Maximalism v. Clutter v. Hoarding, as I See It

(The decorative things on and behind a medium-tall bookcase in my living room)

(A closer look at the Earth Dragon painting by Charlotte Fung Miller, which is obscured by glare in the first photo. It deserves better treatment than that)

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Okay, I realize that the top photo is full enough of things that you may have some questions. I want you to know that it's one of the most high-density areas of intentional decoration in my house. There are other spots that might be competitive, but not many. Things are relatively sparse, decoration-wise, in other areas, but who knows... I keep finding and making decorative things, and they have to go somewhere.

I like maximalism. I'm so into maximalism that I'm going to give you another link with more photos of maximalism. Color, texture, pattern, artwork, blankets, rugs, lanterns, plants, mirrors, candles, yes, yes, YES. I think that when it's done well, it's absolutely luscious to have the kind of visual stimulation I'm talking about, the kind where you can see a whole new vista simply by taking a step forward or turning your head a few inches. I would not say that I'm even close to the dream yet in the sense of intentional decorative density, and part of the problem, as I've partially shown in a previous post, is that I also struggle with clutter and having too much of the wrong stuff. While some people might not like the maximalist style because it's visually busy, that's not the same as clutter, which is unintentional, messy, and disorganized.

There's a difference between clutter and hoarding, too, although one can eventually lead to the other. There's a range of how well people tolerate a mess. What I see as "messy and disorganized," someone else might see as either kind of tidy or deserving of a diagnosis, depending on what they can stand. I tend to think that in a messy house, if all the doors and hallways of a house are clear and functional, there's more than one way to navigate through each room, and all the spaces can be used as intended, you're just dealing with clutter. If you have to squeeze through tight pathways between tall, random piles, that's hoarding. If there's stuff piled up in the bathtub and/or appliances to the point where you can't use them, that's hoarding. If the person who is living in a decreasingly functional home insists that they can't possibly get rid of their things because they might need them - especially if there's no chance they could dig out any particular thing in the event of needing it - that's definitely hoarding. 

I can see how it might be tricky to tell when you're crossing from having clutter to hoarding, because the concept of possibly needing something later is just plausible enough that reaching a new level of anxiety might make the difference between finding it hard, or finding it impossible, to let things go. But ultimately the accumulation of things in a hoarding situation makes life harder enough that it cancels out any benefits of having things around "just in case."

I think it's important to maintain some breathing room, and push back against having too many unused possessions. At the same time, I am 100% willing to cover all of my walls entirely with things I like to look at. IT'S CALLED BALANCE. Thank you and good day.

A Good Weekend for Art in Madison, WI

(Artist Erica Engebreth gave me permission to post this photo of her awesome booth.

Check out her art at Little Bit Lacey)

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This post is late in the day because I spent the afternoon looking at art in a couple of different places. The photo above is from an art & craft show in the High Noon Saloon in Madison, WI. It was a free event with at least a couple dozen booths featuring art, jewelry, clothing, and other things by local makers in a wide variety of styles. The DJ was absolutely on point with fun-but-chill music. I did not get anything at this show, but that's because I knew I was about to go to a bigger show, the Winter Art Fair Off the Square in the Monona Terrace. If the two events hadn't been competing, I know I would have talked myself into buying a couple of things at the smaller show. It's very sad to want all of the things but only be able to get some of the things.

The larger show did charge a small fee to get in (regular price $5 per person 13 and older, but you could get a discount with a coupon through Facebook). It also had 134 booths, plus a concession stand and live music being played on a grand piano (although I was a bigger fan of what the DJ played at the smaller show). The selection and the prices were both much larger here, but there were reasonably-priced items to be had. After looking around for a while, I bought a small painting of an Earth Dragon from Charlotte Fung Miller, who was very friendly and enthusiastic about explaining the meaning behind her paintings; once she saw that my son and I were interested in the dragon ones, she showed us around to see every dragon painting she had. The one I got was on metal instead of canvas, and I'm looking forward to finding a prominent place to display it in my house.

I also collected cards from several of the artists' booths, especially ones where my son was interested in the items they were selling and they had websites I could visit later, because CHRISTMAS IS COMING. This year I'm trying to focus more on quality than quantity in gift-giving. I want to be attentive enough to give a few things that people really want, and sneaky enough to make some of them surprises. That's something I feel good about being able to do. Even when I was a child under the age of twelve, my mom would comment that I was good at choosing gifts that other people would like. It's a matter of being observant and comprehending what it is that they like about the things that they like.

Okay, I had better post this before it gets even later. I'll be back tomorrow with another post!