Hoarding

Has anyone noticed the number of hoarding reality shows on TV these days? TLC has one called Hoarding: Buried Alive which started its second season this past Sunday. A&E has a show simply called Hoarders. I got hooked on both shows sometime last spring. I was on my own tangent of decluttering my house. Both shows reaffirmed that I needed to get it done.  I have to clarify that my home was nowhere near the extreme of what you see on these hoarding shows. We have hidden clutter - basement, closets, under beds, behind closed cabinet doors. About 75% of it is gone. I still have to tackle the basement but I haven't been motivated much lately. I still have 4 1/2 months to fulfill my New Year's resolution to declutter the entire house. ;-)

So my main point of this is - do you know a hoarder? Are you or someone you live with a hoarder? I know it's a difficult thing to admit. If you're living in that situation it's embarrassing. I follow Flylady on Facebook. I read the desperate posts from people struggling with chaos in their homes. They want help. They don't know where to begin because it's so overwhelming. I can't imagine how it feels to be surrounded by piles of stuff. To have to create paths to get around your own home. To not have a place to put your feet up or put your coffee down. To sleep on half the bed because the other half is piled with clothes.

In my little world my hoarding problem was with scrapbook supplies. I've gotten much better over the last few years. I don't buy a lot. When I do buy something I use it right away because I'm so excited to have something new and fresh in my stash. My habit of hoarding supplies stopped one day almost 5 years ago when I realized I'd spent $90 of household money on scrap supplies in about three days time. That's almost a week's worth of groceries. The former LSS was going out of business. Everything was 75% off. How could I not buy? After three separate trips to the store and a $90 dent in the checking account, I realized it had to stop right then and there. I'd bought more paper than I'd ever use so I sold half of it on ebay. I barely made my money back. The rest went in my stash. I used some, then more recently sold more at the LSS tag sale. I still have some of that paper from 5 years ago. Was it worth buying? Nope.

My family is more important to me than my stuff. I don't want to sound self righteous when I say this but I don't need to hide purchases. When I buy stuff I spend $10 or less and it's once a month, if that. Seriously, I do not buy many scrapbook supplies. CHA? What's that? The latest trends? I haven't a clue what they are.

My scrap area is a mess right now. I used the table for our tag sale on Memorial Day weekend. Random scrap stuff got thrown on top of it when it came back in the house. The thought of organizing it sends me running in the other direction. I haven't scrapped since late April (any layouts of mine you've seen here since then are older). I'm going to clear it out this week. Maybe I'll take before and after photos to share here, though the thought of that is kind of scary! It'll be like my own little reality show. Even the after pics will be bad because I scrap in an unfinished room in the basement. It's not pretty but it's fairly functional.

So...I went from hoarding...to scrap hoarding...to decluttering the scrap crap. Are you up to the challenge of reorganizing a space in your home that desperately needs it? Flylady says all you need to commit to is 15 minutes at a time. Go forth and conquer!