Polly finds out that company will be arriving shortly. The problem is, her guest room is full of overflow storage items.
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Do you have a guest room, or other space in your home, that has become the family dumping ground? Can you relate to Polly’s situation?
Aren’t we all guilty at one time or another of this. But still reminds me of my grandmother telling me years ago how an aunt of mine used to hide all her clutter behind her shower curtain in her bathroom when her mother-in-law came to visit. I know crazy as it sounds, but still always made me giggle when I would think of this. If only it were this easy 🙂
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I love this story – I can just picture the scene behind the shower curtain! I hope her scheme was never discovered:) Once a space gets designated as an overflow storage location, it tends to grow exponentially. The space gets classified as the place for items we can’t fit elsewhere, and then we sort of give up on using it for anything else! Using a shower is actually a good choice because eventually you will need to clear that out so you can get clean!
It’s nice to see the return of Polly. On my clients’ behalf, I can relate to this cartoon. I’ve received numerous calls over the years about “the room.” It’s that extra room in the house that becomes the dumping ground for the things without a home. It’s the room of postponed decisions. They are scared to enter it and don’t know what’s inside. I love organizing and transforming those types of rooms into their intended purpose. It’s an exciting process!
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I’ve had the same experience, and also heard, “I”m afraid of this room” or “This room is scary”. I have the same feeling you do. I know we can redeem the space, so I find it exciting to open it up and see the piles/bins/boxes/etc. It’s going to be an exciting transformation!
Very cute comic! This is something I commonly see inmy clients’ homes. It seems that if a room doesn’t have a regular function, such as a rarely used guest room or spare room, it can easily become a place to toss items without a home. It doesn’t take long for this to fill with clutter, and then it is not functional when it is needed.
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The good news is that a room like this is completely redeemable! We can usually come in, help clients sort through it all, and get back a whole room – very exciting!
Polly’s situation is a very common issue with people who have extra space in their home. With our smaller house, I don’t have this luxury. Yes, it is a luxury, but it can also be a problem. I found assigning a room a purpose like “this room is for guests” helps inform the people in the home that this room is only guests and not for storage. If you have a room that you want to use as storage for stuff, assign it to be the “storage room” then you will always use it as a storage space, and there will be no question what needs to be in the room. Thanks for sharing Polly’s cartoon. I love these situational cartoons.
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I’m glad you like the Polly cartoons. It is always fun to be thinking what we can do next:) Great idea to assign each room a purpose before it starts get dumped on. Once the stashing and storing begins, it can be hard to stop family members from adding more.
Polly is so great! I love the way you use her to illustrate common issues with our clients. What we have all indicated is what we know to be true – anything without a home tends to pile up. If you have an empty space like a guest room, it’s a prime location for hiding the pile!
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Any open space, from a bin to a room, can get filled up with mismatched stuff. The principles for clearing it out are the same, but a room can feel a little intimidating! I love the challenge, though, as well as the “wow” result when we are finished:)
Hi Seana,
Oh my, this situation comes up all the time in the Clearing Clutter Support Group. It is often something that someone will struggle with, saying they will work on it as their challenge week to week, but they can be so stuck on it. I am sure it is much more cluttered that your cartoon which makes it so difficult. And if the stuff isn’t going out the door then where is it going to go. Behind the shower curtain likely won’t work lol
I worked with one client on a room that we literally could not enter it was so full. It was a big project, but so rewarding. In some ways, I think it just took someone coming in who wasn’t intimidated by the stuff and was willing to dive in. Once we got going, the project seemed easier and easier.
I agree with Sabrina. If there’s unused space, we will find something to fill it up. Maybe the secret is to have guests often enough that it doesn’t get out of control!
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That’s one great solution, Janet. You’ve got me smiling over here. If someone is always coming over to sleep in the room, we are a lot less likely to pile things up on the bed:)
We don’t have a bed in our spare room. Maybe if we did, it would feel more like a real room that needs to be kept tidy.
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That makes sense to me. If there is no bed or other “defining” furniture it is easy to start thinking of it as a storage room.
Love Polly. I’ve never seen her before. Does she appear on your blog often?
Polly Tries is a comic that an illustrator and I have been doing for a couple of years. If you want to see more, you can click on the “humor” section of my blog, or look under humor on my Pinterest page. If you have any great ideas for a cartoon, send it along! We are always looking for new ideas:)
I can definitely relate, although it’s not so bad lately. That’s because we have no guest room! Except for the downstairs, and yes, it’s bad.
Not having a guest room tends to cut down on the problem of stashing stuff in the guest room 🙂 Same applies for attics and basements!
There is always a space like that. When we moved we cleaned out everything. Now we have a lot more storage space so we are better about putting things in an open space. We do try now to clean out the stirage spaces regularly. Otherwise they become out of control . It’s a constant effort.
It really is a constant effort! I talk a lot with clients about the importance of “circulation.” Gotta keep things moving, and not only moving in, but also out.
Ha-Ha! I would probably to use my guest room as a dumping ground too, but my daughter moved back home last year and now lives in that room. My office has become the NEW dumping ground!!
I guess that is one way to keep items from accumulating – move someone into the space:) Offices often end up as dumping grounds. It happens. That’s why I love working in a home office – such a rewarding project!