To keep or not to keep

One lazy morning, I recently read a very timely article from the O Magazine regarding getting rid of all the stuff at home. Right now we are busy preparing for our interstate move to NSW, and the article's helpful in a sense that I have so many things in the house that I don't know whether to keep or throw (or donate) them away.

Main points I remember from the article are:

a. Kitchen - you don't need 4 spatulas, so 2 will do and throw the rest. Check out expiration dates of food stuffs. Regarding clutter control, keep benchtops clear.

b. Bathroom - discard half-used shampoos, perfumes and other toiletries that haven't been touched for more than a year. Group like things in containers to see easily what you have.

c. Wardrobe - 80% of the time we only use 20% of our clothes. So if they fall in any of the "S" category : small, streched, smelly, stained; then out they go. The rule of thumb to minimize accumulation of unwanted stuff is if a new item comes in then an old one should go out.

d. Photographs - throw away badly taken shots, eg. blurred, redundant. You don't have to label or keep every single shot.

e. Garage - Separate things in appropriate sections or containers, eg. chemicals, car supplies, sporting equipment, gardening. Donate unwanted items.

f. House desk - throw away obvious junk, like coupons, junk mail, catalogue.

g. Bookcase - Donate books that don't fall in any of these criteria: books you love, books read regularly, books containing material not found in internet.

and lastly, you should not own anything that is not useful, beautiful or loved.