You’ve made the decision that it’s time to move as your house is too large now. Or you’ve had to make a decision to sell the family home on behalf of aging family members who can no longer live unassisted. Or you want to release capital to afford their care, or to travel or just make life less cluttered.
But as you open a cupboard, intent on making a start, the contents stare back; an overwhelming monster that has been racked, stacked and packed year on year, with all manner of forgotten items. All had purpose though didn’t they? That’s why you kept them isn’t it? Or could you simply not make a decision about them at the time?
In my experience, monster cupboards store “duty” items. These might be misguided birthday presents from your mother in law; small gifts from people who don’t really know you or Secret Santa things from people who think they do. Things you’d have felt a bit guilty throwing out.
Monster cupboards also store all those “just in case” items. The chipped jug that might still be useful as a vase. (It wasn’t.) The broken toy that needs gorilla glue to make it indestructible again. (Child is now 22.) The stainless steel teapot won in a raffle. (You only drink mugs of tea.) And the 2 matching aprons you bought when cooking was a hobby not a chore.
As for the “waste not want not” stock – 53 plastic carrier bags that have partially decomposed; numerous rolls of half used wrapping paper; individual old sweet tins containing many different types of pins, nails, string and elastic bands; 2 cracked wooden spoons, a nearly non-stick sauce-pan and the battery operated mini hoover that has never hoovered longer than 10 minutes without needing a recharge. All there.
Added to which, the monster is decorated with a few cobwebs, is dusty and musty and never has there been an easier time to just close the door on it for just a bit longer.
Casual hoarding slowly creates a storage dumping ground that finally presents as a time consuming job with a bunch of uncomfortable decisions to be made.
“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory” (Ralph Waldo Emerson), and it’s true. And it only takes the first step to precipitate the next.
But if you can’t, we can for you and/or with you.
We will conquer monster cupboard and all that lies within.
