Survey #256—Full Response from Gabriella
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| Have you previously experienced a renovation, remodel, or major DIY project in your home? | No |
| Are you making plans for a renovation, remodel, or major DIY project in your home? | Yes |
| Briefly describe the project you’re planning. | The building cooperative that I'm a member of decided to do a major upgrade of the housing complex I live in. In 2026 they will, among other things, remodel my bathroom, replace all radiators and upgrade my storage unit in the basement. During ongoing works they are moving me to a conversion appartment for 6 weeks. By May 2026 I will have to have emptied my basement storage unit completely. A rather small storage unit will be provided for whatever I decide to keep. |
| Will you declutter as part of your preparations for the project? What other plans are you making to deal with home contents during active work on the project? | I'm taking this unwished for project as an opportunity to do another round of substantial decluttering (...make lemonade:o). To avoid a lot of stress in Spring 2026, I've begun to declutter a year early. I started by reducing my knitting magazines by about 80 % as well as reducing my general paperwork even further. Then I went through my ginormous book collection and decluttered 130 books so far (that really hurt!). Right now I'm into decluttering the basement. It's going fine. Nevertheless, I came across 5 boxes of papers and other random stuff that belong to my partner. I've sorted out any actual trash beforehand, but he'll have to decide what else to declutter when he comes to Berlin in July/ August. As soon as I'll have completed decluttering the basement, it'll be another book declutter (sob!). I also hope to declutter some more sentimental items. My bathroom, linen closet, living room and kitche/pantry are pretty minimal already. There's a moratorium on clothes at this point. |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | As I was analyzing my own hangups with clutter, I came up with a sort of "typology": A. people who can let go of things quite easily but keep reacquiring new objects at a comparable rate and therefore don't really improve their situation B. people who acquire new things at a moderate rate rate but face substantial difficulty in letting go of the things they already own C. the unfortunate group who shops profusely AND can't let go I'm curious about how the respective "types" are represented among your clients' Gayle. |
| Future topics | Managing a downsizing project if your partner keeps accumulating stuff - and doesn't want to let go of much. |
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