escape to insanity

A while ago, I announced my intentions to declutter my life following something resembling the “rules” of the 100 Things Challenge. I haven’t mentioned it since, but I am in fact making progress.

While I’m still not sure if I’ll actually hit the 100-things mark, I’m definitely getting closer. Foregoing the tedious task of first making a list of everything I own (which even I wouldn’t want to see or read), I decided to attack the job by first just going through my apartment as systematically as my apparent OCD will allow, and throwing out anything I know I don’t use. The tough part of that is getting around the “well I might need that at some point.”

A little tip if you’re going to do any decluttering yourself: if you can’t remember the last time you thought to yourself, “gee, I really wish I had that [insert ridiculous object here] right now,” then you don’t need it now. Packrat-ism isn’t healthy.

So while I haven’t made any official lists, there is a sort of list in progress. (Though, it’s stored entirely in my head, which arguably isn’t the greatest storage medium. It’s like trying to store your finest wine in a sieve.) It’s more of a list of stuff I know I need to keep. And no, I’m not posting it here. There’s just no need.

In the meantime, my apartment is starting to look a bit sparse. I’ve never really been much of an interior decorator. I moved my DVD collection from the nice media rack I’d bought last year onto some shelves in a little cubby on the outskirts of my living room, which freed up a giant chunk of empty space on the wall. I have absolutely no idea how to fill that giant hole in so my apartment doesn’t look like a jail cell.

Any creative ideas on apartment decorating? Obviously being a renter keeps me from doing any significant structural modifications — hell, I was taking a risk just painting the place a few months ago (it used to be an awful yellowish color, now it’s more off-white), so knocking holes in the wall is probably out. Help me out here, people.