Rosie and I have been in the condo long enough that we’re starting establish day-to-day patterns so most of what we need is already unpacked – and yet there are still 21 banker boxes and other boxes and bags that I haven’t unpacked. Now I know some of these things will be unpacked – like the rest of my dishes. My dish set only came with 8 plates (4 big, 4 medium). Keeping all of these is not excessive. As the weather gets colder I’m going to unpack my warmer sheets, blankets, and my crock pot.
I have yet to go a day without packing something, but the number of things I unpack each day has dropped significantly.
I’ve started adding some commentary to this what-I-unpacked-list, not because I need to justify why I kept what I kept, but to share why certain things are valuable.
Day 15
- Rainbow picnic blanket (I took Rosie to the AZ Basset Rescue Howl-o-ween Picnic)
- Butter dish
- DVD
Day 16
- Hair dye shirt (the t-shirt I wear when I dye my hair and do messy projects), hair dye, small bottle for extra developer (as a short-haired person, I get 2 dye jobs out of each box)
- Towel set (I told myself I can keep both sets of towels I own)
- T-shirt, shorts, Crocs (makes it easier to work at my standing desk)
- Vacuum
- DVD
- Rosie’s nail clippers
- Everything That Remains book (love this book and I wanted to remember when Ryan Nicodemus had his first day without unpacking something – Day 10 for him)
- Family calendar (yes, my family creates a calendar every year with photos from the previous year) and a tack to hang it up
- Ibuprofen
Day 17
- Mixing bowls (I used the small bowl to make tuna salad so the whole set got unpacked)
- Plunger
Day 18
- T-shirt and sweater
- Lint roller
- Floss
Day 19
- Hair trimming scissors (my bangs were getting too long)
- Pants, dress socks, dress shirt, neck tie, and boots
- Law books (I had a TV interview at my home about the law and Airbnb so I put them out to give my office more of a lawyerish look, including copies of my books)
- Jason Surfrapp’s Creativity for Sale (I got out my extra copy to send to a friend)
Day 20
- Dress
- Fork
- DVD
Day 21
- T-shirt (I could have gone without unpacking anything if it wasn’t Halloween and I didn’t want to wear my Coroner shirt to work)
I wouldn’t be surprised if I go a day without packing something next week.
With the number of things I unpacked this week, I was able to decrease the number of boxes in the “minimalism pile†but there’s a lot of stuff left. It makes me wonder if I should make a pass through them and start clearing out some things before the end of the year.
In this video I make my standard pass through the condo but I gave you preview of what I expect to add in the next six months. Please tell me what you think of my ideas!
Other updates from the Minimalism in 90 Days project:
What was Unpacked During Week 1
What was Unpacked During Week 2