The last couple of days we’ve done a huge purge of our possessions in preparation for moving to Thailand.

When we moved to Berlin a couple of years ago, we drove 30 boxes of stuff, plus some freestanding items in a van across the channel.

We don’t have that option for Thailand – we get 3 cases, plus carry on luggage and that’s it! Anything else has to stay at my parents’ house. So time to be ruthless with our possessions.

Deciding what to keep

We basically decided that if it didn’t meet one of these three prerequisites then it had to go:
– We love it
– It’s expensive
– We know it’ll be used frequently when we return

So that meant saying goodbye to large quantities of books, clothes, shoes, art supplies, kitchenware, art and more.

Saying goodbye to babyclothes

If you’re a parent you’ll know how it is. Somehow in the time it takes your baby to grow into a nearly 3 year old, all those beautifully packaged sets of adorable baby clothes morph into piles of disorganised, grubby fabric threatening to explode out and consume your life. You’re desperate to do something with it other than throwing it out, because it cost money and has sentimental value.

Well, I finally decided that it all had to go. I would keep the clothes that Jack doesn’t fit into yet, plus 5 or so of each type of clothing (less for jumpers and jackets).

We took 5 large, full boxes to the local charity shop and several bin bags down to the bins. We sold a few of the more valuable items, like my London Tower Bridge Lego set and my keyboard (sob).

After going through the clothes once, I then sorted them into piles for me, Jack and Cade. I then sorted the piles into individual items. It was very eye opening – I didn’t realised I’d managed to collect quite so many t shirts for the boys. And I don’t know why I kept so many vests. They’re irritating and fiddly. Nursery liked them but I don’t. I’d take a t shirt over a vest any day.

All the vests and lots of excess other clothes went in another charity shop pile. I probably still have more clothes than I need, but my 8 or so drawers plus full wardrobe is down to just 4 drawers. That’ll do for now.

I actually feel pretty good after my purge. I don’t think I’ll miss anything I got rid of and it’ll be AMAZING to know exactly what clothes I’ve got for the boys and where to find them all. Not to mention packing will be much easier.

Our luggage

This was our luggage for Thailand. The blue suitcase contained 2 travel cots. The red suitcase contained the ukeleles and clothes. Everything else went in the rucksacks. Maybe not truly ‘minimalist’ but we were pretty happy with it. To Thailand!

For more about how to declutter your home click here

If you need a bit of convincing read about why you should declutter your home here