How Much Stuff is Too Much Stuff?
Have you ever looked at your array of polka-dot mugs and quietly wondered… do I have a mug problem? Or has someone ever commented that you have enough canned beans to survive an apocalypse but you feel adequately prepared… how much stuff is actually too much stuff?
A reasonable question when engaging with the mental gymnastics of decluttering
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There is no official answer, as it’s a personal preference in my opinion… buuuuut, I’ve gathered some helpful questions below to give you a starting point to check in with yourself and see if what you have is making your house less functional than it could be. After all, clutter in your house can have some sneaky health consequences.
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How much stuff is actually too much?
1. Is it making it hard to clean?
Have you got a spare room that feels impossible to clean because of the overflow is stuff in there? That can bring on a lot of anxiety. Right now I do because of the remains of my husband’s childhood bedroom belongings were dropped to us over Christmas. If you can’t get the hoover in to go over the floors… you have too much stuff.
Are there wells of crumbs built up around the 7 appliances dotting your kitchen counters? Or do your shoulders tense just thinking about manoeuvring around them and the 10 jars of dry goods stacked beside them? If so, you might have too much stuff.
2. Are you storing things in odd places?
Are there socks in the underwear drawer, and underwear in the sports wear drawer and sports wear in the summer clothes drawer? Can you close these drawers without frustration and force? If not, you might have too many clothes.
Is the hoover in your bathroom cupboard because the hall closet is ‘Coat City’ right now and is more packed than Grafton Street the Saturday before Christmas? Then you might have too much stuff.
Unopened gifts gathering dust under the living room sofa? You might have too much stuff.
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3. Is a family member complaining about it?
It’s hard to talk to your family about clutter. Do you hear a grunt of, ‘ughhhh’ when your husband yanks his bike out of the shed but knocks over an opened bag of soil and three terracotta pots. You might have too much garden equipment.
Does your son give up when you ask him to mash the potatoes for dinner because the masher gets stuck in the ‘random extra kitchen utensils we use once every 6 months’ drawer? You might have too much kitchen stuff.
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4. Have you run out of days of the week?
Do you have expensive jeans you haven’t worn in 3 years, not because they don’t fit or look bad but because you always wear your favourite two pairs instead? Take that as evidence that you have too many pairs.
Do you have enough socks and pants to last past a 3-month UK customs struggle without washing any of them? You might have more than you can use between laundry cycles.
5. Have you run out of useful purposes?
This one reminds me of Hilda, one of the aunts in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, who was allowed to keep her suit of armour from the 1600’s because she worn it (comically and uncomfortably) before the deadline set by the other aunt. She was determined to prove it was still useful!
Hilda, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV show)
If you have more notebooks than college classes, weekend workshops or online course can fill them? If so, you might have too many notebooks (I’m sorry, I know the allure of a nice notebook).
Do you always keep a ‘good box’ when you come across one (or never get through the toiletries you have in bulk)? If your stash has been untouched for 6 months and is gathering dust under the sofa - you have too many boxes and too few uses for them
In the latest documentary by the Minimalists, ‘Less is Now’, I jotted down a great quote -
“It's not running out of space to keep them but running out of purposeful things to do with them“
- T.K. Coleman, Director of Foundation for Economic Education
Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels
I’ll leave you with that! After a quick reflection, what do you now think you have too much of?
Go forth and declutter!
Suzy xx
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