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thecitychicken

I'm the opposite of a hoarder. . . :)

thecitychicken
14 years ago

Some people call me 'The Eliminator.' I'm better than I used to be, but I tend to dislike clutter and tend to want to throw stuff out. I have a messier husband and two young sons, so I can't get rid of everything. But I find it fun to think of new ways to organize. Today I got a big bag of plastic clothespins. I tied them to lengths of twine. I made a birthday, etc. card holder, and a thingy to hold gloves. Before I kept the gloves in a bin, and then I would have to sift thru to find the mate. It's starting to be cold in the mornings, so my boys like to wear those stretchy gloves to school. When they come home now, I tell them to clip their gloves to the clothespins. This should also work well for drying out wet gloves. I made another whole line for my own gardening gloves. Where I hung the strings of clips was right on this coat rack I made, which is lower to the ground so my kids can reach their coats and hang them back up easily. ~~Katy

Here is a link that might be useful:

Comments (16)

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I am trying to "embed" two pictures in with this post. (So the pictures pop up right when you read the post.) How do I do that again? I tried all kinds of ways. Does GardenWeb not allow embedding anymore?

  • brutuses
    14 years ago

    Where are you loading the photo's from? You have to have them in a photo site like Photobucket or web shots, etc. I can help get them from Photobucket, but do not know how to get them from any other location.

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I figured it out! I was using WebShots but that wasn't working so well, so I used PhotoBucket. Thanks! ~~Katy

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • jannie
    14 years ago

    My sister is the opposite of a hoarder. She throws everything out. She always throws out leftover food so her refrigerator always stays neat. I went to her house one afternoon and asked to see the morning newspaper, there was an article I wanted to show her. She said "Oh, that paper is already in the recycling box in the garage." Know what I mean?

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Yep, my 'fridge is the same way. Before I run the dishwasher, I always look in the 'fridge to see what leftovers I can call "done" and then feed the scraps to the chickens and then put the dish/container into the dishwasher. Once my husband said, "How come you recycle the newspaper so fast?" Hehe. I finally had to tell myself, "Stay out of the kids rooms!" because I was wanting to sort their rooms and throw out toys I didn't think were used much. Now I have an 11 year old and he notices! We have a three car garage with a loft, and it's ALL my husband's stuff. It's okay with me because I can put anything of his out there so I don't have to see it in the house. :) I've often thought that an eliminator and a pack-rat are just different ways of expressing the same insecurites. Both are trying not to feel "want."

  • talley_sue_nyc
    14 years ago

    Those are cool. They remind me of the metal clipstrips for potato chips in the deli.

    I wanted to find those and use them for Beanie Babies.

    Or, take the clothespins and glue them to the side panel of the bookcase.

    (This link has PEGBOARD strips; usually the strips have a loop at the top designed to stick into holes on the shelves in stores, but not easy to hang up on the wall at home. The PEGBOARD ones would be really, really cool. Though, sold in packs of 50, though, only $25, and maybe wholesale only)

    Here is a link that might be useful: clipstrips

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Yes, they are rather like the chip clip displays at stores. Iiiiinteresting! I'll keep my eye out at old store displays. . .

  • ronbre
    14 years ago

    i'm so glad you got the pictures on as i was "seeing" them horizontal ranter than vertical and vertical makes so much sense..takes up less room..

    did you have to drill holes in the clothespins or did they come with holes.

    i think i might do something like that for our work gloves int he shed..right now they take up a lot of room piled in a box..and you have to look through them to find the pair you want..a string on the pegboard wouldn't take up too much room..and would keep them handy and dry

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    ronbre, yes, the clothespins came with holes already in them! I saw a big bag of them at Walmart, and said no, I don't need those. Then I went back to the aisle and talked myself back into them. Now I'm glad I did!

  • marie26
    14 years ago

    I am beginning to think I am a hoarder because I am the opposite of friends and family members who won't keep anything unneeded in their homes. They have absolutely no problem with letting go and obviously no attachment to stuff.

    I will confess to something I did a few years ago. Thinking about it makes me think I do have a problem. I had loads of magazines that I went through, page by page, and tore out all those interesting articles I had saved these magazines for. I now have a complete drawer in my filing cabinet of all these clippings, organized by subject in their own file folders. Since this project, I've only once taken out 2 of these folders and that was to cull the articles in them.

    I know I can find any of this information in books or on the internet but this has all of my interests or wish list stuff, etc.

    I am determined in the next short while to go through several boxes of kitchen stuff that's in boxes in the laundry room because I don't have room for them in my kitchen. Do I need any of those plastic containers, etc? Probably not. I've even thought of taking everything in good condition that I don't use to a friend who doesn't think twice about throwing stuff out. But she does cook and freeze a lot so I'll leave it up to her to get rid of it for me.

    I used to think hoarding meant those homes with newspapers all over the floor, etc. but now it seems there are different levels to this. As I said, I'm beginning to realize I have a problem.

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    marie26, you should have a garage sale! Our neighbors made $1,300 last time they did.

  • reyesuela
    14 years ago

    I guess I'm neither. I have several boxes of sentimental things, but I keep them contained. I go through the kids' stuff every 6 months to a year, but if it's good, I keep it for the next kid. If it's not or if I didn't like it (due to excessive bulk-for-play value or whatever), it gets donated.

    I kept any of my grandparents' books that I thought I might like. I'm slowly reading through them and either selling or keeping them, depending on my reaction to them. That sort of thing.

  • karinl
    14 years ago

    Hey, City Chicken, I'm really glad to hear you say that an "eliminator" is not necessarily a healthier state of mind than a hoarder. I have some friends who are eliminators, and I think you're right. They have a pathological need for their own homes to be clear, but they are not happier people, nor do they make the people around them happy.

    They sort of send out the message that there is no room in their perfect lives for imperfect people. One of them even had the nerve to ask me to keep empty bread bags for her (she needs them for scooping after her dog). As if I need her clutter on top of my own, while enabling her own pathology.

    Someone who posted on the other thread that she couldn't give up enough space for a piece of paper to share something useful with her sister, and that's sort of what I mean: making things look good rather than making other people feel good.

    I'm sure there's a balance. I'm not saying I've found it, since my problem is that I'd apparently rather have my stuff than room for people in my house. But if eliminators didn't always act as though they are some sort of superior species, I think we'd be more likely to find it.

    KarinL

  • thecitychicken
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    karinl, I'm definitely not a neat "freak." (Freak being the operative word.) I think an "eliminator" is different than someone who wants everything "perfect." (You should see my floors and windows!) My house is always about making people and my family comfortable. I never make people take their shoes off before they come in, my carpet is dark brown to hide stains, and my walls are brownish so as not to show kid's effluvia, but also so I don't have to scrub them! :) Yet there is just something about keeping stuff I don't use. But the problem is when I get rid of things too soon, and then wish I had it. It's like I get "fits" of eliminating. Declutter mania? :)

  • reyesuela
    14 years ago

    >Someone who posted on the other thread that she couldn't give up enough space for a piece of paper to share something useful with her sister, and that's sort of what I mean: making things look good rather than making other people feel good.

    You've never know a compulsive clipper, have you?

  • donnawb
    14 years ago

    I am somewhat of an eliminator also. I don't seem to get attached to my stuff and if and when I don't need it any more I will pass it on with no problem but for some weird reason I get attached to Christmas decorations and have to go through a few times to get rid of some that I don't use. Don't know why because it really doesn't make sense.

    I do have some sentimental things that I keep but not to much.