De-junking lives!

Quite a lot of us are compulsive hoarders. It would be anything from old utensils to redundant pieces of furniture to books. Most of us feel that it needs a lot of courage to de-junk. One sees cluttered homes because people buy new things without discarding the old ones, or at times just continue with the old ones, though they have out-lived their utility because they just can’t discard those things.

Have you ever experienced the immense pleasure of removing junk from the house and feeling as if some heavy burden has been lifted off your head?One can always give away old books which the children no longer read to libraries, either recycle the clothes that one has out-grown (hick!) or give them away to the needy ones. Old utensils can be given to the kabadiwallah without any pangs.

In fact streamlined wardrobes, book shelves and kitchen shelves save so much of our time in hunting for the right thing. In the process, at times, one does end up giving away certain things which one may subsequently require, but its part of the game. Don’t have to grieve over it endlessly.

Your home will look cleaner and much more organized if you discard things every now and then. And one can always buy simple knickknacks and artifacts, enjoy them for a while and recycle them by converting them into something else or just disposing them off. I’m certainly not talking about antiques, ancient pieces of furniture or artifacts. They’ll always remain as heirlooms for the next generations.

A good filing or pasting system also saves a lot of effort in hunting for the right thing at the right time. Very often people keep a whole magazine for just one article or recipe. It’s far better to have different files for recipes and other useful articles.

It’s good to have a chest of drawers in the house that you can label according to its contents, for important documents/papers like gas paper, bills or ration card . And it’s also good to check these drawers periodically and see if any excess has got accumulated.

There is absolutely no need to store that old iron which no longer can be repaired, the toaster that has been replaced long ago, or the mixer which does not grind anything. The outdated camera, the silent old cassette player or that old sewing machine which neither you nor the next generation is going to use – what are they doing in your home except creating a clutter and using up that precious space which can be far better utilised?

Remember, removing clutter is going to save your time in routine cleaning of the house as well as locating things that are important. Have no qualms and start right away and see the difference.