Like many other people I’m drowning in stuff. I’m a pack rat who keeps things because “one day they might be useful”, I’ve got drawers of clothes I never wear, craft supplies (jewellery, knitting, sewing) stashed in the attic, a weakness for gardening and cookery books, a serious sci-fi/fantasy reading habit of several decades duration and a magpie like ability to acquire pretty things.

Most of which is crammed into a small(ish) 1 bedroom flat in South London (with a bit of an overspill to the cottage in Wales).

A fire in the flat back in 2007 led to an unexpected declutter but things are getting a little bit crowded again and its time for a good sort out.

Project 365 having spent some time over the last couple of weeks reading a little around minimalism I thought having a shot at this may be fun. The idea being to eliminate 1 item a day from your home.  Or in my case find one item a day stockpile in a handy box or bag and then do a charity run every week or two!

I’ve started with clothes – mostly because I have a LOT of clothes.  There’s a small single wardrobe and two chests of drawers in my bedroom, plus a smaller two drawer dressing table with gym gear.  Then another two canvas wardrobes in the attic (with a selection of ‘fat’ and ‘thin’ clothes plus the inevitable  ‘this was bad choice bit cost quite bit’ selection as well as the ‘these bring back good memories and I can’t bear to part with them’ clothes.

Working out with a PT for the last 11 months not only means I’m fit and strong and that my nagging injury issues are mostly fixed but also that my body shape has changed quite a lot.

An initial sift of the stockpile of clothes overseen by my good pal R who has both an excellent eye and a scathing line in commentary – led to a significant clear out in March.

To really 365 and achieve a declutter it’s a good place to start. I started on 4 October and so far have let go:

• 6 men’s vest tops (days 1-6/365) bought for ridiculously small amounts in the SportsDirect sale back in Dec 2015 when I was on the hunt for baggy gym gear which didn’t reveal too much or make me feel vulnerable in the gym.  Men’s gym gear it turns out is too baggy in the wrong places and too tight in others for a chick with broad shoulders and a bust and I rapidly got over feeling vulnerable when I realised I can lift heavy weights!
• 13 more items went at the weekend – gym leggings dating back to my 2007 gym days, gym bra tops again dating back to 2007, lambswool jumpers which were too small or have shrunk (oops) and a couple of branded t-shirts/polo shirts from the organisation I worked for last year.

At the rate of 1 item a day that takes me through to 22 October. I’ve got the small chest of drawers in my bedroom and the wardrobe to sift through once more and then I can revisit the clothes stashed in the attic.

So far, relatively painless. I can say hand on heart I very much doubt I could ever manage Project 333