It is easy to lapse into a false sense of security. Over the past few weeks we have had end of term and friends staying and auditions and university visits and parties and surprisingly enough the declutter has taken a back seat.
I have taken much that has already been decluttered off to its new homes but the remainder of the house has been untouched. I have a confession to make. I cannot lay the blame completely at the door of all the other activities going on around me. I have decluttered as far as the AAGH zone.
We all have an AAGH zone. Sometimes they are just one zone, commonly the attic or the basement. In our case it is the outside playroom. The place where “things we don’t really know what to do with” meet “things that we need to keep but not in the house” (tents, sleeping bags, tins of paint etc). Back to the theory that stuff attracts stuff and it is not long before the AAGH zone has sucked in so much stuff that you probably can’t open the door (we can’t).
Sometimes there are little AAGH zones scattered around the house. The “present cupboard” which does indeed hold presents for other people which you have seen during the year and know will be just perfect for their birthday in six months time. But also holds those free gifts you got at the make up counter thinking you could use as a present but never have, because just as you don’t want them, neither will anyone else. More magnetic stuff attraction goes on here too.
With regard to that free stuff. Say no. Really, you can do it. Do you want a twee little washbag to go with all the other twee little washbags you have? Do you want all those little plastic bottles of stuff you don’t use? No? Then say so.
We have both types of AAGH zone and neither can be done in one fell swoop, hence the procrastination and use of excuses. Tomorrow I am going to the wonderful Nichola for my weekly reflexology and chinwag session. After that I will be more than ready to tackle the AAGH zone under the Victorian staircase.
What is your AAGH zone and what is stopping you stepping inside it?
one pair of shoes at a time 
Oh, gosh, you got me. So many AAGH zones in my house. I NEVER quite finish de-cluttering. I’m going to dive back into the master bedroom tomorrow and not stop until it’s finished. I can just imagine how good even one room completely de-cluttered will feel! (Love the word TWEE, Gillie.)
Sometimes I think if you break your house down into the AAGH zones they are easier to tackle.
I did have a good tidy up, if not total clear out, of the cellar on Monday – *halo shining*!!
But I haven’t dared try the attic properly, yet – it’s where youngest daughter resides plus all the DVDs and my knitting corner… see the problems?!! Aaagh.
But I did laugh about the wash bag – today I just found two that are so nice I’ll be using them as clutch handbags (and one is even big enough for my ipad mini!) 🙂 (And truth be told, when travelling, the tiny washbag I use was a Clinique freebie, so not complaining!! Now I think about it, the big gold bag I used all the time when I was about 17/18 was a freebie from a make-up counter, too, probably Estee Lauder or something, that my mom had been given! I travelled with it and everything!)
Glad to see the washbags got used. I have used some of mine, but was offered one today and frightened the living daylights out of the girl at the counter when I said I didn’t want it even if it was free. I think I must have sprouted a second head without noticing!
Those problematic areas…everyone has them! Mine would be the ‘cantina’ as we say here, or sort of a cellar, but not really. But I have done some work on it and happy for the progress, so far! Have fun in the play room!
I did. More tomorrow!
🙂
I definitely have an “AAGH” zone, a guest closet, that has become a lot more “AHHH” lately, thanks to the shredder–I’m working on that post for the near future. It was stuffed to the gills with boxes of print photos (remember those?), letters, memorabilia, and all sorts of STUFF that took forever to weed through. I really hate paper clutter–it takes so much work to read it and sort it. But I definitely feel a whole lot lighter now, so it was worth the UGH to get through it.
Think of me as I do the present and dump zone tomorrow. I need all the AAAH you can spare to get me through the UGH!
At the moment our AAGH zone is the shelves in the lounge room. It is a complete shamozzle!
I don’t have any secret tips to fix it. We just simply need to do it!!!