Do I have too many shoes?

Have you ever asked yourself this? If not about shoes, is there something else you seem to collect a lot of? I'm sitting here smiling at the thought of my friend who has 4 cats, a dog, a rabbit and still would like more 😘 Whilst that may be excessive to me, others would happily have this many, or even more!

Be it shoes, handbags, animals! A lot of us can relate to owning a lot of something. The question is, do I have too many? And what is the right amount?

I was part of a really interesting training course this weekend hosted by ADPO (Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers) where we asked each other this exact question.

The truth is, what is right for one person won't be right for another, but if you're asking the question, perhaps the answer is that you already suspect yourself that you have too much of something!

But what is too many?

If it's something you love, and something that brings you joy, it clearly deserves to take up space in your home. But if you're holding onto stuff, just because, then it's worth taking the time to re-evaluate what it is you want to surround yourself with.

When your home is filled with your favourite things, it can really enhance your life. Which is particularly poignant now when we are all spending so much time at home!

As a professional organiser and declutterer, when I enter someone else's home, I leave my own rules and conditions behind and focus on what is right for the client.

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Some of the questions we would work through together would be:

• What kind of space do you have to store these?

• Can we declutter and make space in another area of your home to store these?

• Have you thought of...(x,y or z storage solutions) that would help you to store more?

• In the case of shoes for instance, we would see if there are any shoes needing repairs.

• You might have kept hold of shoes that are beyond repair, these should (hopefully) be fairly easy to say goodbye to.

• Are all of these shoes comfortable? That pair of 5 inch heels you found comfortable in your early 20's for instance, might just not be the kind of thing you feel comfortable in any more (or is that just me!? I have no idea how I used to wear high heels to work every day! I can hardly walk in heels now!)

Throwing away perfectly good items can feel quite wasteful to some, and understandably. Just because you don't love or want these items anymore, doesn't mean somebody else won't get joy from them as you did, so think about donating or re-selling your items that still have a lot of use left in them.

What do you have a lot of? Have you found a way to make space for all the things you love in your home? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear about all the wonderful things people collect.

And to start you off, mine would be candles!!! :) I just can't get enough!