We’ve all done it as we’ve followed the floor arrows round Ikea. We’re thinking about Swedish Meatballs and mindlessly grab a bag of Bevara clips (the name is Swedish for ‘preserve’), convinced we only have a few left.
But the niggling thought that they’re made of plastic so will take billions of years to degrade so can’t just disintegrate, stopped me buying more on my last visit.
So when I returned home I did a quick 5-minute declutter of THAT kitchen drawer which holds all the storage stuff like foil, clingfilm, bags and elastic bands. And yes – there they all were – snuffling around at the bottom with the thousands of white wire ties which we never ever use but my husband insists on keeping.
Yes – one of the many pleasures I get from decluttering is it encourages you to take stock.
If you gather all things of a the same category into one place it’s often surprising what you find. Who knew you actually had:
- 27 rolls of half used sellotape
- 8 opened but unfinished bottles of suntan lotion which will be out of date next time the sun reappears
- A gallon of free shampoo and shower gel in 47 little plastic bottles
- Enough plasters to cover every inch of skin of my 9 year old daughter
Well, it was almost this bad…
These are often items you buy or squirrel away ‘just in case’ you might run out of – as you’ve lost track of what you actually have.
And once you’ve understood you never need to buy another plastic polly pocket again, and you’ve given all the wandering items a designated place TOGETHER, the purging can begin…
This is another immensely satisfying path to follow on a decluttering journey which I plan to blog about soon.
What have you found you’ve an abundance of in your home?
