When we lived in our house (before our big purge) we had clutter everywhere. Getting it ready to accept visitors or playgroups meant a major cleanup. It meant picking up all the toys in the living room and the play room, vacuuming the floors, and cleaning the bathrooms. It also meant stashing counter top clutter, office clutter, and stowing the blankets that were lumped up on the couches.
Our secret hiding spot for clutter was our wash room and in our office behind the door. We kept the door to the office open when guests visited, but the shelving and the area behind the door wasn’t visible unless you actually entered the space, something most people didn’t do. The wash room door was always closed and there would rarely be a reason for a guest to enter that area. When kids visited we also stashed the breakable toys and toys that tend to break other things, like bats and balls, in the office and closed (and locked) the door.
We often wondered, when visiting someone else’s home, where they stashed their clutter. Sometimes we’d even do a little covert reconnaissance to search it out. Not by actually invading their closed spaces, but by taking quick peeks whenever they opened a door or cabinet. Most people either did really good jobs of hiding their clutter or they didn’t have any clutter to hide. I suspect it was more of the former than the latter.
One neighbor that had recently moved gave away their secret just before we moved. They asked us how long it took us to go through our attic, and mentioned that it took them forever to get all there attic stuff down and moved. For as much clutter as we had before our purge, our attic hadn’t been a hiding/storage spot for us. We pretty much just had holiday and a few memory items up there.
Time to come clean. Where is your secret clutter hiding spot?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
OK- I’ll confess. Even though we currently have a lot of junk we’re clearing out, we have a small side room just beside our living room that has been filled twice with stuff we couldn’t put anywhere else.
Right now, it’s working as a hold room as other rooms get “minimalised”, and it will be the final room to be cleared out. It’s a nice little area, and it gets the most sunlight of any room in our home. It’s criminal the way I’ve ( yes, it’s my fault alone) have let it get out of control. A few years ago, someone just looking in their would have thought we were on our way to being hoarders.
But, I’m clearing things out as fast as I can!
Brian´s last [type] ..Small Steps to Minimalist Living
Super! Thanks for sharing your secret space. During our big purge we used half of our garage to hold stuff until our garage sale. You almost need to have a dedicated space when you work through the minimizing process.
Hi, I’ve just recently found your blog and have been enjoying reading along!
I have to say that we really don’t have a place to hide clutter. We don’t “stash and dash” anywhere, either. We don’t even have a junk drawer (although our coupon/pencil drawer is usually messier than it needs to be). Which makes it sound like we’re either neat or don’t have any clutter, but I think it’s the opposite. Our house is big enough (2500 sq feet for 4 people without a ton of furniture) that we have clutter laying out in rooms, but there’s just not so much of it that it’s really offensive. I’m working on cutting the clutter, but it doesn’t bother me enough that I’d ever get rid of it for guests (although I do try to have counters/surfaces clean when we have people over). I figure that if I have to live with it every day, then they can put up with it for the brief time they’re here.
Hilarie´s last [type] ..Printed Photo Book Reviews – Part 4 (including wrap-up)
Wow, no junk drawer! That’s impressive. We’ve tried to eliminate the junk drawer, but it never happens completely. Thanks for dropping by and sharing.
Hi, we’re a family of 3 living in a one bedroom 600 sf apartment. Next year we’re moving to a 920 sf condo (2 bedrooms YAY!) and I found your blog looking for families living in a smallish space and how they make it work.
We really felt crazy buying an apartment for the price of a house (most people here in Germany opt for a house) but we love the limitations of small spaces (and it has a 900 sq roof deck!) and life in the city vs. suburbs (we walk to work and everywhere else). Reading that you moved from a house to a condo is so encouraging!
Seeing how small our place is, there is absolutely no space for anything. We hide our clutter in a couple of drawers and in a box behind the couch, those I clear every once in a while. Everything else is filled to the brim and I’m determined to pare it down to only what I need and/or love. I used to envy people with extra room but it has been blessing in disguise (I’ve stopped myself from buying things because there is literally no where to put it. Same for my parents-in-law, they know we won’t accept any big gifts because they see there is no space for it!)
Hi Houda,
We’re adjusting to the smaller space. We like having less space to hide stuff. It forces us to keep things tidy. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your small space story.
I sometimes stick stuff in the guest room or our bedroom while guest are here. Mostly books or yarns
Willow´s last [type] ..Travel–There and Back Again
Hey Willow,
We used to use our bedroom, but it always seemed like we’d end up needing to run in there for something and it would expose our clutter. Books and yarn isn’t bad though, I imagine that stashes away rather neatly.