We all have them: abandoned hobbies, broken appliances, ill-fitting clothes and parcels waiting to be returned. They’re not technically clutter, but because each one requires a decision or a little more attention, we put them off, procrastinate and downright avoid dealing with them. Before long, they become piles of clutter, ‘pending’ investigation.
This unfinished clutter is a source of both guilt and visual noise. We can’t simply throw these things away, so they continue building up until the space by the front door resembles a car boot sale of incomplete tasks. That’s why I’ve given this category a name: the ‘pending pile’ – a way to draw attention to the clutter we may have become so used to seeing that we no longer really notice it.
The pending pile is made up of things that need one final decision or action before they can leave your home or be properly put away. The aim is not to complete every task immediately, but to be honest about what you’re realistically going to repair, return, donate, sell or use, and let go of anything that’s been waiting for too long. To help you make those decisions, I’ve laid out the most common inhabitants of the ‘pending pile’ for you to address today.
1. Clothes waiting to be repaired or altered
A common one, and one I’m certainly guilty of thanks to my sub-par sewing skills. This includes the trousers that need shortening, the coat missing a button, the jumper with a small hole and the dress that needs taking in before you can wear it again. And don’t forget the pile waiting for dry cleaning. They often move from the wardrobe to a chair, the end of the bed or a ‘to-do’ basket, creating a permanent pile of clothes you can’t actually use.
Be realistic about whether you are going to repair them yourself or pay someone else to do it. Set a deadline for taking them to a tailor or dressmaker. If you’ve been avoiding the repair for months, or the item no longer fits your life and that’s why you haven’t gotten round to it, it may be time to donate it instead.
2. The charity bag
A donation bag can feel like proof that you’re making progress, but it’s not really decluttered until it actually leaves your home. Bags of unwanted clothes, books and toys often linger in hallways, bedrooms and car boots for weeks, gradually becoming part of the furniture. We say it’s because we’re still adding to it, but we all know we just can’t be bothered to make the trip.
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Give the bag a firm exit plan. Put it in the car, arrange a collection or take it to the charity shop on a specific day. If you keep removing things but never completing this final step, you’re simply moving clutter around your home.
3. Returns and parcels
A return parcel by the front door is one of the clearest signs of pending clutter. It’s technically ready to leave, but somehow never makes it to the post office, parcel shop or collection point.
Check the return deadline first. Anything still eligible should be packaged and scheduled for collection or taken out of the house on your next journey. If the deadline has passed, decide whether you will use it, sell it or donate it – but stop allowing it to occupy your hallway indefinitely; it’s just not a good look.
4. Broken items being kept ‘just in case’
‘Just in case’ clutter is a huge contributor to the pending pile, and to household clutter in general. It’s hard to let go of things that could serve a purpose, so you have to be honest. The space you’ll clear will be well worth the hard decisions.
It might be a lamp that needs rewiring, a vacuum cleaner with a suspected fault, a chair that needs gluing or an appliance you’ve been meaning to investigate. Keeping something broken can make sense if you have a genuine repair plan, but ‘I might fix it one day’ is not a plan.
Decide whether the item is worth repairing based on its cost, usefulness and condition. Book the repair, order the part or take it to a recycling centre. If you’ve already replaced it or it’s been waiting untouched for longer than you can remember, it’s clearly not actually that useful, is it?
5. Paperwork
Unfinished paperwork has a special talent for creating stress wherever it lands. Forms, receipts, bills, letters, school work and returns can quickly spread across kitchen counters, desks and drawers because they all require a decision ( or a lengthy mind-numbing website detour).
Gather it into one place and separate it into clear actions: respond, pay, file, scan or recycle. Once you actually take time to look at the papers, you’ll be surprised how many you don’t actually need to keep. Anything that no longer requires action shouldn’t be kept in the pending pile. If a document is important, give it a permanent home rather than leaving it out. It’s more likely to get lost – plus, it looks bad.
6. Half-finished projects and aspirational purchases
This is the craft kit you bought but never started, the DIY project paused halfway through, the ingredients purchased for a recipe you never made or the hobby equipment associated with a version of yourself who had much more free time.
There’s no shame in admitting that you’re no longer interested. I myself have a keyboard in my parents’ garage that still haunts me. Remove the feeling of guilt for abandoning these projects by clearing the clutter.
Finish the project if you genuinely want to, pass it on to someone who will actually use it or donate the materials. Keeping something because you feel guilty about the money already spent doesn’t bring that money back – it only allows the item to continue taking up otherwise useful space.
