go and show it to mummy?
Follow the above in order to get more organised around the hoard.
Sort- With each item ask d i use it/love it or is it costing me money? Start with the large items that are in your face. Categorise them together eg. trousers, gardening tools.
Put items for another room, returning to others, or mechanical parts in their own piles near the door. When you get the urge to run, take a deep breath, stretch, and remember your goals.
Purge
GET RID of items broken, battered, and really don't matter to you any more -- clothing beyond repair, uncomfy shoes, dried paint, dead batteries,"Purge" doesn't necessarily mean to throw something away. It means that it should be removed from the rest of your possessions. You can toss it in the bin, recycle it, give it to someone who can use and appreciate it, or sell it.
Think of purging in economic terms. You pay for clutter with your time, energy, and money -- in rent or mortgage -- for all the space you use to house your stuff, even if it's deep in your cupboards or stashed in the attic. If you're paying £15-£20 or, more likely, closer to £30 a square foot for office space, is it worth it to pay for clutter?
Next post will part of the SPACE rule
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Girl living with parents hoard of books- FACT OR FICTION?
Of all the days today i have also come across a book review blog featuring a book entitled Dirty Little Secrets by CS Omolulu, reviewed only today!what a coincidence, i've just been saying how it is being recognised in the media.Damn there's my idea to write a story about living with a book hoarder.Here is the review of the book AND an interview by the author: http://booksatmidnight.blogspot.com/.
And if i can't get it at my library i may have to break my new years resolution and buy a copy!
And if you live with a serial hoarder you may want to hint this book in their direction. (Like place it on any flat surface that is not being used in a really visible place).
And if i can't get it at my library i may have to break my new years resolution and buy a copy!
And if you live with a serial hoarder you may want to hint this book in their direction. (Like place it on any flat surface that is not being used in a really visible place).
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Hoarding in the media
Hoarding is slowly gaining recognition as a serious Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
In the winter of 2008 I tried explaining to a relative or like most people see it as joke. Lo and behold there was a programme on bbc radio 1- it spoke to a hoarder who admitted the problem and the underlying roots. That news clip also brought to attention the first UK conference on hoarding.
I came across this link is about a sticom in America about a hoarding family -damn they stole my idea :( but would love to see it here in the UK:
http://www.wikio.co.uk/article/127305084
Here, reality programmes galore there is one about hoarding but not the main channels. Its called Gutted and appears on the Home channel. All of the hoarders belongings are put in a removal and the contestant has to win them back. If they can't all the objects are auctioned off and the money or theirs to keep or if they really love their crap sorry possesions they can have them back. You know what i would do. I take it the contestants have to choose participate in the first place. I do wonder if the contestants get any conselling or cognitive therapy to analyse why they hoard their particular obsession from books to memorobilia.... otherwise what stops them from going back to old habits?
In the winter of 2008 I tried explaining to a relative or like most people see it as joke. Lo and behold there was a programme on bbc radio 1- it spoke to a hoarder who admitted the problem and the underlying roots. That news clip also brought to attention the first UK conference on hoarding.
I came across this link is about a sticom in America about a hoarding family -damn they stole my idea :( but would love to see it here in the UK:
http://www.wikio.co.uk/article/127305084
Here, reality programmes galore there is one about hoarding but not the main channels. Its called Gutted and appears on the Home channel. All of the hoarders belongings are put in a removal and the contestant has to win them back. If they can't all the objects are auctioned off and the money or theirs to keep or if they really love their crap sorry possesions they can have them back. You know what i would do. I take it the contestants have to choose participate in the first place. I do wonder if the contestants get any conselling or cognitive therapy to analyse why they hoard their particular obsession from books to memorobilia.... otherwise what stops them from going back to old habits?
Monday, 1 February 2010
my messed up room
What does a normal bedroom contain?bed, wardrobe, dressing table and storage space and a window to let the glorious sunshine in the morning right?
What does the daughter of a hoarder bedroom host?3 largeboxes with a deluxe bbq set, loads of suitcases on an ancient drawer set ("throw away? they don't make strong furniture anymore"), Cardboard boxes and bin bags of clothes- to keep, a futon with a plastic box of my books a computer table with folders (im guilty here),sliding wardrobe which one has to climb to get to and use all body force to "slide" open, stand free radiator and a bunk bed. Curtains fall off because the clutter is in the way sometimes sliding off and taking the curtains with them.Foot injuries and bruising by objects is routine, sound familiar- you're hoarding or somebody is hoarding their "precious junk" in your room to the point a room is inhabitable- doesn't it just make you angry and feel like you can't think clearly. To get one piece of item i need to lift objects, climb stuff etc like a stunt woman. Constanly feeling disorganised and always thinking i need to clean this and that.Even when i have vacuumed the 4ft by 50cm square of carpet that is clear, whole room still looks like a tip and makes me feel like a tip.
Can i see much of the carpet? hell no(it's a hideous red anyway)
Ok my academic books are on a bookshelf in a corner but its concealed with boxes so i can't even access them leisurely. I can't fit a book shelf beacause is a control freak when it comes to holes in walls.1% of my dads books sit cheap aluminium bookshelf and line the whole stairway corridor-im just thankful that all of us can get through without ever resorting to the firebrigade imagine explaining to the telephone operator: "what's the emergency? im stuck between a pile of and the stair bannister--help!???!
That's my rant for today got the negativity out of my system
next i'll tell you about ripping the roof and ladders confused?yeah that's what im lyk evy day 2 da point i dont mke sense.
What does the daughter of a hoarder bedroom host?3 largeboxes with a deluxe bbq set, loads of suitcases on an ancient drawer set ("throw away? they don't make strong furniture anymore"), Cardboard boxes and bin bags of clothes- to keep, a futon with a plastic box of my books a computer table with folders (im guilty here),sliding wardrobe which one has to climb to get to and use all body force to "slide" open, stand free radiator and a bunk bed. Curtains fall off because the clutter is in the way sometimes sliding off and taking the curtains with them.Foot injuries and bruising by objects is routine, sound familiar- you're hoarding or somebody is hoarding their "precious junk" in your room to the point a room is inhabitable- doesn't it just make you angry and feel like you can't think clearly. To get one piece of item i need to lift objects, climb stuff etc like a stunt woman. Constanly feeling disorganised and always thinking i need to clean this and that.Even when i have vacuumed the 4ft by 50cm square of carpet that is clear, whole room still looks like a tip and makes me feel like a tip.
Can i see much of the carpet? hell no(it's a hideous red anyway)
Ok my academic books are on a bookshelf in a corner but its concealed with boxes so i can't even access them leisurely. I can't fit a book shelf beacause is a control freak when it comes to holes in walls.1% of my dads books sit cheap aluminium bookshelf and line the whole stairway corridor-im just thankful that all of us can get through without ever resorting to the firebrigade imagine explaining to the telephone operator: "what's the emergency? im stuck between a pile of and the stair bannister--help!???!
That's my rant for today got the negativity out of my system
next i'll tell you about ripping the roof and ladders confused?yeah that's what im lyk evy day 2 da point i dont mke sense.
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