Tag: Declutter

How much do we really need?

I was packing the other day for my trip to England to celebrate Christmas with family, and before I knew it I had clothes, presents, bags and Christmas food all over the place and I suddenly found myself looking at the stuff in desperation.

How much easier wouldn’t life be if there was less choices to be made. I mean seriously, with all the stuff we tend to have, there are just so much more we need to decide on.

For example in my instance of packing for this trip. I had to choose what outfit for this that and the other occasion, what bag to pack in, that would be small enough to fit into my brothers car ( which is seriously tiny) and still big enough to hold all the stuff I needed to bring (I’m sure we all have been here). And it made me think, how much stuff do we really need, I mean really truly need.

Do we need 30 pens, 16 cocking pots and pans, 12 suitcases and bags, 42 wine glasses, several sets of china, so much cloths that it looks like you are being attacked when you open the closet, that is, if you managed to close the closet doors in the first place, and I could go on…. How much is enough all ready?

Just imagine how much simpler life could be if you had less stuff to relate to. What about: only have a few suitcases (one of each size, that could pack into each other), a closet that only had your favorite outfits in it. For dinners, only the pots and pans you really need to cook, and only you favorite china, glasses and cutlery to put out for guest. How easy would it be to throw a party then? You wouldn’t have to stress over what to put out, what fitted what, does that glass go with that china pattern?

And then some of you might say “but my guest would notice I use the same stuff all the time” Well yeah! So what? Are they visiting you to admire you china, or enjoy your food and company? Why not go with a nice white set (like most restaurants do, since food always looks best on white plates), and then stash it up with different accessories instead.

The same principle can be used on wardrobes. Have some selected key pieces, and change the look around with accessories. If you think about it, we probably do this partly already. The items I use on a daily basis, are the same pieces over and over again, and they represent only a small percentage of my closets. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Why not make these favorite items some of the key pieces in your wardrobe and clear out the stuff you never use.

As I move along into my declutter year of 2014, I’ll be taking a hard look at: how much is enough, what selected items to keep, and how I can streamline my possessions to lighten my load. But at the same time, still have enough to throw that party, dress nice, decorate my home and do the things I like.

What about you? Do you have a need to streamline a little? What will you be doing in 2014?

The declutter process

Where do we even begin

Having decided to attack the clutter monster, now what? There are hundred if not thousands of websites out there telling us what to do, so where do we even begin?

Well I believe the best way to go about this is to just start. Start somewhere, start anywhere, it doesn’t matter where, as long as you just start.

You know how they say to eat an elephant one bite at a time, I think this is the best way to tackle clutter as well, one piece at the time. Trying to do it all in one siting might just be to overwhelming.

Since we are all differ in our declutter approach, It doesn’t matter if you declutter in several purges or slow and steady, do whatever works best for you.

So any idea about how to go about it?

Start small: Take small steps ever day. You don’t have to get rid of all your stuff to start this challenge.

Have patience: Decluttering is a process, so don’t beat yourself up if you are having a hard time decluttering.

Realize the burden of stuff: Too much stuff is a burden. You spend hours and hours of stepping over it, cleaning it, repairing it, organizing it and moving it. Being clutter free means you have to spend less time on it, and get more time on family, friends and activities you love.

My 2014 plan

So this is my plan, starting January 1st 2014 – lose on an average at least one item a day all through 2014 – yep that’s at least 365 items.

This means toss, recycle, donate or sell the item(s).

And to make myself accountable I will post something about my decluttered items on this blog.

Have I ever tried something like this before. Nope, absolutely not. But hey, there is always a first for everything 😉 (and I already know what my first item will be… I just won’t tell you until January 1st 😉 )…

The start of my journey

2014 – a year to declutter and living with less

You know how you sometimes come across information that resonates with you. That’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was looking at a web site with travel accessories, which brought me to a link about packing on YouTube. Next thing you know I’ve gotten myself entangled in links after links on owning next to nothing, declutter and minimalism. And that’s when it hits me smack in the head, this is where I’m at right now, feeling the need to clean up my life and move towards a simpler life.

Who am I? My name is Anne Lene and I live on the west coast of Norway. And where is Norway you might ask? Well have a look here. My interest are traveling, house and gardens (especially my garden) and I’m a pretty good handy”man” 😉

I live in a small house (about 75m2 or 807 ft2), and I love the idea of a clean uncluttered space and not owning more than I need.

I’ve always been somewhat decent at getting rid of things, and most people would say I keep a tidy house (that’s just because they don’t see all the stuff tucked away everywhere). But lately it seems like stuff is creeping up on me and before I know it I’m sitting in the middle of a whole lot of mess.

So why a blog? And what’s with the name Minimalist Sometimes? 

Well, you know how you can feel like a “minimalist at heart” (yeah I know, wishful thinking), but your life do not quite seem to reflect this. Actually it’s starting to look pretty messy, like I mentioned above, and you swear it wasn’t that long ago that you were in full control of your house and your life.

This is me in a nutshell – a Minimalist sometimes🙂 and this is a blog about my personal journey towards becoming what I call a moderate minimalist. I thought that if I’m going to give this a proper try, I might as well write about it.

So going forward i have decided that:
2014 will be a year to declutter and living with less.

And if I’m lucky, some of the stuff I will be writing about on this blog might inspire others on their journey.

So here we go… my journey starts. Will you be joining me?

Anne Lene