I want to let you know from the start that there is nothing wrong with having a collection of things. I have several, as does my husband. I collect small porcelain elephant and rabbit figurines. I love them and have them scattered here and there around our home where I can see them. My husband collects small silver boxes. He collected most of them when we lived in Asia. Like me, he has placed them around our home where we can see and enjoy them. Looking at and noticing our collections brings us joy. Two points are important here: we have designated places for our collections, and we can see and enjoy them. Other people collect different things. They may collect rare books, cooking implements, shoes, handbags, holiday decorations, or almost anything else. The problem isn’t what we’re collecting. A collection becomes clutter when we don’t have room to comfortably keep, display, and/or use what we have.
How Do You Know When a Collection Becomes Clutter?
The amount you own isn’t necessarily the problem. The problem begins when the amount you own interferes with the way you use your home.
Let’s think about some things people tend to over-collect. In my experience, these are often things stored or stashed in kitchens, closets, bedrooms, bathrooms, and even on dining tables.
As you read the following questions, think about where you may have over-collected.
Can you easily put your clothes away without stuffing them into drawers or the closet?
Do your pots, pans, and other cooking implements have places on shelves, in cabinets, or neatly arranged on a counter top?
Are you able to sit at your dining or kitchen table for a meal?
Is it easy to find the pair of earrings you want to wear?
Can you access your makeup easily?
The answers to these questions will help you determine whether your belongings are interfering with the function of the room. When they are, it may be a sign that your collection has become clutter.
But I Like Everything I Have
What do you do when you realize you have too much, but you like everything you have?
How do you decide what to remove?
You can start by identifying your favorites.
If we think about doing this with makeup, for instance, you might sort your makeup into daytime work, daytime casual, and evening or dress-up categories. Then, within those categories, decide which products are your favorites. As you evaluate your makeup, remove anything you used only once and probably won’t use again. This gives you a natural way to reduce the collection.
With clothes, begin by sorting according to what fits. I know this takes time. You may need to try some clothes on to figure out if you like the way they fit and look on you.
Many times, people put clothes back in a drawer or closet because they think maybe the next time they wear that item, they will like the way it fits. My experience tells me that we tend to avoid wearing clothes in which we don’t feel comfortable.
What Do You Use?
Another strategy is to think about what you actually use.
This is particularly helpful when reviewing kitchen appliances and tools. Sometimes these things look terrific in the store, but when we get them home, they aren’t used as frequently as we anticipated.
Ask yourself: If I were given the choice today, would I buy this again?
If the answer is no, it may be time for that appliance or tool to leave your home.
As you review and evaluate your collections, you may also notice that you have two or three of the same or similar items. Ask yourself whether you need all of them.
Another perspective is to acknowledge when things are part of your past. Maybe you used them—or wore them—all the time before. But things are different now. You don’t use them and, if you’re being truthful, you don’t think about them until you accidentally come across them and remember that you used to like them.
A collection becomes clutter when all we do is add to it without periodically evaluating what we have already collected.
Remember, you don’t have to dislike something to decide not to keep it.
Let the Space Establish the Boundary
Instead of deciding that you will keep an arbitrary number of something, allow the available space to establish the limit.
For example, if your sweaters comfortably fit in the designated drawer, wonderful. If your mugs fit on the shelf and you can easily take one out and put it back, that’s fine.
When things no longer comfortably fit in the space you’ve assigned to them, it’s time to make some choices. That’s when a collection becomes clutter.
Technically squeezing something into a drawer or balancing one more pan on top of a precarious stack doesn’t mean it fits!
Once you’ve decided where something will live in your home, hold yourself to that space. Do not let your collection creep into other parts of the home.
In other words, if the space is full but you want to add something to the collection, first remove something to make room for the new item. Make this a non-negotiable contract with yourself so your collection doesn’t become clutter.
The Benefits of Having Less
When you commit to letting the available space define how much you keep, you’re automatically keeping less.
With less, it’s easier to see and appreciate what you own. You can find what you need, put things away, and clean and maintain the space more easily.
A smaller collection can actually allow you to enjoy it more. When your favorites aren’t buried, crammed together, or competing with dozens of similar things, they become more visible and useful.
The fun part of having a collection is using it, enjoying it, and perhaps sharing it with others. When the collection is manageable, this is easy to do. When it becomes too large for the available space, the collection becomes clutter.
How Much Is Enough?
The only person who can determine how much is enough is you. There is no perfect number of things to collect. Enough depends on the person, the home, and the amount of available space for comfortably keeping a particular category.
Your belongings are meant to support the way you live in your home not make it more difficult to live there.
I always ask clients to keep the things they need, use, and love. If what they’re keeping doesn’t fit one or more of these categories, it may no longer deserve space in their home.
Having less doesn’t mean giving up the things you love. It means making enough room to see, use, and truly enjoy the things you choose to keep.
FAQs
When does a collection become clutter?
A collection becomes clutter when it begins to interfere with the way you use your home. If you can’t easily put things away, access what you need, use furniture for its intended purpose, or comfortably move through a space, it may be time to evaluate the collection.
Do I have to get rid of things I love?
No. Start by identifying your favorites. The goal isn’t to get rid of everything you enjoy. It’s to make enough room so that the things you love can be seen, used, and appreciated.
How do I decide how many things to keep?
Let the available space establish the boundary. Decide where the collection belongs and keep what comfortably fits within that space. When you add something new, consider removing something else.
What if nothing in my collection is broken or damaged?
Something doesn’t have to be broken to leave your home. Ask whether you use it, need it, love it, or would buy it again today. You can appreciate something and still decide that you no longer need to own it.
Call to Action
Is there a collection in your home that has grown beyond the space you have available for it? You don’t have to tackle the whole collection at once. Choose one drawer, shelf, cabinet, or category and start by identifying your favorites.
If you’re having trouble deciding what stays and what goes, I’d be happy to help you create boundaries that allow you to keep the things you love while making your home easier to use and enjoy. Contact me to schedule a consultation.
Hi Diana. I really love this post as it is something that comes up a lot in my work. I also like the idea of starting with your treasures rather than trying to just find things to get rid of. It helps to put things in perspective. Then you can move on to things that you use and things that you don’t use or love.
You have some really good questions and thoughts about collections. I think that often its the hunt of the item that is seen as the hobby and not so much displaying the items. Putting like with like is always a good practice to see how much of something you have. I was just talking to a client who has been trying to stay away from thrifting or thrift shops. She said she would like to replace this with something similar that feels as exciting but hasn’t found anything yet.
I really can relate. I used to have lots of little knick-knacks. A few years ago, I decided to buy a vertical IKEA curio cabinet and vowed that when it gets cluttered and I can’t see items, I will get rid of some things. If I find something new to add, I will replace an item I no longer want. This commitment to myself has truly made my curio a beautiful place to look at every time I visit my office. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic, Diane.
I used to collect cat figurines. In the past I have always had cats and most of the figurines made me smile. But because I did have a small collection other people used to add to that collection by giving me gifts. I eventually bought a cabinet to house most of those cat figurines. When I decided to move, I realized that there were very few of them that I truly loved and this was the perfect time to get rid of most of them rather than move them. I did not want them taking up space in my new home.
I continually cull what I own.
I think this is a good rule of thumb to help you figure out if your collection is out of control. If it keeps you from using your house the way you want to, you’ve got too much. In some cases, its just having to look at all of it that can feel overwhelming. On the reverse side, if you collection is mostly contained in boxes that you never look at, that can be another sign that you’ve got too much.
I love that idea of using the container/storage area as a boundary. When that gets too full, move to “one in, one out.”