It’s All Too Much
An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff
By Peter Walsh (Free Press, $14 paper)
Peter Walsh, host of TLC’s “Clean Sweep,” stresses that less is more — more enjoyment in life. Here he provides a workable framework for getting organized in a sense that transcends simply putting clutter into storage or organizing collectibles in closets.
1. In the past decade, self-storage facility rentals have jumped 75 percent, even as the size of the average American home has increased by half.
2. “Flat spaces are the first battlefield you lose in the war with your stuff.” Desks, kitchen counters, windowsills and beds are often primary targets for unnecessary junk. “It’s time to win them back.”
3. Mementos may conjure fond feelings from the past, but if holding on to them causes stress in the present, they should be discarded. “Your home should be the antidote to stress, not the cause of it.”
4. A child should have no more toys than fit in two or three bins. Limits like this teach children lessons and save space in the home.
5. Clutter should be removed FAST — Fix a time to do it. Anything not used in 12 months must go. Someone else’s stuff must go. Trash belongs in trash cans.
