Yesterday we kicked your fear to the curb. And now you’re all pumped up and ready to clear out the crap. Yay!
The next point to stymie you will probably be the question: how many of these should I keep? These being towels/plates/sets of bedding/books/shoes/etc/etc.
You use them, mostly, sort of in rotation. Plus some of them match, so shouldn’t you keep them together? Even though there’s really no room for the entire collection all at once???
Breathe, people. I’ve got a system for you.
What it comes down to is space and how much you have. Hopefully, you have somewhat more than you did yesterday, but cupboards, closets and bookshelves seem to fill up so easily.
Let’s start with the towels. Most of us have waaaaay more than we need. It’s a fairly simple process to figure out how many you should have. How many people live in your house? How many towels do you go through between loads of wash? What’s the highest number of overnight, towel-needing guests you are likely to host? Add that up and give the rest of your towels away. Srsly. Even if they match. Keep the best and donate or sell the rest.
Here’s how it works: in our house, there are two people. Because we like to do full wash loads, I reckon three towels each is a safe, generous number. Plus the two overnight guests we have room to house graciously and we have eight towels. Luckily, I have room to store that many in the bathroom. If storage were tighter, I’d get rid of two of them.
Now you know the process, you can apply it to the piles of everything in your house.
For those collections of things that aren’t subject to the daily use factor, like books/shoes/holiday ornamentals, try taking a look at the space available for them. Once the bookshelves/closet/entire freaking basement has been overrun, it’s time to cut back, weed out and otherwise take control.
And if you’re hoping to pare down, it’s helpful to make the space available for these items smaller. Remove a set of bookshelves. Limit your shoe collection to one shelf or shoe organizer. Put the ornamentals in a box and get rid of whatever doesn’t fit.
Some of you might be freaking out about now, thinking about the fact that if you keep only what you need right now, you’re going to have to replace some of this stuff someday. And, yes, you will. Some of it. Some day.
But in the meantime, you’ll be able to save money by living in smaller digs, taking in a roommate, or renting out storage space in your currently over-stuffed garage.
Let’s say this purge lets you move to a smaller apartment, one that costs a hundred bucks a month less than what you’re paying now. It hardly seems worth it, right? When you could save so much more hanging on to all those extra towels so that in five years you can replace the ones you’re currently using ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!!!
Um. A hundred bucks a month is twelve hundred dollars a year. In five years, do you really think it’ll cost you SIX GRAND to replace a couple of towels? Especially if you’re really smart and get them at a thrift store.
OK. Now I’m really pumped!
But what if you have no desire to move? What if you’re fine with your current financial situation? Your stuff to space ratio needs no improvement as far as you can see? Then you, my dear, can take a pass! Put your feet up, wiggle your toes and enjoy your home just as it is.
We unclutter for a reason. And if none of those reasons exist for you, then uncluttering would be a waste of time.
