The Mess - It Grew

Kitchen stove and tiny counter next to it.

This is where I work - and somehow still get stuff done.

Stationery Supplies - along with purse, and crochet bag, and extra bits and bobs.

My side of the bathroom counter, full of stuff I don't use often enough to warrant keeping them there all the time.

Pens that don't make it back into my pen case (which lives on the stationery drawer).

Today's post is not going to be what I set out for it to be.

The theme was clutter, and how, sometimes, what looks like clutter to one person can be a reasonably justified pile to someone else.
For example, my kitchen stove and counter looks cluttered, sure, but I have nowhere else to store my pots and pans (unless I want them in a jumbled mess in a cupboard that is too small for them) and none of the drawers in my kitchen will hold the Swiffer pads.

And then I thought about it, and said, well, wait a minute. The pots and pans could fit in the cupboard, I just have stuff hidden in the back that I never use, and ought to chuck.
And the Swiffer stuff doesn't need to live on the kitchen counter. Heck, it doesn't even need to be in the kitchen!

And then I realized that I really needed to write about something that I have - it's called tunnel vision. In particular, clutter tunnel vision.

I get so used to seeing my home in its current state, that I get excited over a cleared off counter.
Except, my version of a cleared off counter involves piles and shoving things in corners where I will "use them" better.

And that is not actually helpful.

Do you remember, in October, when I did Home Week? And how it was supposed to be this awesome thing, and it was going to get me on the right track for sorting out my home?
I've been thinking about Home Week for quite a few days now, after scheduling today's post, and just none of it seemed right.
I'm still just as messy as I was then. There are some places in my home that I like to keep "organized" - like my desk, with it's "piles" - but for the most part...whatever happens, happens.

We don't have people over, so it's not an issue for the most part. Nobody sees our mess, we don't mind it so much.

And then I remember that I do mind it.
I don't actually like having to shuffle things about in order to cook dinner. I would much rather have to pull a pan out of a cupboard, than rearrange the stove in order to cook using more than one pan.
I would much rather be able to use my desk, than have to take time before and after working on something to get it back to its current state (which still involves piles on the right and left).
I don't want to have to clear a circle on the coffee table so I feel okay about lighting a candle.

I'm getting better at cleaning the house, don't get me wrong.
The kitchen gets cleaned (for the most part) and the bathroom gets cleaned (again, for the most part). I do laundry, and vacuum (not nearly as often as I should, but with as much as our dogs shed, that is a never-ending-battle).
But at the same time, I'm not cleaning my home, I'm cleaning open surfaces on my home.

The cupboards under the bathroom sink are still full of who-knows-what, really, and the kitchen still has the same pile of cookbooks that I haven't looked at in months hiding by the crockpot.
And the crockpot that I've grown so fond of? Sat on the kitchen counter for well over a year, just taking up space.

My "organized piles" that "look like clutter" are, really, just clutter.
I live a messy life. I live a disorganized life.
I can say that having all the shoes in a pile by the door is convenient (and it is), but its messy and cluttered.
I can say that the bathroom cupboards can be messy because they have doors, but what is in there that I use anyway? (The answer is almost nothing, by the way.)
I can say that throwing all the plastic bowls on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard for plates is putting them away, and all the bowl lids are there, so who cares, but in the end, it is still messy and cluttered and not in any way, shape, or form organized.

I could list all my excuses - and I do that for myself every time I look around at our very messy home. But in the end, it all boils down to this: I am lazy. I like my stuff. I don't have enough room for all the stuff, so it gets messy and it gets everywhere. I should get rid of a lot of things, but I am very good at convincing myself that "Maybe Someday" I will find a use for it. Or, "Maybe Someday" I will remember it and wish I hadn't thrown it out (which in fact does happen to me with a lot off things I've gotten rid of).
But, would I rather have a clean home that has room for activities, or a home that hampers me getting anything done? I know what I want, but am I willing to put forth the effort to get it there.

Do you have any help for a motivation-less slob of a lady?

~Havok