Paring Down

I have been spending time whenever I go to my mom's to clear my room. 9 months after marriage, I still have lots of stuff at home. But it's time I clear out my room. There has been new additions to the family, and they could really utilise the room better.

I brought my clothes and little else when I moved because there wasn't room for the rest. While our bedroom now is about twice as big as my previous room, it functions more like a studio apartment (sans kitchen). There's also the TV, fish tank, and a digital piano. But constraints are good. It forces you to look at real needs.

I either junked or donated lots of my clothes in clearing out my wardrobe, and it still feels too much. I did a rough count recently and found that I have over 75 tops alone. Even if I were to wear a different piece every day, it would take me two and a half months to get through each one; many just sit there untouched for months. It boggles the mind to realise how much I have, and perhaps how little I really need.

Last Saturday at my mom's, I junked about 1/3 of the photographs I had, and there's still a pile I'm undecided about. I don't even want to start with the books, many of which are still half-read or unread. Worse are the knick-knacks and accessories. And there's the cupboard full of stuff toys that I collected. This is going to take a long time to clear.

I think I need to be more vigilant about bringing stuff home and more ruthless in purging.

Simplifying the Wardrobe

On Sat, I dropped by the Salvation Army to donate a bag of clothes. It's a relief to finally get them out of the wardrobe, so I don't have to face a closet full of clothes and wonder about what to wear. After all, some of these stuff never really worked in my wardrobe. I'ld put the item on, try it out with other stuff but they don't work somehow. And there it goes back into the wardrobe again. Some just were not me to begin with.

I guess it is part of the experimentation to find out what suits oneself, although I'm not sure I found it yet. It is strange though, that this uncluttering process was started in part from reading a fashion forum. But the advice to pare down the number of items one buys each season/year does bring into focus what you really want, rather than buying everything you fancy in sight. I'm glad to say that it stops me from buying too much. I have a tendency to buy a lot of similar stuff. This year alone, I bought several dresses. Previously, it was spaghetti-strapped tops. But I realised I tend to wear some items over and over, but some not at all after a couple of times.

Since I hardly/don't use them, I figured that if I don't keep them, I don't have to maintain them, I would have more space to organize the things I want, and maybe someone else would find a use for them. Only problem was, I think I wasn't ruthless enough in weeding out my closet the last time. Oh well, there will always be round two. But I think the key is really in not putting in stuff that won't stay.