The Burnt Diaries-Decluttering Craze

It has been over a year since I moved in with my partner, and I now know that I was chasing the wrong goal.

I tend to be the one who takes care of the home, and he fills in some financial extras we may need. I am not necessarily okay with this being the way forever, but for now I can take charge of how I want my place to look. The truth is a lot of the crap that has been accumulated is mine. He has stated several times that we do have too much crap, so I am finally listening.

This is my first time living completely independently and in partnership, so I want to take control and curate my life for a better future.

We got a storage locker downstairs in the communal garage, so we are taking advantage of it. For now, since I'm too embarrassed to share my place's current state, I just wanted to share the inspo first and my plan.

The place is small, but I am not sure why I struggle so much. I used to be able to clean around the same number of rooms when I had roomies. I want my collection to appear purposeful, not like a hot mess. I'm a gyaru and a maximalist at heart, but how does one make it all work together?

First stage, before I go on a spending spree, I am following some basic ground rules.

Core decision rules (I asked Claude, but it's a good starting point).

1. The One-Year Rule: Haven't used, worn, or touched it in 12 months (and it's not seasonal/sentimental)? It goes.
2. The One-In-One-Out Rule: New item comes in, an old one of the same category goes out. Keeps totals from creeping back up.
3. The "Would I Buy This Again?" Test: If you saw it in a store today, would you pay for it again? No = let it go.
4. The Duplicate Rule: Keep the best version of anything you own multiples of (mugs, chargers, tools), donate/toss the rest.
5. The Maybe Box: Genuinely unsure items go in a box with today's date. If untouched in 3–6 months, donate unopened.

After we declutter (which I suspect will take me a month or two), we will get to focus on decorating,

Someday I will show you the progress!

Bye!