Ellen’s Penicillin Method of De-Cluttering
September 19, 2008
This post came from Declutter 101: Strategies To Cut Clutter | Organized Home. This was such a great analogy, I just had to share…
Often, decluttering efforts chase their tails in an endless loop. The home manager declutters the small table in the hallway and moves on. By the following week, a whole new species of clutter has returned to the cleared area.
The Penicillin method, devised by online declutterer Ellen in MN, uses a Petri dish metaphor to get a grip on clutter. Imagine a Petri dish full of fuzzy brown mold spores. A researcher begins to apply small drops of penicillin to the dish. Each little drop clears a small circular area; soon, drop upon drop, the entire dish is cleared of the distasteful intruder.
So, too, with the Penicillin method of decluttering. Today, the declutterer clears the kitchen table. From this point, no matter how bad the clutter becomes elsewhere, the kitchen table is inoculated with Penicillin. Daily clutter checks make sure no clutter is permitted to return.
Next declutter session, the declutterer attacks the top of the buffet. Thinking “Penicillin!”, that clear space joins the kitchen table. Soon, the cleared areas link up, banishing clutter from the entire house.
By devoting declutter energies to retaining the Penicillin effect of each declutter session, the Penicillin method focuses the declutterer on prevention. The method is useful, creative, and works well to bring an entire house under control.
I have indeed tried this. And it does work…for a while. When life gets out of control, the kitchen table again gets covered. But at least we have some decluttered areas of our house for a while. Now, if the kids would stop bringing so much stuff home from school every day…
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You hit the nail on the head, David! When other’s in our house don’t share our desire for uncluttered space, then it does seem to only last a while without major re-doing.
Good news is – kids do grow up and move out and then there’s only the spouse clutter to deal with.
:)Eva
Aha, the trick is, not moving that stuff from one place to another but getting rid of it all together.
If you can’t get rid of it, make a system that is easier. School stuff from my kids doesn’t leave their room (mine are teenagers) unless I need to know about it – then it goes on the fridge, or is signed and given straight back to them, or they are in charge of it then and there and it goes back into their room when they’re done.
If someone leaves stuff out, you don’t reward them by carrying back to them. You call them to you, and the mess, and say, “what are you going to do about this, and I want it done now.”
YES!
We have a small house with terrible layout… That means there is either a window, a register, or a door on every wall. This means that there is no good organization in an already modest-sized home. That means that ANYthing out of place looks awful! In addition, the tiny space, particularly in my children’s tiny rooms, is hard to work with and I feel I would have to get rid of all but their beds and dressers to control clutter. Help! Any suggestions??!!
To Frustrated:
We are so where you are at!! While we are constantly fighting the family clutter battle (and not winning at the moment), it does help to divide and conquer. We’ve put the kids’ toys in plastic see-through boxes since they started getting them. When the number of boxes was more than would fit in their closets (which we outfitted with shelves, since how much of kids’ clothes need hangers?), the overflow went into the garage. Toys get circulated. Kind of like Christmas on a regular basis, since the “garage” toys seem new again!
We also have a small house with a poor floor plan and so much wasted space. Who in the world would design a house with no space included to put a vacuum, broom, or mop? I can’t find good homes for them and I can’t put them outside. No garage or any other type of storage except a tiny crawlspace under the master bathroom and as far from the doorway as you can get in a trailer house! Everything has to take up room in the house. I just can’t get a handle on the house – this from someone who use to have a very organized home. Nor can I find anyone to take the clutter away once I’ve sorted it out – since I can’t drive. I’m at the point of tears most days trying to decide what else to do.
Rachel, maybe there are some unusual creative fixes for your storage woes. Here is a site that custom makes vacuum covers:
http://www.storesonline.com/site/440878/page/112078
They look easy enough to make (for a crafty person) out of a stuffed animal and an old dress. I keep my broom and mop in the 2 inch space between my refrigerator and cabinet. Not ideal, but mostly out of site.
Are there any out of the way corners that you could mount some shelves to the wall? Or maybe an inexpensive shed outside.
As far as the things you want to get rid of, are you in a place where you could have a yard sale? A lot of thrift stores will come pick up donations, too. Or maybe help from good friends!
Hope you find some answers soon!