February Challenge: Daily Decluttering
Get rid of one item every day.
438 sq ft. That’s the size of our studio. Every day Joey and I cohabitate in essentially a glorified shoebox with a view of the Manhattan skyline.
When we moved in together, panic quickly set in as we manically tried to fit our lives into one room. We knew it was going to be a tight squeeze, but it felt tighter as the mounds of clothing, furniture, and endless tchotchkes seeped into every nook. Exhausted from moving, we did our best to find a home for everything and move on.
Mounds of clothing, furniture, and endless tchotchkes seeped into every nook.
Fast forward a year later and our lives have immensely changed. We are now engaged, I left my job to study web development and Joey has been growing his business. But with each life event our house became a hub for clutter as engagement gifts, raspberry pi’s, and Baron Fig prototypes filled our shelves. After the initial joy of receiving a gift or new toy, a severe dread arose: Where are we going to put everything?
Then a switch flipped. We had to alter the relationship with our possessions. I read books and articles about tidiness, watched documentaries on minimalism, and started to manifest a home that reflected our beliefs on materialism and organization. It came down to three ideas:
- Quality over quantity.
- Sensibility over sentiment.
- Personal vision over social standards.
With these simple principles, Joey and I jumped into clearing out our clothing using the principles of Project 333 — using only 33 items of clothings for 3 months. Then we used inspiration from The Minimalists (materials don’t equate to success) and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (ask yourself, does this item spark joy?) to create a home that felt honest and ours. The transformation was swift and freeing.
Now we live in a shoebox of purpose and clarity. Upgrade! But like any true inquisitor, we asked ourselves, can we do better? Can we get rid of more? Which is where we are at now, the February Challenge:
Every day we each pick one item to get rid of. From a spoon to a skateboard, we flush out the stagnant to bring in a fresh new life.
Let’s see what it brings.
