Helping An Artist Find Her Paints with Dana’s Decluttering Method Leave a comment
This one makes me so happy! But I do have to clarify that you can fill your hands with things to take to their homes together to cut down on trips. Just don’t set anything down, in a pile or a box.
Hi Dana!
I’ve been following you for years, and I want to thank you so much for all you do. This past weekend I went to visit my 80 year old mom, and I was able to share your message with her. She is beautifully creative, but her art room was too cluttered for her to even find her paints.
My sister has been set on removing everything from the room and starting over. While I know that process works for some people, there’s no way it would work for my mom. She would never have the energy or time to go through all that. Instead, I taught her your brilliant system.
We got started on her studio. First we looked for trash, but she really didn’t have any. It was all STUFF! So we picked up one thing that didn’t belong in the room and removed it. We left the room and put it where it belonged. She asked me, “Can’t I even wait until I have two or three things to take out of the room?” Nope! We walked one thing to it’s proper room. Then we walked one thing to the donate bin. I think we got through about 4 things when my dad popped his head in the room and asked for lunch.
As we left her art room to go fix lunch, I pointed out to my mom that even stopping unexpectedly, we were leaving the room better, less cluttered. There was no pile of things that had to be put away elsewhere. There was no box of items to get shoved under a desk and forgotten.
She was excited, but not quite hooked.
Later that day we started up again. One by one, we threw things away, walked them to another room or walked them to the donate bin. I reminded her that we could get interrupted at any point, and the room would still look better!
After dinner, she couldn’t wait to do it again. We cleaned off an entire table and a packed shelf, one thing by one thing.
I reminded her that if she ever goes in there and removes just one thing, she should CELEBRATE with all her heart! Now she is totally hooked.
You have been such a blessing to me, and now you’ve helped my beautiful, creative mom get closer to painting again. I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you for sharing your message with us! We love you!!
Cathy B.
