![]() ![]() This is a slippery slope, but it’s a way to get your spouse involved in decluttering. (But, seriously, who needs this many extension cords?!) Save to Pinterest! So even though the box of 27 extension cords in the garage drives me crazy, I just put it up on a shelf and leave it alone. And, I hate to admit it, but some of those things he insists on keeping because he swears they will be useful someday have actually proved to be useful. I value his opinions, perspective and insight. And that’s okay.Īnd, really, I’ve realized that respecting my husband’s things is an extension of respecting him. I might think something is a piece of junk, but he sees purpose in it. Instead I try to see it from his perspective. So I’ve taken a step back and stopped trying to fix my husband’s clutter by just taking over. Because he didn’t view those items as clutter – he viewed them as necessity. It took me a while to understand that if I threw away my husband’s items he wouldn’t see it as help. And, honestly, I felt awful once I realized that the stuff I had trashed were things that he had been saving for some purpose down the road. And then I got rid of that junk!Īs you can probably imagine it didn’t go over well. I’d think, I know how to fix this! And I’d start sorting stuff into to trash, donate and keep piles. I used to really struggle with leaving my husband’s clutter alone. Respect His Clutterĭon’t throw away your spouse’s stuff. You don’t need to wait for your spouse to be on board to get started. Not only does jumping in and getting started decluttering help to motivate those around you, but it also just feels good! If you’ve been hesitant to start decluttering because you know that your spouse is not on board, I recommend just jumping in and getting started with your own things. I organize my work bench in the garage and after a while his becomes more organized too. I declutter my half of the closet and a few days or a week later I notice that his half is a little cleaner too. This has not always been effective with my packrat husband, but he’s starting to see the light. Seeing your spaces suddenly clean and more useable can be a motivator to start decluttering their own items. Let them see you decluttering your stuff and oftentimes they will catch the decluttering bug, too. If you want to motivate your family members to start decluttering, the best thing you can do is just get started. Decluttering with a Reluctant Spouse Just Start Decluttering And, y’all, it took me a while to come to peace with this. Just because their motives for keeping things are different than yours doesn’t mean their feelings are wrong. (And know that this might be a long conversation.) And then, respect their answer. Instead of getting angry at all the stuff, talk to your spouse about why they want to keep it. Instead, if you’re living with a packrat spouse, I would advise you to approach decluttering with compassion. And I am absolutely not encouraging anyone to shame their spouse because of their differing views when it comes to stuff. I would never advise anyone to throw away their spouse’s stuff without permission. ![]() ![]() I am not advising you to ignore your spouse’s feelings when it comes to stuff. Decluttering When Your Spouse Doesn’t Want Toīefore I get started when how I manage to declutter with a husband who wants to keep EVERYTHING, I want to lay out some ground rules for what this article is not.Best Double-Sided Tapes for Woodworking. ![]()
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