cover image Home Living with Less: How to Downsize to 100 Personal Possessions

Home Living with Less: How to Downsize to 100 Personal Possessions

Mary Lambert. CICO Books, $19.95 trade paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-90817-098-9

Lambert, a British decluttering and feng shui consultant, challenges readers to pare their belongings to the bone. First she lists 20 questions to help readers rate their potential for hoarding. Then she presents rules: in your discards, include hobby items, jewelry, and electronic gear; exclude shared items such as kitchen equipment; also exclude books, DVDs and CDs, and bathroom products. Items she excludes from the 100-item goal can still be problematic, and she addresses many, including furniture. She also encourages tweaks to the rules: for example, underwear and hosiery should each be counted as a single item rather than by pairs. Achieving an organized closet is simpler when counting each item of clothing as one of the 100, then sorting by item and further by color, leaving room for shoes beneath this minimal wardrobe. Those unfortunates who are addicted to acquiring possessions suffer from stuffed closets and don't know what they really need to buy. Lambert admits that the 100-item goal may be difficult and take a long time to achieve but calls the exercise "good for the soul".. Whether you enjoy the journey will probably depend on your starting point. Those who test as "hoarders" in the first part of the book are likely to stall in the second part. (Sept.)