Decluttering my Bedroom

I have lived in an apartment of > 1200 square feet and in small apartment of < 550 square feet and recently moved into an apartment of > 850 square feet, the idea size for me . To make the space feels bigger, I knocked down the kitchen wall.  With the day light flowing in from the balcony and kitchen window, the whole apartment brightens up and the airflow also improved.

Living in simplicity is what I am pursuing.  Home is a place for me to rest, hide, space out and recuperate.

Clothings

After moving in to my new apartment, wardrobe was the first place to organise as I could not fit all my clothes into my new smaller wardrobe space.

Started with my t-shirts, shorts, sportswear, swimwear, lingerie, jeans and denim shorts and put aside what I could no longer wear or old and worn out.  After sorting them out and place what I am keeping in my chest of drawers, I was ready to tackle my wardrobe that has slight breathing space after moving the t-shirts and jeans from the wardrobe to the chest of drawers.

First to tackle are my work dresses, removing the dresses that I no longer could fit in or are worn out which made up more than 25% of the dresses.

Then sort the rest of the dresses by colour and style for a second round of selection on what to keep or give away.

Next, are my business suits, blouses, skirts and pants.  Went through similar process to decide on what to keep or give away.  Did the same for my casual dresses, blouses and skirts.  At the end of the process, I was ready to give away almost three bags of clothes.

Handbags

I have more handbags than I need for both work and casual.  I used to buy at least one new handbag every quarter and have cut down buying over the years to two a year to not even one a year.  For two reasons, I no longer feel the joy and excitement when I buy a new handbag and also lack of space to accommodate them.  Have been selling my bags at the 2nd hand luxury bags store and also on eBay.  Recently, I put a few of my handbags for sale on Carousell and managed to sell 3 of them. 🙂

Skincare Products & Cosmetics

After half a day sorting out my wardrobe, I worked on my skincare products and cosmetics.  I am a sucker for skincare products.  I will buy whenever there is a promotion at the mall as my justification is that I use them daily.  Problem is that I am buying more than I could use.

Sorted out my skincare products by type, anti-aging, moisturising, whitening and other specialty.  Labelled them by the year (2015 & 2016) that I purchased, including the travel size packs that came with compliments when I purchased the full size products.

By sorting out the products by type and year of purchase, I prioritise which products to use and also restrain myself from buying more till I almost finish using what I have.  No purchase of skincare products for the rest of the year.

For skincare and cosmetics, it is important to note the expiry dates and how long can the product be used after opening.  Certain items like mascara is only 6 months from the date of first used, though in general the duration is 12 to 24 months.

“1-In-1-Out”

After this round of decluttering, I am adopting the “1-in-1-out” rule to avoid accumulating non-essentials and creating clutter.  Before making any purchase, I ask myself if I really need the item and what is that going to replace.

Organising and decluttering is an on-going process that should be done quarterly or half yearly.  To be discipline to buy only the essentials is a constant reminder to myself that I need not spend time decluttering.

Live simply, live with less, live with essentials.

 

Thank you for stopping by

Audrey