Like every other person in the Western world, we have owned lots of stuff: furniture, paintings, crockery, housewares, ornaments, Christmas decorations, books, magazines, films, games, tablecloths, clothes, shoes, jewellery, bags, leisure equipment, tools, vacuum cleaners, TVs, wires... well, you know. You never run out of gadgets!
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ShareWe clean up
Right now, we are stubbornly clearing out, with the aim of leaving only what we need. So the question is: what do we need? We weigh each item on a golden scale and think: will we use this? If the answer is no, we inevitably purge.
We have sold furniture, paintings and mirrors on Blocket. Household goods, clothes and books that we don't need have been given to Myrorna. Things that are worn out or broken have ended up at the recycling centre. Less and less is left at home.
Will we miss anything?
Will we miss anything? Who knows, but above all, decluttering gives us an amazing sense of freedom! Suddenly we realise that things have locked us up. You have to take care of them: organise them, dust them and pay monthly rent for the space where they are stored. To what end?
When things disappear, it's like a weight is lifted from our shoulders. It will be so incredibly easy for us to move, easy to clean, easy to travel! Our feeling is that less stuff means more freedom.
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BP says:
Well, minimalistic is just the first name. That's how we started once upon a time. Only the essentials and a few memorabilia. Back then we had a one-bedroom apartment of 28 square metres. Let's say: a four-bedroom apartment of 106.5 square metres and 30 years later...
If my husband didn't have relatives in the squirrel family, I would have weeded out 2/3 of everything here.
I'm almost a little jealous of you, I must say!
07 July 2013 - 21:58
Ditte says:
I completely agree with the idea. And I have started to clean; a little bit. But sometimes I get confused and think that some things are part of my history. But at the same time, what is important? What do I need? When we are out in the sailboat, the tiller works perfectly well without so much stuff. There we have what we need, maybe a little more...
And when we moved to China, we didn't bring anything with us but bought what we needed. Not exactly furniture because we rented furnished, but other things. And it went really well.
Will continue to work on this collection.
07 July 2013 - 22:44
Annelie-Singapore says:
Wow what you collect and now that we are about to liquidate our accommodation in Singapore, you see what you have collected in just 5 years and then we had almost nothing with us more than some clothes. Now a whole moving container is going home with memories.
Hugs to you!
08 July 2013 - 4:12
admin says:
BP, yes, gadgets tend to increase in line with the square metres... We didn't have much when we met, but I've noticed that gadgets increase easily...
😉
Ditte, I think clearing out can always be nice! Then you have to weigh up how much you want to keep, and it can certainly be different. When it comes to memories, I probably try to save it mostly in the form of text, pictures and thoughts, but not so much in other gadgets. I still have my photo albums, for example.
Annelie-Singapore, yes, collecting stuff goes fast! You hardly realise when it happens ...
😉
08 July 2013 - 6:25
Rantamor on the retina says:
We've also cleared out lots of stuff you've sold and emptied cupboards of anything that was just lying around not being used.
Seven years ago it was when we realised that as sick pensioners we would not be able to cope with the large house we had in Timrå.
We sold, we cleared out lots and bought a small semi-detached house up in Nordmaling by the sea and bought a HUSBIL,
the very best thing we have done in life apart from our children...
It IS liberating to clear out the stuff you're storing, even if it was given to you by anyone, the memories are not in gadgets but in your heart.
You are doing the right thing.
Tjingelingen from Rantamor.
08 July 2013 - 9:19
admin says:
Rantamor, smart to clear in good time! I think a lot of people wait until they really can't take it anymore... It's encouraging to hear that you think we're doing the right thing, and it's great to hear that you're happy with your decision to get a motorhome!
🙂
08 July 2013 - 10:22
Ninni, Henrik and the Hjulius motorhome says:
Yes, I recognise that! I don't know how much we gave away, brought to Emmaus, threw in the recycling etc when we moved from our old crow's nest to where we live now. At least 9-10 tractor loads went. Still, I feel that we have far too much unnecessary stuff still.
08 July 2013 - 15:21
Monica says:
Yes, I certainly agree with that! There is a tendency to buy stuff and when you don't have room, you get more storage space. At least, one thing in then one thing out. We are also facing a move maybe next year and until then we will be clearing the house.
09 July 2013 - 18:16
admin says:
Ninni, moving is always a good opportunity to declutter! Even if you could have cleaned more, it helps!
Monica, when you move, I think you think about it and it becomes natural to declutter. Otherwise it's easy for things to just pile up without you noticing...
09 July 2013 - 19:59
Agneta says:
yes the thing about cleaning and being able to live without all the gadgets you surround yourself with, I have been through 2 times in my life... but now I am back in the same old footsteps again. The first time was when I moved into an apartment that was only supposed to be a temporary solution, never unpacked more than plates and cutlery and kitchen utensils for 4 people, then we lived like that for almost 1.5 years before we found a new good accommodation. But it was wonderful!
Then it was when we sold the house of 140 square metres and moved here to 81 square metres, just to clear out. And it's nice, but you still accumulate again!
10 July 2013 - 11:13
Annika says:
What fun! We have a draft about the same thing and the funny thing is that we had the same title 🙂 It is exactly as you write... feeling of freedom!
10 July 2013 - 12:20
admin says:
Agneta, how easy it is to accumulate! The interesting thing is that when you live so temporarily with only certain things - you realise that you don't really need much....
😉
Annika, is it true? How funny! Will be interesting to read then!
😉
10 July 2013 - 19:40