3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Ideas for the I Love Stuff Personal Style

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

I love stuff folks are collectors. Often optimistic about not only fitting everything into a much-too-small space, but also about life in general, they are sentimental, attached to not just the things they collect, but the stories these things represent. But if they're not careful, those with the I love stuff personal style can end up with more stuff than space. This can feel catastrophic because the I love stuff person often can't imagine throwing anything away.

For those with an I love stuff style, organization often becomes a two-fold task. Items need a home, but because those homes are often visible to others, the collections on display need to have some type of organization as well.

Sound complicated? It doesn't have to be. Just go with your I love stuff gut.

Photo: krosseel via Morguefile

• Keep like items together: This often comes naturally to I love stuff people who are collectors. A cluster of similar items or treasures united by a theme (color, function, size, etc.) looks neater than a haphazard group of items that appears to have been dumped on a shelf or table. Unrelated items look like clutter. Items that go together look like a collection.

• Remember form, function & style? Aim for two out of three. Before adding something new to your collection, ask yourself how you'll use it. If you love it (style) and it serves a purpose (function), it may be worth adding to your collection. If it's the perfect size for that empty spot on your bookshelf (form) and you love it (style), that item may pass muster too. Asking these questions about an item's value to your life before you acquire it will help you avoid unnecessary duplicates, which lead to clutter. And before you take it home and fall in love with it completely, don't forget to ask yourself where its home within your home will be. The time to realize you have no place to put a new acquisition is before you acquire it. 

  

  Photo: mockingbird via Morguefile

• Remember that Let it go! doesn't have to mean throw it away. De-cluttering is hard for the I love stuff person; getting rid of a beloved item can feel like letting go of a piece of oneself. When my daughter was small, she was firmly entrenched in the I love stuff personal style, and no logic or reason could get her to throw away something before she was ready. But if we could pass the item in question along to someone else who'd enjoy it as much as she had, she was much more willing to let it go. Over time, she's become more ruthless when it comes to de-cluttering, but for those who remain true blue I love stuff thinkers, remember that giving away and re-purposing are valid alternatives to the trash can when it's time to Let it go!

Photo: kzinn via Morguefile

If you have an I love stuff personal style, what are the key ideas you swear by? Share in the comments below!

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