That’s how it feels like! Having way too much stuff we don’t need, and thinking we can clear it all to go live a life with minimal materials and maximum joy is maybe a bit hot-brained.

First there is some work to be done..

This weekend Roy and I have started with clearing out his studio and it feels really good! It’s so cliche, but it’s true, we actually go beyond Marie Kondo! We give stuff away we still like..that sparkles, that give joy, not sure if it’s wise, but it’s necessary for having more space.

Maybe I should first tell you more about us. We are both entrepeneurs and both creative, impulsive and have difficulties with throwing stuff out (as you can see), every object has a story and it’s beauty…

Roy has a studio in Schiedam, a city next to Rotterdam. He has had this studio since 2007. Roy used to work as an artist and as a scenery painter. So his studio is full of paintings, boxes full of drawings, lots of paint in all kinds you can think of, acrylic, oil, synthetic, chalk, gouache. And he has collected all kinds of fun stuff to create sculptures with.

Nowadays I work as a food therapist, but I used to have a catering company and before that I organised creative childrens parties, I did artschool, so I also have paintings, drawings and fun stuff, for well, someday, to create great art. Not to mention the cateringstuff, which I think could still be usefull to make some money. How and where I don’t know. I’m afraid it all has to go…

And I do start new hobbies every 3 years i think. Last october I started with blockprinting. I also did mosaique, ceramicspainting and some other things that I can’t even remember right now.

The thing is, when you have space, you don’t throw stuff away. So we still have everything we ever made the last 30 years! And we do also have all the toys from the children.

And we are the people who want to go and live in a camper!!

Can you imagine what a life switch this is for us? We have so much stuff! Roy now works as a painter, woodworker and garden maintenance, so he also has lots of equipment for that.

The plan is to stop paying rent for the studio in january, so it has to be empty. So this weekend we loaded the car and a trailer with artwork. Just the drawings, etchings and small paintings. The car was full! My parents are willing to look after our artwork. Luckily they have enough room and now my mum has lots of artwork to choose for decorating the house. She found some old painting of mine and has put them in a bedroom.

Today we went on with making space…I took the Playmobil home, to sell on the internet, and we rearrangement Roys worktools and paint. The thing is, it’s now arranged, but when you look at it, it’s still looks really full. Only not so packed as it was before.

This summer we gave away all the oilpaints, a really big box, to my sister. Today we gave away all the acrylic paints we had to a young artist in the studio. It’s a strange idea. Not being able to grab some paint if you want to. But we have to be real, how often did we do that??? Yep. So out with it!

And now the livingroom is full of Playmobil, which is really great actually! So hopefully it will sell. My cookbooks are also for sale, not all of them, just about a third of the 120 of them….Yes, I still do have to make more choices.

No one told me about this part, people move, throw things out as if it’s nothing. They don’t talk about it, but I mean, this is who we are, who we were the past 30 or 40 years. It feels good, liberating, but also a bit sad. As saying goodbye to a part of us.

Bye old parts, hello new parts!