Like all good movie franchises, you know when the first film ends with an exciting yet frustrating cliff hanger, they’re just leaving you begging for more in the second part, and inevitably are also paving the way with part three.  Well such is my life and my battle with ‘stuff’. Exactly two years ago this month I got to the stage I was so weighed down by all the possessions that were filling my flat that I had a huge clear out, using a daily challenge over the month of March to get rid of a few hundred belongings.  Fast forward just over six months after that and I still felt as though I had too much stuff in the flat.  Over the last couple of years since then, I’ve done a pretty good job of maintaining my reduced  possessions, which means that I’ve not added too much more to the load, but of course it also means i’ve not thinned all my possessions down all that much.

In March 2016, I had purposefully left myself with quite a few items that I didn’t use all that much, but I was loath to get rid of because of the money I’d spent on these things in the first place.  Beautiful leather boots that have heels I can barely walk in, lots of bags & handbags that were not hugely expensive, but enough that I didn’t want to just charity-shop the lot, knowing they’d be on sale for only a couple of quid.  The other side of this is that I couldn’t be arsed with the thought of listing everything for sale on eBay or some such place, with all the faff that these platforms involve.  However, the time has come to start sorting this shit out.  I want to clear out a lot more stuff and just get to the point I only have what I actually use.  I’ll charity shop some more stuff, but I’ll also list a few things I want to try to sell on local selling pages (I’m not an eBay fan), and if I can’t flog them then i’ll charity shop them.

So rather than do the same challenge that I undertook previously (ditching 1 item on the 1st of the month, 2 on the 2nd and so on), I’m planning to flout convention and deal with specific areas / collections of ‘things’ around the flat.  Easter is coming up, and while I’m fairly busy on the Friday, I have another 3 days with no plans, so it’s the perfect opportunity.  I’m not sure I’ll get everything done that I want to, but i’m going to have a good go.  SO, that brings me to where I want to be.  I have a vision in my head of what I want my flat to be like, so to help keep me accountable, here’s the plan of what I want.

Living Room

• Fewer books!  I know, it pains me to type it.  And NO, I’m not getting a bloody Kindle, gah!
• Ideally I want to get rid of the narrow chest of drawers I have and replace it with a small table with a drawer.  I have some stuff I need to keep (paperwork etc.) and I need somewhere to keep it, but I reckon I can ditch the drawers.
• I have a futon that rarely gets used as such, and not often as a chair either….I can’t decide whether to get rid of it, but I might.
• No more magazine rack-type things stuffed with too much paper, old magazines etc.
• Nothing on the floor.  That is, everything needs a home.

Spare Bedroom

• I have a clothes rail I want to get rid of, so the clothes/shoes/bags etc. on it need to go
• I have another book shelf which is full, and ideally I’d like that to go too, so I can get a small table for a lamp/pictures.

Bedroom/En suite

• The chest of drawers with the bulk of my clothes is full to the brim, so I need to clear a lot of space
• I have a clothes rail in this room too, and I need to clear some space for the clothes I don’t want to chuck out from the other rail in the spare room
• I want to minimise all the toiletries in the en suite to leave it really clear and with only the few items I use each day on show.  I don’t want to chuck stuff out needlessly, but there are some things i’m never going to use, so they need to go.  Also I need to clear some room for my soap addiction.  The soap stays.
• I have a small bedside cabinet and a bag of stuff (mainly pictures) next to it gathering lots of dust; they need to be cleared out.  Again I want nothing on the floor that doesn’t have a home.

Hall Cupboard

• I’m lucky to have a lot of storage space in the flat (most modern places have zero space like this).  So in here I keep stuff I want to use but is likely to be seasonal, for example, camping gear, luggage etc.  I want to get this to the point I can open it, reach in and get what I need without having to move a dozen other things out the way first.
• I also have a small table in the hall which is loaded with stuff and is untidy and needs to be sorted.

Kitchen

• I have a lot of baking stuff I don’t use, too many glasses and it feels a bit cluttered.  So I can rationalise a lot of the shit in there.

Fuck me, having typed all that out I’ve realised how much shit I still have and need to get rid of!!  Arggggggggg!

Wish me luck.  If I can’t get it all done, I can at least make a good start this weekend.  I shall report back in due course.

Oh and if anyone local to me thinks they might want anything I’m trying to get rid of, let me know, hehehe.