Clutter & Minimalism

Do you collect things? Do you have a lot of stuff? Do you notice it, or does it drive you crazy? Do you need a lot of furniture and kitchen gadgets? Are you looking to accumulating more stuff over Truckmas? Does your partner have a lot of stuff with seemingly no purpose?

One of my goals for today is to declutter our apartment. It's 600ft/2, so it's not enormous, but it's perfectly big enough for our family. We don't need a lot of stuff, but between my art supplies (cameras, huge boxes of film, paints, collage supplies, ink print stuff, my tablet, frames, canvases), books (and journals, and magazines, and my own manuscripts lying around) and various bric-a-brac, I've maxed out our little storage space pretty well, at least for my tastes.

I think the thought of owning "too much stuff" makes me a little nervous. I like things to be clean and well organized, and I also like to recycle things and buy second-hand goods - although it takes me a while to acquire some things because I'd prefer to buy something that will last and is the "right" thing rather than just buy something. We can be pretty spartan about things (We own one kitchen knife, I put my clothes in suitcases rather than a chest of drawers, we never have a Christmas tree), but I can't stand clutter, and I'm itching to get rid a few items that I know I'm just keeping for sentimental value.

We recently helped some of Spuuky's family move house, and by the time I turned up the house they were moving from seemed COMPLETELY FULL of toys, multiple sets of kitchenware, and other various crap...but then I was told they had already moved SEVEN TRUCKLOADS of items from the house. They stopped moving only when it because apparent that the new house was absolutely full of stuff. As far as I know, the old house is still full of their items that they now have no place to put and no use for - a concept that is fairly horrifying to me. Then they sent out a Christmas Wishlist and I threw a WIFELY TANTRUM and at my insistence we're getting them zoo passes instead of physical things.

Ladies, I would be interested in knowing how many hats, handbags, pairs of shoes and coats you own. I'm up to nine pairs of shoes (Gumboots, ankle boots, knee-high boots, doc martens, oxford flats, oxford heels, slippers, running shoes and sneakers) and I feel so frivolous about it I'll be getting rid of at least two today xD.

If anyone wants to join me in a few hours (Sarah, I'm looking at you!) or laugh at me while I'm liveposting this process feel free. Also, there's nothing particularly wrong about having a lot of things, and being minimalist doesn't inherently make you a better person, but I'd be interested to hear how everyone lives and how they feel about their material possessions.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a problem with hoarding clothes. I wear a uniform at work and truly I only need a few sets of pajamas, a few layabout outfits, a few casual outfits and a few formal outfits, but I have a dresser full of clothes, a closet full of clothes and... a storage unit with three suitcases (among other things) stuffed to capacity with clothes I haven't even seen in five years.

I also hoard books and business/financial documents that are really wasteful of space. Why do I have four years of bank statements? Because I'm an obsessive filer and referencer and basically I want my whole life to be a reference library so JUST IN CASE someone asks me about my spending habits in February of 2010 I can whip out the bank statement.

And brickabrack. Letters and postcards and Christmas cards. And I just realized I'm becoming my great grandma and you've brought that to the surface (she was a legitimate has-a-problem hoarder of everything, growing up dirtfloor poor and all) and now I have to STUFF-IT-BACK-DOWN. Or spend the day filing. Or something. Ugh, I don't know what to do! NEED A BIGGER HOUSE.

EDIT: I have three hats but I'm making some more. I have three pairs of shoes that I actively wear but probably a dozen that I don't wear much or are seasonal. I have so many handbags it is actually stupid.

My significant other and I bought a house almost exactly a year ago and we've accumulated a 'house full' but I don't feel like we're at all cluttered in about 90% of our home.

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Originally Posted by Calliope

We don't need a lot of stuff, but between my art supplies (cameras, huge boxes of film, paints, collage supplies, ink print stuff, my tablet, frames, canvases), books (and journals, and magazines, and my own manuscripts lying around) and various bric-a-brac, I've maxed out our little storage space pretty well, at least for my tastes.

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Haha! This sounds JUST like me. My office is the 10% that is just a little crazy at times. (Thank goodness for doors that can close sometimes.) I never know what props I might need so I have a wide range of just stuff that I don't NEED but might need some day. (Like fairy wings and birthday hats... I mean, who knows, right?) Art supplies I find on sale, color swatches, different paper types and weights, etc. I specifically love objects that are unique in color, reflection, shape, and texture. I mean, I needed alligator felt in this last week. You never know what you'll need!

As far as personal items: the only thing I have too much of is novelty t-shirts and perfume/lotion/soap/etc. that I've gotten in gift baskets. I can justify keeping the shirts because I do wear them a lot while painting, hiking, or going to the gym. The girly smelly stuff? -_- I almost resent it all. People keep buying it for me because they see me use it but I'm only using it because I have too much of it and don't want to throw it away or it to go to waste. After this Xmas I'm going to just go through and donate everything I haven't opened and maybe get to go buy whatever smell I want to smell like this year! (Yes, I've asked them to stop but someone I just met or a family member always does this! I'd rather have a gift card to Bath and Body instead of you deciding I should smell like River Rowboat Mystic Journey this month.... at least ask me what I like.)


PS: I'm so proud of my house. It is so difficult not spamming this post with pictures of the place.

I try to be as minimalist as possible but life does sometimes get in the way.

Whoops, there have been more replies. Attn: FOA:

I actually like getting rid of a lot of things at once, and it's funny how quickly I forget that I even had them. However, if that doesn't work for you, you could get rid of one or two handbags at a time so it doesn't feel so severe.

One thing I had a lot of was t-shirts, especially from concerts I've been to over the years. Spuuky's Mother is making me a quilt out of them for Truckmas - it will probably be the most thoughtful and meaningful gift she's ever given me.

I used to be a chronic bank-statement-and-legal-notice psuedoarchvist - until I switched everyone over to electronic statements. I actually only need to glance at things once or twice and then I forget about them.

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Originally Posted by Fuzakeru

PS: I'm so proud of my house. It is so difficult not spamming this post with pictures of the place.

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Spam away, I might do so tomorrow. I'm houseproud this year for the first time in my life xD

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Originally Posted by Calliope

Ladies, I would be interested in knowing how many hats, handbags, pairs of shoes and coats you own.

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Hats: 0
Handbags: 0
Pairs of shoes: 1
Coats: 2 if you count the long coat, which I use as a sort of jacket.

I don't like having a whole lot of stuff but the reason has nothing to do with liking minimalism and everything to do with the fact that I've moved like... 17? 18? ...times in my life and having more stuff = more work packing. And packing is the worst. So trying to have less stuff is actually a practical consideration more than anything.

Someday when I actually own a house (lol, like that will ever happen) I would like to own All The Things, and by All The Things I mean all the books, video games, video game systems, and My Little Pony figurines.

I am not a minimalist. Not in the slightest. I enjoy collecting things and elaborate decor. I collect (or used to collect) trinkets and baubles to display on shelves and I love having things up on walls. I have a huge collection of seashells that I need to go through and get rid of some except for my favorites like sand dollars and starfish. I often consider Tyler Durden's "The things you own end up owning you" words of wisdom and I feel guilty about wanting so many physical possessions in order to make my space feel more like mine.

I own exactly two hats that I will probably never wear in my life - one is a black sort of pillbox hat with a veil and the other is a sort of vintage-looking hat with a huge bow and also veil. They hang on two hooks on the side of my armoir and are mostly for decor. I might end up getting rid of them.

I have exactly one bag. I am incredulously ridiculous about finding an absolutely perfect bag and sticking with it. This is a Hurley brand leather bag I got on sale for $15.00 at Ross and it is perfect. I will never in my life understand the need women have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on designer bags.

I am bad about shoes, though. I am a shoe hoarder. It's bad bad bad because I buy heels and I love them so much that I never want to wear them as for fear of ruining them. :stare: Between heels, flats and boots, I would not be surprised to learn that I probably have twenty-five pairs or more. I should probably get rid of some. :(

Since becoming a gypsy, I have reduced my possessions by about 90% (except for the shoes). In living in apartments and houses, I think it's natural to acquire things so that the space doesn't feel empty and hollow. Living in a closet doesn't allow the luxury of doing so.

We live in a tiny place that we have too much stuff for. This is going to sound like I'm passing blame, but a lot of it isn't my doing. I moved in here and there was too much. Pretty much every single wall is covered with something. I couldn't even hang up a picture of my sone without having to move around some trophy placks. We have like 7 shelves of different sizes all over the tiny living room and another big book shelf in the bedroom.

There honestly hasn't been much room for my stuff. The bookshelf in the living room in at least 90% sharky's books. The one in the bedroom is split, I have a few shelves to myself, but it is mostly paperwork and stuff. I use my desk as a bookshelf mostly.

The dressers and the walls probably bug me most. There are two dressers and I have to pack all of my clothes in to 5 drawers out of... 14? Most of the closet is also sharky's clothes so he has all of that extra room for clothes on top of that and the few things I hang up in the closet, like dresses, are stuck sharing hangars because we don't have enough hangars or closet space. I hate having something on every wall. It makes the space feel so small. There can be some empty walls. But if I want to hang something, we have to rearrange things. His aunt and uncle were also trying to be nice and gave us a tennis ball carrier that we have no room for.

We have the old torn bedroom sheets that need to be thrown out and some extra junk. His mom gave me some clothes, which was sweet, but it isn't my style and doesn't fit so really all it has done is taken up more space until I get rid of them. He also has a keybord in the clostet because there is no room for it in the bedroom. He also has a lot of old boxes, paperwork, and a broken computer in there somewhere, as well as some other stuff, a lot of which we probably don't need to keep taking up space.

I did add a lot to it with my son's wagon for when he was visiting. That's taking up a lot of unnecessary space. We should probably ask if we can store it in his aunt's garage since they just built a second one. Overall, just a small space so we can't do much with it.

As far as shoes, I have... 5 pairs? We have a shoe rack so that isn't a big deal. I also have 2 coats, and we have no room for them so they hang off of the kitchen chairs.

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Originally Posted by Calliope

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Originally Posted by Fuzakeru

PS: I'm so proud of my house. It is so difficult not spamming this post with pictures of the place.

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Spam away, I might do so tomorrow. I'm houseproud this year for the first time in my life xD

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:D I will make it so then! I hope you post pictures of your place (and other EoFFers of yours!) cause I love seeing the environments people create around them.

Pictures of our house!!!!!!!!!!!Our new home! The front porch lights reminded me of cylons.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/.../1HousePic.jpg

This is our bedroom. We strive to keep decorating and just 'stuff' to an absolutely minimal because we feel that too much stuff would hinder us from sleeping. We have a big master bathroom with a garden tub but I didn't take a pic. I should have though cause then you could have seen all the girly smelly things I own. x_x
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...s/2Bedroom.jpg

Our living room! :D We decided to do bookshelves on the entire wall to hold our collectibles and so we COULD gather knick knacks and other interesting things without it looking like clutter. There's a whole nother bookcase that got cut off in this picture.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...LivingRoom.jpg

The dining room and most of the kitchen.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...DiningRoom.jpg

The guest bathroom and our back porch. We plan on working on the backyard this Spring. I want a fire pit, swing, and herb garden.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...ndBathroom.jpg

Guest bedroom one: the Medieval Room.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...s/5MedRoom.jpg

Guest bedroom two: the Cabin Room.
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...6CabinRoom.jpg

So now we're in the basement downstairs.... Some cleaner shots of my office (baskets of stuff hiding in a closet) and ..... well, our cat boxes because I find it HILARIOUS that we hung banners there so this is the 'Royal Poop Station'. ....am I weird for thinking that it funny?
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...RoyalPoops.jpg

Our haven. We spend the majority of our time down here. I store my manga and nerdy books down here and the wall by our computers is covered in video game world maps. It was an expensive but fun project!
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/.../9Basement.jpg

Your house looks so much like the house one of my friends used to live in, but cleaner. It's kind of scary.

Anyways, I have way too much stuff. I honestly need to clean up and get rid of some of my magazines and papers I don't really need anymore. Also, I'm pretty sure I have hundreds of books, and my video game collection has slowly been growing. I've only ever lived in three different places though (one of those being a dorm room, so I still could store a lot of my stuff back at the parent's house.)

So... I call dibs on moving in with Fuza.

I literally have trash on my bedroom floor. A wrapper to some candy I ate a month ago.

I got a lot of crap. I attach too much sentimental value to things and it leads to crowding and trout. It would be nice to have a place where I am allowed to spread my trout out though. Like smurf, I wouldn't need to throw out all that much if I wasn't confined to having all my trout in a single room.

@Jess - :stare:

Well, I went through all of our stuff and culled probably four grocery bags worth of stuff that shouldn't really be in the house. Half of that was things I had already put aside (clothes to donate, a bagful of canned/non-perishable goods we had bought for our local food drive), and while the house looks much better it's more to do with me moving things around rather than getting rid of stuff.

I'm only left with the most difficult items to cull, which will have to be it's own project next month: A box of business papers (everything from medical bills to immigration papers, all sorted by category), a box of letters/cards, a few random items that I'll never use but like because people I like gave them to me, and a huge box of miscellaneous camera equipment and electronic debris. I make it sound worse than it is, my friends all tease me about my neatness xD

On that note, I can't imagine ever living anywhere larger than a two-bedroom apartment, let alone owning a giant house. Dealing with lawns, a garage, multiple storeys of house to clean? Yeah, no thanks! I'll gladly take having to share a washing machine, and surrendering control of my radiator.

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Originally Posted by Jiro

I got a lot of crap. I attach too much sentimental value to things and it leads to crowding and trout. It would be nice to have a place where I am allowed to spread my trout out though. Like smurf, I wouldn't need to throw out all that much if I wasn't confined to having all my trout in a single room.

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I went to being confined to a 70sqft room to a four bedroom house all by myself. EVERYTHING WAS EVERYWHERE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO

PICK UP YOUR SMURFING CANDY WRAPPER

LEAVE IT THERE MAN

SOLIDARITY

But where do I put it the trash is full!!!

*cry*

I am a freaking mess. I love stuff! Which is kind of bad 'cause BJ's a minimalist. Currently I have my own office that's just full to the brim with stuff.

And we're still renting his grandparents' house, complete with 80% of their stuff, so this house is just stuffed. It's ridiculous.

I want Fuzakeru's house. It's pretty and she's always posting pics on FB, making me envious.

I used to be a hoarder and now I love de-cluttering. It's especially motivating when you have to move and you realize just how much unnecessary STUFF you have. I think Del Murder and I donated like 6 bags of clothes to Goodwill recently. It's nuts just how much clothes and shoes and makeup and knick knacks and books I've accumulated over the years.

I don't think I'm super materialistic but then again, I always see stuff that I want all the time. Not stuff I need, just cute stuff that I want. Yesterday I went out to buy a birthday gift for a friend and even after swearing to myself that I would not buy more STUFF during this crazy consumer season, I ended up buying myself a present too. Obviously something is wrong with me.

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

I literally have trash on my bedroom floor. A wrapper to some candy I ate a month ago.

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oh I do that too, I have a pile of wrappers and boxes sitting around my full trash can because I cba to take it out. :gator:

Thanks, guys! I feel kinda weird about posting it all now. I don't mean to seem like a 'show-off' or something. This has just been my dream home for so long and I love sharing it.

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Calliope
Dealing with lawns, a garage, multiple storeys of house to clean? Yeah, no thanks!

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That is the worst of it. There is ALWAYS something that has to be done. I'm just glad we didn't move somewhere that has a HOA so if we decide that we'd like let 'nature find a way' with our lawn for a week or two no one can fine us. LOL I miss our apartment on days when things break or there's yard work to do.

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Pike
I have a pile of wrappers and boxes sitting around my full trash can because I cba to take it out.

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....I .....that sounds awful! D: Sometimes I change out the lining in the trashcans in the guest rooms/bathrooms just because the trash can doesn't look clean.

I have no handbags, one cap which I never use (and a beanie, also never use that), one coat, one pair of casual shoes which I also use for work, one pair of formal shoes which are worth wearing and one backup pair of formal shoes for when I don't feel like using my more expensive ones (ie: if I ever get a suit-job again).

I dislike hoarding most things but I do hoard some. I have every FHM magazine since I started subbing to them like a decade ago. I have letters sent to me forever ago, same with cards. I don't ever want to throw things like letters away, ever. Uhm... I should probably throw away a lot of my old socks. Beyond that, no, not much... Danielle hoards more than I do, mostly clothing. I intend on going through a lot of it after Christmas and hopefully building up a lot more space in our flat.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Danielle hoards more than I do, mostly clothing. I intend on going through a lot of it after Christmas and hopefully building up a lot more space in our flat.

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After Xmas is always a good time to go through and clean out stuff since it doesn't feel as painful cause you just got 'new stuff!'

This year I've decided that if I buy a new shirt I must donate a shirt to charity. ...no one has gotten me any clothes this Xmas yet though. :( I was hoping for a New Orleans Saint jersey but I don't think that'll happen.

I love hoarding things. Anything. I have loads of FF figurines, living dead dolls, nail varnish, books. Once i get on obsession with something i have to hoard stuff for it . I'm really bad. i hate to give things up/away. I thought about selling my figurines but i just can't :mad:

Nothing I have I want to get rid of. But for me personally, I don't have much anyway.

I don't have much in the way of clothes that fit me right now, but I won't get rid of any of it cuz I plan to fit back into it all soon.

I have 3 purses- yes they're designer. They're Coach. 1 that was bought for me & the other 2 are hand-me-downs from my sister.

I've accumulated quite a few pairs of shoes over the years, but I'm so insanely picky about them, I don't have nearly as many pair as my sister.. Plus we wear the same size shoe and when I'm smaller, same size in clothes so she regularly gives me stuff she doesn't want anymore.

Everything else is stuff that my parents have given me- the dollhouse my dad built, my grandmother's vase & my other grandmother's China set that my mom gave me, pictures, notebooks, cards, etc.

Pretty much everything I own can fit into about 4 big boxes.

Oh, I forgot coats. I have one good lovely DKNY coat that Pantz got for me as a gift, and I have one or two others that aren't really thick material and as such I don't wear them very often. I also have a huge black leather Matrix Neo trenchcoat that was given to me as a gift about ten years ago, but I haven't worn it in about eight. Probably time to get rid of the things I don't wear.

Ooo! I have 2 nice long wool coats that I got from Target- 1 in black, 1 in this tan/taupe color, 1 puffy coat that I bought for $20 at The Gap a few years ago, and 2 vests.

I have OCD. I hate stuff that doesn't have a "place" in our home. Unfortunately, we simply don't have enough storage or room for everything to be hidden away. One of the main reasons I wanted a kindle was to get rid of my books. Books are dust magnets.

At the moment, our spare room has a few bags of clothes to be donated, and a few other bags of stuff that needs to be disposed of after Christmas. It's also where we store our DVDs, ironing board, washing basket and various other items that take up more space than I'd like. Every time I walk in there I instantly feel grumpy & that I need to clear and clean other rooms, to make myself feel better! And it's not even half full!

Re handbags, coats, hats & shoes. I don't wear hats. I have a few handbags, but only use 4 of them (black, grey, tan & black&white). I will be getting rid of the others.

I have 4 coats; black leather jacket, brown fur (faux, of course), 2 x long black. One of the black ones is new, and I'll be donating the old one.

Shoes: brown boots, black boots, converse, few pairs of pumps & flipflops. A few pairs of heels. But I have a lovely shoe cabinet which keeps them all hidden away! :)

I tried to reorganize my art supplies today - I probably have about five printer boxes full of manuscripts, collage supplies, paints, different kinds of paper/sketchpads, found objects - it's a lot, and that doesn't even include any camera gear. I think my solution to this is going to be to host an all-day art party, where I am just going to sit in my house and make art, and other people are welcome to come join in if they want to. Until then...boxes!

Tomorrow I will be getting rid of about forty books, so that's some progress, I guess.

I am pretty bad with clutter but it's not like gross clutter. Right now I have a empty juice carton that has been on my desk for two days and a candy wrapper that has been there about 5 hours. That's about as worse as it gets.

Books though. And papers and documents. Anywhere they land. Also I just moved in and I havent unpacked because I am smurfing lazy.

Oh I forgot, I decided a few years ago I needed a collection that was an actual collection, so I started collecting sugar skulls. I have an elephant my friend painted, a glitterbomb green Christmas ornament, a candy tin and a necklace my friend got me.

There's a hippie store in the city that I go in sometimes that has this awesome canvas print of a sugar skull owl that I want so bad.

I am pretty minimalist, but I do also hoard. I like our rooms to be clear of clutter - everything has a place. Except in HNB's man cave. I don't even try to organise that place. To me it looks like chaos but he likes it and it's his room so what can I do? :D

I don't like to leave things out, I like them to be where they should be. I have next to nothing on my bedside table, just a picture frame, my moisturiser and a couple of candles. Occasionally my kindle gets left there if I was reading in bed. HNB's side is tidy too except for the clothes he leaves. It's a good job his side is against the wall and out of my line of sight.

I hoard clothes. I have about 10 pairs of shoes here, but I had to leave behind about 20 pairs. I have 3 handbags here but I had to leave behind about 15. I love handbags and shoes and clothes, I'm very into fashion, but I do tend to buy more classic pieces now instead of the latest fad. I recently bought this gorgeous loose fit midi dress that is just to die for omg.

One of my dreams in life is to have a room that is basically a walk-in closet with all of my shoes, clothes, and jewellery all organised into sections. Thinking about it is like heaven to me. :jess: I'd also make it like a dressing room with all of my make up too. :jess:

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Originally Posted by Locky

One of my dreams in life is to have a room that is basically a walk-in closet with all of my shoes, clothes, and jewellery all organised into sections. Thinking about it is like heaven to me. :jess:

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Believe it or not I would also really like this.

I do tend to hoard stupid things but after it starts getting crazy I start throwing stuff out. It's hard because I feel like I may need it or as soon as I chuck it I'll find a use for it.

I mainly collect DVDs of television programs. I have the entire series of Xena: Warrior Prince, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Emily of New Moon. I still need to get my hands on Hercules, Angel, the final season of Star Trek The Original Series and the rest of That 70's Show and WrestleMania.

Not to mention I still have all the old toys I collected over the year either buried somewhere here or in the basement and refuse to get rid of any of them.

I use to collect state coins or rare kinds of rocks. I had one that I got from a cave that would glow in the dark. Don't worry, it wasn't radioactive (I think). I am not in to clutter at all. I actually just took something downstairs because I felt like it was taking up too much space in my bedroom. I have a small closet where I will store stuff I don't know what to do with or keepsakes like cards I get from people and letters. If I had a smaller bedroom I'd probably trash all of those things so it wouldn't be bunched up some where or get a chest for it to put under my bed.

I live with my parents

a) They're massive hoarders. Massive. There are TV shows about households like ours (thankfully, not in the icky way, just piles and piles of clutter)

b) My room is approximately 10x6ft and I have a tiny little corner of another room.

c) Because of a) it's very unwise to put anything of mine anywhere else in the house, as it'll get lost/buried very quickly and I'll probably end up having to buy another.

By necessity, I've become pretty darn efficient with my space and ensuring that if there's anything I no longer use (unless it's something 'unnecessary' that I really like), it goes.

I also like to tidy and love it when my room is neat as it's a little oasis of calm in a sea of chaos. Sadly because it's so small it takes just a couple of items left out and a couple of shirts on the floor to turn it into a complete and utter pig sty, on the other hand it's just as quick to tidy it up and make it spotless.

In the category of unnecessary things that I really like though, I've amassed quite the collection of ponies. There's a herd in front of my TV, a herd in front of my computer, and an increasing herd of plushies in the corner of my bed.

Oh and a habit I picked up from my dad, I keep hoarding the boxes that things came in "just in case I want to sell it one day". I am slowly teaching myself that the extra tenner you might get between "no box sorry" and "in original packaging" on eBay is not worth all that space, but then you get things like the pretty packaging Apple gear comes in that I have a hard time parting with. Well, I'm learning day by day.

I got rid of about fifty books today. We have a lot of books, still too many for our one bookshelf. I'm going to go through my clothing again right now, BRB ;_;

My other project for this weekend is to attempt to sort my papers - we're pretty good about getting rid of junk mail, etc; but I'm always making to-do lists on random scraps of paper, and I've piling up a lot of school/medical related stuff. What do you guys do with the more important paper stuff? Scan it? Shred it? Biff it? File it?

After travelling around for almost a year I don't see why I would ever want to own anything more than would fit into a backpack. Except a desk with a nice big monitor, keyboard and mouse, because it makes work easier.

So to update from January I moved everything out of that storage unit I mentioned into our basement and then I sorted things out for a while. I ended up donating an enormous box of clothes, and three file-sized boxes of books and kitchenware. But I had like six boxes of books and sundry things and two of those enormous boxes of clothes so I'm pretty pleased. I think I can find a way to organize what remains with what I heve now... but I might need to get another bookshelf.

I do have a goal to get rid of all my CDs before the end of the year. I got rid of the cases years ago and put them all in sleeves and binders, but now the binders need to go.

Sounds like one hell of a spring clean. Get stuck in, foa!

Being in this small ass apartment is making me realize that I have more than I thought.

But I have some kind of attachment to most of it. Things from my childhood, etc. It's just a matter of organizing it all... Which I still have yet to completely figure out.