Some thoughts on letting go of things
I’ve been searching for another word for “Clutter”
Even though my industry deals with ‘excess clutter’, I think it’s a harsh word to describe:
Little things we've picked up on holidays
Things we’ve been given
Things we’ve bought for ourselves and loved
Things we might have inherited
All these things that we accumulate through the years and loved… or maybe just stuffed in a cupboard... at some point need to be reviewed, and decisions made before you move home. Do you really want to pack and unpack things (oh, and pay for removalists to move them) for things that you don’t need in the next phase of your life?
I’ve been re-reading “Dostadning: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” by Margareta Magnusson, if you haven’t read it, I thoroughly recommend it. It’s her own story of sorting her things out after her husband died and her downsizing journey. Beautifully written with plenty of anecdotes this book takes you on a journey of the pleasure of reviewing the contents of your home and making your own decisions about your “stuff” so that the next generation have less to sort through.
It's well known that moving home is one of the top 5 most stressful events of our life.
None of our moves included boxes that had been lurking in a loft, unopened from previous moves.
There have been a couple of notable exceptions though!
Our last house move was in 2019, we moved from Sydney, Australia to Lancashire in the UK. If you’re reading this and thinking “Sydney to Lancashire… that’s not normal, trust me, I know!
Things like TV, Fridge, Electrical goods were left back in Australia, some donated, some sold or listed for free or recycled, either because they wouldn’t work over here (e.g. our TV) or they were about ready for replacement (toaster!). But what we did bring with us were 2 much loved beach backpack chairs.
I had visions of sitting on a beach in Cornwall or Wales or somewhere… Perhaps the definition of optimism is bringing beach chairs from Sydney to Lancashire?... I still thought they'd get some use.
One of the first questions to ask during a decluttering session, whether it’s garage, loft, kitchen etc is
“Do you use it?”
Well, in this case, while the answer was No, I gave it another year for "just in case" but these lovely beach chairs just took up space in our garage. So, I listed them on Facebook marketplace in the hope of finding them a new home. To my delight a lady responded to my ad, she had just bought a camper van and was planning some big adventures and these chairs were just what she was looking for!
Off my beach chairs went and I felt happier that the beach chairs were going to be useful to someone, rather than just sitting in our garage gathering dust.
The second item was a beautiful red dress that I’d purchased for a friend’s wedding. It was a little on the small size and I worked VERY hard in the gym to fit into it for her special day. I loved it, felt a million dollars in it and maybe wore it on one more occasion.
We’d been in Lancashire for maybe 18 months, and we were planning some changes to our spare room, including dismantling the existing wardrobe.
As I pulled clothes out to get ready for the wardrobe to be dismantled, I saw my red dress again.
When it comes to a wardrobe declutter the questions to ask yourself are:
Do you like it?…. Yes, but.
When I realised it had not only moved house with us several times, but also it hadn’t been worn at all in that time, I asked myself the second wardrobe decluttering question:
Does it fit? In this case… err, no.
That’s when I had to be honest with myself.
I knew I was unlikely to hit the gym really hard again, to get into a dress that I really didn’t have a foreseeable occasion for!
I took it to a local charity shop and said a fond goodbye to it. After all I still have the memories and photos, but this dress would make someone else’s special occasion, and that thought made it easier to let it go.
Is there anything that's sitting around your home that you're not using, and you're keeping it "for in case" it might come in useful?
When it comes to downsizing it’s time to make decisions, why don't you try using the questions above to find out what to keep, and what to let go – whether you’re donating to charity, rehoming or recycling.
If you’re downsizing soon but are struggling with where to start why don’t you book in for a free chat with me, I'd love to help.
