Messies clear up a guy space

In messiestalk@ yahoogroups. com, Sara Robinson <srobinson@. ..> wrote: > > I'm a certified home redesigner and stager (you should see what I can do to houses that aren't my own!). One of the things we learned in training is that men have what we came to call "the cave gene." They HATE having people mess with their stuff. And this becomes an issue for anybody in a profession that involves coming into a man's home and changing things around. > > It's not hard to see why they'd be this way. Say you're a prehistoric guy living in a cave. Say you go out all day hunting, and come back to find your stuff messed with. Somebody could have taken your property, tampered with your food, messed with your mate -- whatever happened, the odds are overwhelming that it's Not Good. Worst of all: it's a failure on your part to maintain your boundaries, which are even more important to men than they are to women (it's a testosterone thing; that hormone makes all critters territorial) . In short: it's a threat to your sense of control and order. > > The scenario where you do one-day home makeovers (like you'd see on TV), with the people going out for the day and coming home in the late afternoon for the reveal, is fun for women; but men invariably HATE the changes, no matter how much better they make the house look and work. > > Redesigners deal with that by asking them to live with it for two weeks. If they don't like it after that, they're free to move things back -- or, heck, we'll come back and do it for them. 99.9% of the time, the guy is over himself in about three days, usually to the point where he's sending us love notes. Once he's been in the space for a while, and notices how much better it works -- there's a place by his chair to set down a drink and the remote, and good enough light to read by -- he's thrilled. But that initial reaction is always ugly. > > Based on my experiences, a few suggestions for getting guys to accept these changes: > > 1. Ask your guy if you can do a little cleaning and reorganizing in the area around his favorite chair. (His throne, if you will.) Get permission first, then do it while he's out. When he gets back, it should be rearranged so that there's a nice clear table with a cold beer and a remote; a folded blanket arranged on the chair; good light nearby; a clear view of the TV; and his favorite things hung out on the wall nearby. (One client's husband was overjoyed that we'd resurrected an unbelievably tacky elephant-foot side table she'd stashed away in the basement, and put it with pride next to his chair. I noticed that he actually had a lot of safari-themed things -- mounted antlers, a faux-zebra throw -- stashed away. I clustered them around "his" corner, even putting a big potted palm in the corner behind his LazyBoy. He actually cried when he saw the whole effect. It was "his" place in a way it hadn't been before.) The spirit is: this is his cave, and you made it all clean and homey and nice. > > If he likes it, he may be more willing to let you change other things. > > 2. Accept that they're going to bitch when you change things. It's just part of their process, because of the cave gene. Most of them will get over it in a surprisingly short time. Some won't. Take notes, and strategize future changes in ways that work around this. > > 3. Ask them outright how they'd like to proceed when getting rid of things or changing things around. Acknowledge that it may be very uncomfortable; how can we make this easier on you? > > 4. Use the two-week rule when practicable. "I'll set the squirrel cage aside in the trash pile for two weeks. If you still want it then, we'll put it back. If you're ready to let it go, I'll get rid of it then." This gives them time to get through that initial reaction, and get over themselves. > > 5. Get a dumpster. There's something about a dumpster that's like a siren song: it absolutely calls to men to fill it all the way up. Once they start flinging, you need to keep a close eye on them, or the living room couch, the dog, and your youngest kid could end up getting tossed into it, too. The enthusiasm this generates is astonishing. > > Sara

Patio Planters

A nice explaintion on how to make (frugal or re-purposed) tiered planters .  http://www.positive lysplendid. com/2010/ 05/tiered- terra-cotta- planter.html

10 May 2010

Cleaning out the closet...back down to just the one closet of hanging clothes. That will still get edited out some more. A lot more! Most of the folded clothes have also been sent to the donation bin. Four bags out on Sunday. Four bags filled today.

Still have the summer clothes to go through. Plus the suits...they are almost ten years old...time for them to go. Amaziing how long I have been wearing the same thing??? Keep wearing the same thing so getting rid of as much as possible.

You can not organize clutter---it must be eliminated! Evict it NOW!