Ditch the crap [spring clean series]
- Carly Morton
- Sep 23, 2017
- 3 min read
I feel like my life moto should be "Chuck it" because getting rid of stuff is what I'm good at. School holidays have come around and because I don't have a life, I'm getting stuck into the house (again). When Dave and I moved into the house we are renting, both of us were heavily downsizing from the space that we had at our parents' places. At mum and dad's I had, what was to me, a giant wardrobe. The vanity in the bathroom seemed huge, even though my sister took up most of it and the pantry and kitchen cupboards allowed for an over flow of food and utensils. That's not the case where we are currently living. What was meant to be 'built in' wardrobes in the bedrooms was really chunky cupboards or tallboys that had to be moved into the one room (Now officially the 'clothes' room) because otherwise our bed and bedsides would not fit into the bedroom. The smallness of the pantry means that I need to be smart when putting away the groceries and the barely existent vanity makes it feel like I'm playing Tetris with my beauty products.
While I initially grumbled about these menial 'first world problems' I have now seen the small size of our house as a blessing- it means that we need LESS. My aim is to leave this house with less junk and meaningless items than I did when we first moved in. Since I had to buy a desk, chair, bookcase and outdoor setting for the place when we first moved in, my goal is going to be challenging and yet I have already gotten it well underway.
The bathroom- In the bathroom I have thrown out any beauty products that are beyond the expiry date or stuff that I simply don't use. For the rest of my 'double ups' I have set a challenge that no new beauty products are to be bought until the old ones have been completely used up. To keep things neat and organised, I purchased glass jars for random objects that take up meaningless space such as cotton buds/balls. I also sourced some cute drinking glasses to hold my make-up brushes and toothpaste and to give the room a pop of colour.
The Study- I was getting restless and needed to change something so the study got a quick spruce by swapping where things are put. Papers and books on my desk were riffled through and I sacrificed a number of things that were idly laying around. At times this also calls for brutality, there is no sentimentality in my house.
Cupboard- Many of the clothes that were sitting in my cupboard were nice, but never worn. Some clothes were ill-fitting, uncomfortable or no longer my style. The cupboard has been a work in progress over the past six months, but now I feel that it's at a capacity where I have choice but not enough that things get lost or forgotten. I would say that at least one quarter to two thirds of the clothes I own nowadays were things that were given to me secondhand by my sisters.
The kitchen- I went through the cupboards and got rid of a number of utensils that I don't use. This cleared up a heap of space. By the end of the week my fridge is borderline empty and the pantry is not overflowing- this is because I am placing importance on using up as much f the food as possible to limit waste.
Cleaning and being organised is honestly one of my favourite things to do. This may sound lame, but it gives me a sense of peace in my life when at times, everything else is in total chaos. Comment below on the things that make you feel at peace.
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