Döstädning (DOH-sted-ning) is a term for Swedish Death Cleaning. Sounds morbid, but it’s actually a practical perspective on decluttering while you are alive to lessen the burden on your family/loved ones after you die. I recently read a book by Messie Condo (I’m presuming not her real name??) called Nobody Wants Your Sh*t. She did not coin the term döstädning but she writes about a sensible approach to Swedish Death Cleaning. One quote that really stuck with me was ‘Nothing should take up valuable space 100% of the time for a 0.001 percent chance you’ll need it.’ How many things do we own for a ‘just in case’ scenario? Hmmm…that kitchen tool that does only 1 thing, that shirt or dress that is only good for one event, those holiday decorations that we never put up, etc.
I recently sent a bunch of my old concert T-shirts to a woman I found on Etsy who makes quilts out of T-shirts. It wasn’t that expensive and it turned out amazing! I am going to try to dig through my closet and find other T-shirts to repurpose like this. I am not a T-shirt person, they don’t look good on me, but I buy them anyway and I can’t part with them.
This is not a review of the book, though I did find it more helpful than other books I’ve read about decluttering. It is more of a reflection on death cleaning and what that means for the PoshRanch and the residents within. I like stuff. I like clothes, shoes, craft supplies, home decor, candles, kitchen gadgets and doodads of all shapes and sizes. I was the kid who when traveling would look forward to the souvenir shops so I could procure a token of my destinations. More recently, I have collected coffee mugs from my travels as they are useful, right?? When I use a mug from London, it brings back memories of my trip there in 2022. But, honestly, how many coffee mugs does one person need? Really in a minimalist sense maybe 1 or 2, or possibly a couple more if coffee chats are common in one’s household. Right now I probably have more than 20 mugs from places I’ve visited.
And the number of books I have would rival any small library (not quite, but…). I love to read all kinds of books. At any given time I have an audiobook, a Kindle book and traditional book going all at the same time. I get books from the library, but I can’t go into a bookstore without buying something to add to my collection that I probably won’t be able to read in my lifetime, unless I quit doing everything else.
By the way, did you know about Mariko Aoki phenomenon (Mariko Aoki phenomenon – Wikipedia for more info)? That is the urge to, um, use the bathroom in certain places, including bookstores. Yeah, it’s a thing. There are theories as to why this occurs for each environment, but that is for another blog.
I have at least 40 pairs of shoes; and no I’m not kidding. I have fancy shoes that I don’t (can’t-my knees) wear anymore as the heel is too high, but I cannot wave them goodbye. I recently bought a pair of John Fluevog shoes (Fluevog Shoes | Unique Shoes and Boots for Unique Souls). The price is no match for Jimmy Choo or Manolo, but more than the average Payless shoe. Does Payless still exist??
I can’t bear to part with most of those (see Doody Duty- previous blog where I discuss my love of shoes). I recently offered my daughter a pair of really nice boots I had only worn once and didn’t think I would ever wear. These are beautiful boots made by Freebird. She accepted them right away as any fellow fashion lover would. She and I wear the same size in shoes, so lucky her; during my döstädning she might be the recipient of more amazing shoes. See picture below for these amazingly beautiful foot decorations.
I own an extensive collection of athletic shoes in all different colors. If I can’t wear fancy shoes at least I can look cute in my rainbow of practical shoes; and my knees thank me!
You may be thinking this is where I started my döstädning, but as of this point I cannot even look at my shoes while thinking about discarding any of them. I actually started in my craft room. I have dabbled in crafting my whole life: Candle making, knitting, scrapbooking, Cricut crafts, etc. Most recently I have been learning how to crochet. So, even though I knit and have lots of yarn I had to buy more because, well, crochet requires different yarn, right?? No, the answer is no, the yarn I already possess would work just fine for my projects. I’ve been buying so much yarn that my husband recently asked if crochet requires different yarn. I told the truth, but with the caveat that I’m working on different projects so maybe, just maybe, I need a different style of yarn to complete a crochet project. When I told my son I was learning to crochet he said, ‘mom that is the most old lady thing you could do.’
In my first try at döstädning I only had time to declutter a portion of my craft room. Because of all my VERY IMPORTANT (at the time anyway) supplies I’ve purchased over the years, each set requires thoughtful consideration and the use of my thinking cap. I also cleaned out my laundry room cabinets and started on a couple other small areas.
Is it useful? Does it have a place? Can it be gifted or given away? Or is it destined for the landfill? I am trying hard to keep things out of the landfill and reserve this option only for the shirt that is stained or a pencil that is broken.
In any case, this is only the start of my death cleaning journey, but I do plan to continue even if it takes me years. As I was reading the book about döstädning it really made me think about what I will leave behind. Do I want to leave behind loads of things that I thought were important to me (stained shirts and broken pencils) or do I want to leave behind lasting memories of fun times and laughter. I will never be a minimalist as that is not in my nature, but I can certainly make the belongings in the PoshRanch more meaningful and useful.
One last thought about decluttering: Thinking about this concept also made me think about other types of clutter we hold, including digital clutter (so much in our inboxes) and emotional clutter. Why do we hang on to things in our brains that aren’t useful, don’t have a place and cause us stress due often times to things we cannot control? Much harder than decluttering the physical stuff is the emotional clutter we keep inside.
Until next time…
Your Wannabe Cowgirl
#RanchLife 