Changing apartments is something we all dread. I like the change of scene every couple of years.
When I was a master’s student in Gainesville FL at University of Florida, my belongings were few. A majority were clothes and books. The first time I moved to Jacksonville FL from Gainesville, it took me two trips on my sporty Mitsubishi Eclipse. There was a desk from Goodwill, a chair and a used mattress that I gave away to the room mates I was leaving behind. That year, I moved a total of three times, all within Jacksonville. With every move, my stuff grew. By the third move, I filled up the bed of a large pick up truck to the brim. The bulky items included a fairly minimalist platform bed, a futon mattress, a dresser, a large book shelf, a corner book shelf, minimal desk, clothes and books.
It is time to move again. I am changing neighborhoods to a more walkable one. Read the rant here: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/archives/365. This time, I have eliminated the corner book shelf but added a folding dining table, four minimalist saddle seat stools for the table (that I stained personally), a folding futon couch/bed combo, a new futon mattress, a minimalist chair-ottoman combo, a TV, a side table, a microwave, a toaster oven and four bicycles. Yes, four bicycles.
My furniture collection is fairly basic. I may downsize the TV stand since there is a nice built-in in the apartment I am finalizing. I entertain a few guests occasionally and need some furniture. As far as the bicycles go, they all have different uses: city bike, cargo bike, folding bike and an english roadster. OK, the english roadster is for pure fun. See pictures here: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/my-bicycles
I am using this move as a reason to downsize. I hope to find and eliminate stuff that I haven’t used in two years. I am good at letting things go and am getting better at it every day. It is the small odds and ends that I have a clutter of. They are all neatly stuffed behind closed storage closet doors and on the top rack of my clothing closet. I plan to never load them on the truck when moving and simply move them to the local Goodwill later.
