Obsessive house purging

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-22-2009, 09:55 AM

I think I'm addicted to getting rid of stuff. I'm trying to empty out the furnace room, but there is nothing in there except empty storage containers! That's all I store, containers for storing, how weird is that? Empty shelving units, empty dresser, and empty containers. I don't want to get rid of them because I know I will want to reorganize something and I will want containers, obviously I've got plenty of space for them, but when I walk in a room and see stuff I just want it gone. My goal for a room is always to get it completely empty, that's my idea of a 'finished' room. It's like I've got some kind of house anorexia. All I see is clutter, clutter, clutter, but in reality the place is half empty.

I'm running out of things to throw out, so now I'm going paperless so I can get rid of my 1 box of household filing.

**sabrelvssammy** · 10-22-2009, 10:30 AM

i feel your pain monkey..... i have been de-cluttering since the beginning of the year and in the beginning it was really easy... stuff was everywhere...(well in reality...it was everywhere only in my own mind...none of you would have probably seen a thing)...lol.... but that's my ocd obsession working at its best...

so i got rid of alot of stuff...and now i have empty drawers everywhere....i have cabinets that are half full and i think to myself that i could just get rid of the dressers and most of the cabinets too but then the house would just be 4 walls....

i have nothing lying about and the few things that are out...(most refer to them as 'decorations'... i have them just to fool people into thinking i might be halfway normal...haha) i am constantly shifting 1 inch to the left...or an inch to the right....turn it around to face another angle....and on and on and on....

i arrange and re-arrange the closets, drawers, cabinets...(which doesn't take long coz they are all practically empty)...lol.... i even re-arrange the silverware in the silverware drawer holder thingy.... everything has to have a purpose and i have to use it regularly or i got rid of it...(and no...i haven't missed a thing)....

and i love boxes (my version of storage containers).... of course they are all empty too...coz i MIGHT want to put something in them....but what...? i have nothing left to put in them.... but they have to stay....they are my 'dirty little vice' too...haha....

ok...by now you are thinking...'oh boy- full blown nut case here...' and you are probably right but i am not thinking about my empty drawers and cabinets and closets 24 hrs a day....i don't lose sleep over them...i only re-arrange and stare into them (ok-about every other week)...but now that i have 'purged' all this unnecessary junk that was taking up both physical space and space in my head...i am finding that i am doing it because i feel the guilty need to be doing 'something'.... it's not too hard and takes very little time to clean an already clean house....dh and i put away the few things we still have as soon as we are done using them...we are super clean people and we wipe up after ourselves and 'clean' as we go.... so what am i supposed to do on cleaning day....? i personally could live in a one-room apartment and have all i need and want because i truly require very little more than that...dh however has this notion that we have to have something just a little bit bigger... so if it weren't for all the carpets that i can vacuum and the windows i can wash....i would probably drive myself insane... hence the constant 'organizing' of everything....

so i guess its the guilt factor...i listen to my friends and family 'complain' about all the cleaning and housework and stuff they never seem to get done...and i look around their chaotic/cluttered homes and while they are 'asking' me for my advice and opinion...they don't really want it...coz they know i will say "start by getting rid of half this 'stuff'..." and maybe you will have more time for things you really want to be doing....and yes i realize that it's just me and dh so its so much easier for me to say... but i had a kid in the house...(1 kid by my own choice..that's enough for me)...but this one kid had 50 friends coming and going all hours of the day and night (we had the open door policy and we were the place to hang out....) but i taught my kid and all the others to respect my house and the people in it...clean up after yourself...or go home....! and i have always had numerous pets in the house...(and unfortunately they can only clean up after themselves so much...i have yet to have one that mastered the vacuum cleaner).... so i understand a little about life beyond just dh and myself...(though i have to admit i LOVE the peacefulness of just dh and myself...and my two cats)....though once again...its a personal preference we all make....for some that's not enough...and that's ok too...

so...for now...i guess i will just keep arranging and re-arranging for the rest of my days....and when i am gone...my heirs can come in and open my drawers and my closet doors and just be astonished (and probably grateful too)....but i'm sure they will be talking about my 'empty box fetish' for years to come.....(though i want you to know that they are all 'neatly organized).....lol.......

**SueAnne** · 10-22-2009, 12:28 PM

I am purging but am nowhere near you ladies!

**Pemberleyan** · 10-22-2009, 01:34 PM

I am almost obsessed with it at the moment myself. I also have numerous boxes and containers sitting here now because I've just done two walk-in closets and three chests of drawers. I'm saving the boxes because the basement is next, and I don't want to have to hunt for boxes to cart stuff away in. There is no telling how many pounds of clothes and stuff I am sending to the thrift store. Mmwhaahaha!

**Early Bird** · 10-22-2009, 01:43 PM

Wow. Just today I started purging. Two paper grocery bags full to donate. And I'm thinking, "Okay. Nothing left to go." But, if you saw this place, you'd see HUNDREDS of things that should be gone.

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-22-2009, 02:31 PM

What's funny, I'm really not a 'neat' person. I don't pick up after myself, my clothes usually land on the floor, I don't put things away after I use them. But I really hate mess, and the less I have, the less I have to clean up. I think I've got it in my head that if I purge enough I'll never have to clean again

That at some point there will so little in the house that it will just take care of itself.

The container business is out of hand though. I don't want anyone thinking I have an empty box fetish LOL.

**perSue** · 10-23-2009, 11:38 AM

LOL
I'm the same way!
i hate seeing stuff just sitting there taking up space doing nothing!
I go thru monthly with a bag/box of things to get rid of... and I _try_ to encourage the others to do the same... doesnt really work well. *argh!*

but then I have all these things handed down from family that take up space that I don't use often... like dishes & whole sets of corningware & such. I love these things & do use them, not daily, but weekly at least. But there's SO MUCH!

Ugh... I'm there with you...
I wish I could just have furniture & a few "extras"... but that's not happening.

sigh

**Libby** · 10-24-2009, 03:17 PM

Wow can you ladies bottle up that power and send it my way? I need a swift kick in the butt in that dept.

Better yet - have you guys thought about starting your own biz and working eve's/wknds if you're already working FT and offering your services for others? Help them get organized? This way you'll be using your 'urge' for the better and helping others while making extra income.

Just a thought .... maybe I can be the first customer for you ladies?

*hugs*

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-24-2009, 03:23 PM

I've always wanted to be a professional organizer, I think my dust allergies would be a major handicap though.

If you really want me to, I'll come visit you some weekend and throw out all your stuff

**craftypam** · 10-24-2009, 07:10 PM

I'm with you Libby; I need some of what they have. Sorry ladies I don't want all of it; the obsessive would drive me crazy, but I do need to declutter badly and am working on it!!

**hotprincesscm** · 10-24-2009, 08:17 PM

I need to start decluttering, I have way too much stuff! Things I don't even use and haven't used in years are in my cupboards and closets....I dream of a clean, organized, uncluttered house! Someday I'll have it!

**Wendy99** · 10-24-2009, 09:20 PM

i need the ability to let go of somethings, would love to live that way as i hate clutter

**Pemberleyan** · 10-24-2009, 09:55 PM

Libby and Craftypam, I'd have to be left out of the naturally neat category. I'm a terrible housekeeper, but since we've been building our house as we go over a long period of time, part of the house became the "dumping ground" or junk room and I've finally gotten around to cleaning it all out. I do enjoy categorizing things and making labels for bins, etc. I don't ever want things to get that out of hand again.

**geckoace** · 10-27-2009, 09:17 AM

i absolutely LOVE throwing things away. i am constantly trolling the house for things to consign, sell, freecycle anything and when i run out of thing i go to my sister's house and throw her stuff away LMAO.... she is my opposite and she loves stuff but periodically she needs help purging and then i show up and happily toss her things away

my mother wont even let me in her house alone cause shes afraid ill start purging..... hmm i may have a bad reputation