Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A Minimalist Thought Experiment

I've heard of plenty of people that only have 100 things (challenge), and I was thinking about that tonight.  I've got a lot of stuff.  Just stuff.  It's not physically overwhelming, because it's usually kept fairly neat, organized, put away, etc.  But sometimes I do think to myself "gee I wish I had less," mostly when I move.

I'm not going to take the challenge (yet), but I did want to force myself to think of the most valuable/useful 100 things I have or would need.  Ideally, if I could pack my whole place into just a couple boxes, that would solve the goal of this exercise.

Rules: I don't have any hard and fast rules for this thought experiment, other than that certain things might count as a unit when they go together, or when I need to reduce the total number to stay under 100 :).

Furniture (31)

  1. Mattress
  2. Bed frame
  3. Pillow (x4)
  4. Comforter (x2)
  5. Couch
  6. TV Table
  7. TV
  8. Desk (x2)
  9. Bookshelf (x3)
  10. Nightstand (x2)
  11. Dining Table
  12. Dining room chairs (x4)
  13. Bar stools (x4)
  14. Desk chairs (x2)
  15. Floor lamps (x3)
  16. Desk lamps (x2)
  17. Floor mirror
  18. Fan
Kitchen (14 units, excluding large sets)
  1. Dishes (too many to count)
  2. Cups (too many to count)
  3. Silverware (too many to count)
  4. Utensils/serving pieces (too many to count)
  5. Pans (x3)
  6. Pots (x1)
  7. Coffee press
  8. Knife set
  9. Serving pieces (too many to count)
  10. Fruit bowl
  11. Dish drainer/rack
  12. Cooler
Clothing (not itemized - 22)
  1. Shorts
  2. Socks
  3. Underwear
  4. Shirts
  5. Dress Shirts
  6. Dress Slacks
  7. Dress socks
  8. Jeans
  9. Long pants
  10. Sweaters/Sweatshirts
  11. Undershirts
  12. Long sleeved shirts
  13. Shoes (x2)
  14. Dress shoes (x2)
  15. Boots (x1)
  16. Flip flops (x3)
  17. Bathing suits
  18. Suits
Technology/Office (13)
  1. Desktop computer
  2. MacBook Pro
  3. LCD monitors (x3)
  4. Digital camera and case
  5. iPhone
  6. NeatReceipts scanner
  7. Headphones (x3)
  8. File boxes (x2)
Toiletries (16)
  1. Soap
  2. Shampoo
  3. Deodorant
  4. Mouthwash
  5. Toothbrush
  6. Toothpaste
  7. Floss
  8. Contacts
  9. Contact case
  10. Contact solution
  11. Razor
  12. Shaving cream
  13. Aftershave
  14. Glasses
  15. Facewash
  16. Pharmaceuticals, band aids, etc.
Bedroom/Closet (4)
  1. Alarm clock
  2. ikea storage rack
  3. plastic drawers
  4. hangers (dozens)
Tools (6)
  1. Hammer
  2. Screwdrivers (many)
  3. power strips
  4. extension cords
  5. flashlights
  6. swiss army knives 
Hah, actually turned out to be close to 100 (106 items to be exact)!  Of course this doesn't itemize my clothing, my dishes, and doesn't mention my books (estimated 200+).  I probably missed a few (okay, a lot of) things here and there.  It includes some things that are shared, and excludes others.  So it's not very scientific.

My "ideal" list might look something this (also pared down to reduce "shared" items):

Furniture (10)
  1. Mattress
  2. Bed frame
  3. Pillow (x1)
  4. Night stand
  5. floor lamp
  6. desk lamp
  7. desk
  8. desk chair
  9. couch
  10. tv (wall-mounted!)
Kitchen (11)
  1. pot
  2. pan
  3. colander
  4. french press
  5. cutting board
  6. chef's knife
  7. plate
  8. bowl
  9. tupperware
  10. cup
  11. silverware (1 set)
Clothing (50)
  1. Underwear (x8)
  2. Jeans (x2)
  3. Long pants/slacks (x3)
  4. Dress shirts (x5)
  5. Shorts (x4)
  6. Shirts (x8)
  7. Undershirts (x5)
  8. Long-sleeved shirts (x2)
  9. Sweaters/sweatshirts (x4)
  10. Socks (x8)
  11. Suits (x1)
Technology/Office (14)
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. iPhone
  3. Digital camera and case
  4. nook/Kindle/e-reader
  5. physical books (x10)
Bathroom/Toiletries (16)
  1. as listed above
Bedroom/Closet (13)
  1. Alarm clock
  2. ikea storage rack
  3. hangers (x10 for dress clothes)
  4. hamper
Tools (5)
  1. hammer
  2. screwdriver
  3. swiss army knife
  4. flashlight
  5. first aid kit
119 items, totally itemized.  Some of it is probably a bit unrealistic (one set of dishes?  come on).  I don't know if I could handle the number of clothes listed, but hey, it would be interesting to try.  It would definitely take some work to get to that few items, but it would (aside from the furniture) probably fit in a suitcase, a backpack, and a couple boxes.  Now THAT would be an easy move.

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