Summer Decluttering

I always liked the idea of living out of a backpack: very few material possessions to worry about, only the thrill of the adventure ahead to savor.

But what you carry varies throughout the year and depends on your destination. You still need what Yasmine Abbas calls a meta-architecture of storage: a place to leave the stuff you might need later on (a warm coat for winter), or the things that simply have a sentimental value.

Now that I’m back in France at my parents’, I can see that my bedroom is full of stuff I’ll probably never use. Old clothes, books, decorations… I’m not comfortable with the clutter it creates. It doesn’t feel “optimized”.

Ideally, I want the room to be easy to clean, and easy to use by my parents when I’m not around. I also do most of my work from my bedroom, so I can’t afford to have things distracting me.

I think it’s time for a summer cleaning.

I’ll first need to make an inventory of what I have, what I need, and what I don’t need.

I’ll put everything I don’t need in trash bags. Old clothes can be donated. Electronics, books, and decorations can be reused by my family. I store the rest in the attic.