I posed the question to you last month “If you don’t declutter your home now, what will it be like in a year’s time”?

I’ve just returned from a wonderful three weeks with my family in Italy, and I had the opportunity to discuss what I do with some of Jan’s friends during my stay. They were fascinated with the concept of decluttering, but concerned as to what one would do with any items they no longer wanted. Their problem, as they saw it, is that many of the objects cluttering their homes are very old and may have been in the family for years. Italy is such an ancient culture and their history is important to many Italians, consequently many of their homes are full of antiques and family heirlooms which have been passed down through the generations. The problem here though is the accumulation of these objects, and eventually as their homes fill up people find themselves in overwhelm. And it should be noted here that many Italians live in apartments rather than stand alone houses with garages and basements for storage.

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