decluttering

So as if feeling like I am being held prisoner this summer isn't enough, I can't leave my room without feeling a bit put off by all the clutter in this house. This is going to sound incredibly hypocritical, but no matter the state of my room (which, let's face it, is usually messy) I have always wished the rest of the house to be different.

But no, I walk into the kitchen to find tupperware piled up everywhere and the counters littered with junk; the dining room has piles of papers and magazines and newspapers that no one has read in months, even years; the living room boasts beautiful built-in shelves, but there is crap haphazardly stuck in every nook and cranny. Upstairs, our bathroom door has remained unfinished (stained on one side, but not on the other) for years and there is no actual "wall" on one side of the hallway--you can see the pipes that service the bathroom sink and shower... And don't even get me started on the basement...

I mean, it's not like the house is falling apart or anything, there's just so much clutter and lots of unfinished projects. My stepdad is a handyman, you could say, but it seems like he starts one thing, does it halfway, and starts something else. Or maybe there's a good reason for all the unfinished projects, I dunno. Though I don't know why you would need to wait a good 10 years to stain the other side of the bathroom door, but hey what do I know?

I have to say I am not being entirely hypocritical... A few weeks ago I was inspired, if you will, and went to town on my room. Got rid of an entire garbage bag stuffed full of papers, my entire collection of NASCAR magazines and newspapers that went back to 2002 (though I did look through them and tear out articles and stuff about Jeff...), and other stupid little things that I have no use for anymore. I don't feel bad about any of it, because every single thing I got rid of was something I hadn't looked at or touched for years. My closet and desk drawers are now actually organized, and I don't feel like the rest of my room is being overtaken by little knickknacks anymore.

That's not to say that I'm a clean freak. My room is still messy, but it's a different kind of messy. A lived-in messy, as opposed to a packrat messy. If that makes any sense. Well, all you need to know is it's a good messy. :)