Hello Friends,

I’ve been quietly working away over the last few months at trying to get rid of some of our clutter.  I know it’s a major problem holding us back.

I’d like to make my bedroom more of an oasis of calm rather than a dumping ground, and I’ve been spending half an hour or so now and then going through a drawer or a cupboard or an underbed box.  A fair bit of ‘stuff’ has already gone to the charity shop.

Last week I had a bit of an ‘aha’ moment when I was looking through a drawer for some walking socks.  My drawers and cupboards contain loads of stuff I’m just not using.  The problem is, when I need something, I have to go through all the other stuff first.  So I began to look properly at what’s in the drawers and ask myself exactly what I need.

This different approach seems to be working better.  I realised that I didn’t need 4 green pillow cases that haven’t been used in years – I have more than enough so they’ve gone in the charity shop bag.  I emptied out the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers which contain a lot of warm clothing – and I mean a lot.

I discovered I had 10 pairs of thick black tights.  Why do I need all these when I rarely wear skirts?  5 pairs went straight in the charity shop bag, along with a pair of walking socks which I never wear because the ankle elastic is too tight.  Why had I kept them?  They just annoyed me whenever I opened the drawer.

I now have a drawer where I can see everything I need and reach it easily.  Just the rest of the house to go…

Have you ended up with multiple items without realising it?

Until next time, Tawney x