Creativity and Clutter

I am a slob. I hate to admit it but I am. I am not filthy by any stretch of the imagination but I tend to accumulate clutter and stuff wherever I go. there is always a mtehod to my madness and I can ( generally!) find what I am looking for. Toady I read Denise Duffield-Thomas ( aka Lucky Bitch) blog "Can clearing clutter really change your life?"   read more here and it got me thinking. I totally agree with what she is saying about not having too much clutter around you and I know the value of having empty space in order for new there to be room for the new to come in.
 I also know that as a creative person a certain amount of chaos is part and parcel of the way that I work. I have piles of books that I am referring to while I work, other projects that I am working on, empty or half empty cups on my desk, moisturiser so that should I get that tight feeling on my skin or look down and see my hands are scarily dry I can slap some on, small piles of bling that I have taken off while I am working, toothpicks, receipts and a bubble blower for when life gets too serious!

One thing that I have been ( trying!!!) to implement is a variety of folders to contain some of the info for upcoming projects, so that paper does not entirely take over my life.

How my desk looks as I am writing this.

What does hold back my creative process is not so much the junk on my desk but mess in the rest of my house. We built this house 6 years ago and it was a big deal for me to be living in a brand new house. We also bought every thing new to go in the house and for awhile I felt like it wasn't really MINE. Part of that was that I cleaned everything all the time and anyone that knows me knows that I am not a domestic goddess AT ALL! That gene skipped me by a country mile, or else my oldest sister Trish gobbled up all of the gene that was up for offer. But because the house was brand spanking new and looked like something out of one of those House and Garden magazines I thought I had better keep it looking that way. Only that isn't me. and it isn't my husband either. We are a bit more laid back and casual and lets face it, downright slobs. Now the place feels like home. the dining room table is generally covered in whatever books we are reading , sometimes three or four, glasses ( hubby's) a fruit bowl, laundry that is waiting to be folded ( and it can wait a looooong time!), cell phone chargers and random mail that we haven't dealt with. There is always a clothes airer by the woodstove ( its winter and its been very wet!) a wood box that hubby throws any paper rubbish into ( been trying to break him of the habit but it ain't working so far.) and random flotsam. My kitchen bench always has a containeer full of food scraps waiting for the compost and jars of things fermenting ( intentionally!) . I do love my dishwasher and treat it as a storage space so that I don't have to look at dirty dishes. It is not the tidiest house but it is homely and THAT is what gets my creative juices flowing. I am comfortable and can relax and get down to the job at hand. Do I rush around doing a clean up if guests are coming over? Absolutely! but I also know that the true friends are coming to see me and not do a house inspection. My dream is to become succesful enough so that I can pay someone to clean my house because I am NEVER going to be a domestic goddess.