I’ve never been the kind of person to ho-hum and dwell over whether or not I’m going to need that second vegetable peeler or if I’m ever going to wear those stupid-high clogs  (newsflash: I won’t wear them!). I usually just get real with myself and sell my unused junk or donate it.

But when George and I moved into the Airstream, I knew I’d have to take parring down to an all new level. The closets in the Airstream are New York City apartment tiny. And let’s be real, my first priority is food storage. This girl loves to eat. So when it came to choosing which “things” were essential and which I got the ax, I had to make some pretty tough guidelines. Here’s the questions I asked myself:

1. Have I used it in the last three months? If I haven’t used it in the last three months, it’s probably not very useful. Unless…

2. Is it seasonal? Is it something I can put into storage until next season? Winter clothes and boots mostly fell into this category.

3. Am I really being honest about whether or not I’m going to [insert your own hobby here]? Book collecting is a tough one for me. (And I think everyone has that one “thing” that contributes to clutter.) I always get super ambitious about how much I can read. I’m only one person, I can only read so much. And there’s always the library. I made myself get real about my book collection.

4. Does this item have more than one use? I’m big into things that have multiple uses because they take up less space. For example, my blender also food processes. It’s magical.

5. Does it need fixing? There are so many things (clothes especially) that I was hanging onto because they just needed one little thing fixed. This shirt needed a hole sewed up, these pants needed to be hemmed up, etc. If I have had the problem for over a month and I still haven’t fixed it, I let it go. Be real, it’s never going to get fixed and it’s just taking up space.

So that’s the harsh criteria I went through when I pared down my life to live in the Airstream. It was hard emotionally, but I’m done. *Angels singing* Now, the hard part is going to be not bringing any more unnecessary junk back into the Airstream.

How have you pared down?

love,
melanie