Dump Spot
ByAs I mentioned yesterday, I am not a big fan of clutter. I am pretty ruthless with what I like to keep in the house. I am always looking for ways to scale back or purge on anything from toys to the toiletries in our shower and bathroom. But living with a man who likes to keep a lot of things, compromise has had to be made.
One of my “things” is that I like everything in the house to have a spot. If it doesn’t have a spot, I feel it doesn’t belong in our home! This works well for me, but not as much for Joe. So our solution has been to give him a Dump Spot. This is one contained area in the house where he can dump his random things. Right now it is a drawer in the cabinet in the entry way of our apartment. Once his stuff can no longer fit in the dump spot, then he goes through it.
Do you live with your opposite when it comes to how much you like to keep? How do you compromise? Or what are some of your secrets or tricks for keeping clutter at bay?
2 Comments
February 6th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Our compromise is with laundry. When we got married, I started doing Kevin’s laundry, and I like doing laundry, so it wasn’t a big deal for me, but he hates how I fold socks, so I would leave him his socks to fold by himself. Well, then we had a disagreement about tidiness in Germany, which resulted in both of us doing our own laundry abroad. To be fair, I asked that he keep a path clear to his hamper, so I could get the laundry safely after I had fallen once (eight months pregnant). When I fell the second time not long before my estimated due date, I gave it up.
Both of us need a little space that is our own, so our closets are also separate, and now that we each have a vehicle, that is our own responsibility too. I am definitely the neater of us two, so this keeps us from driving one another nuts.
I learn to turn my head to his messiness, and he tolerates my OCD (not really that bad, but close). For example, I clean as I cook. He makes messes and leaves them until he is all done, so I leave the kitchen. I figure if he is making dinner, I need to allow him to do it his own way…
February 7th, 2010 at 3:06 am
Those sound like good compromises, Maria:)