As I just finished a major renovation and built a bookshelf in my new apartment, it feels fitting to share the origin story of my home library and the very conscious process of sorting my books and other belongings with the help of Marie Kondo and Döstädning (Swedish Death Cleaning). The goal was to keep only the things that would actually be used or bring me joy in my new home. The simplicity of having fewer possessions truly makes life better—and it can improve the lives of others after one’s death.
Not that I’m planning to die anytime soon, but Margareta Magnusson, who introduced the concept of Swedish Death Cleaning to the world, makes a good point: someone will eventually have to clean up your things, and if it’s just a big pile of items that end up in the trash, it’s worth thinking about how much of what’s in your home is already a burden to you—and how much of that burden you want to leave for your descendants.
I’ve never been a hoarder. I have some pieces of furniture, mainly second-hand or sustainably made clothes, a few items with nostalgic value, and I admit, too many books (mostly pre-loved as well). However, stuff accumulates. With each move, the situation improves a bit, but at the same time, the storage space at my parents’ house tends to grow. You know, that large bag of art school drawings tucked between the wardrobe and the wall, the forgotten off-season clothes under the couch, unread books still sitting beside the bed from childhood…
I’ve felt for a long time how these things weigh me down, and I’ve been trying to make space from the beginning. But with my first very own apartment, it was time for a much more intentional effort.
The apartment I moved into in 2020 was my twelfth home since leaving my childhood home if you count all the places where I stayed with more than just a suitcase. There were also a whole bunch of temporary places. For example, before moving to Tallinn, I didn’t have a lease for 9 months, but I did have keys and/or access to five different sleeping places. Before moving into my first very own apartment, I spent a month and a half in hostels.
So, living with just a suitcase or a backpack is quite familiar to me, which raises the question: Why do I still need so many things?
Systemizing
Marie Kondo has a specific order for cleaning, starting with clothes. However, Margareta Magnusson suggests beginning with whatever is easiest for each individual.
For me, starting with books made the most sense. Books are easy to sort because they are specific, individually countable, and of a similar size. Plus, I was bothered by the fact that my entire book collection had been scattered across three places for years without a proper overview. It’s also easy to pick up books one by one and gauge the emotions associated with each. Fortunately, I am systematic enough that even if the emotion is unclear, I can check my Goodreads account to see if and when I read the book and what rating I gave it.
Here’s a tip for everyone who collects or does something as a hobby that involves physical things: find a way to keep track of your collection at all times!
As mentioned, I use Goodreads for my books. Maybe there’s an app for your hobby as well. If not, Excel or Google Sheets can save the day.
Sorting
My books were scattered between three places:
- I lived in Tartu until 2011, and I was so tired of people that I closed my little art gallery and moved to my parent’s country house for a while to escape, live cheaply, and have time for hobbies. The shelf there still housed the books I owned and read up until 2012.
- The books I had gathered while living in different places between 2013 and 2019 were mostly stored in my childhood room.
- In May 2019, I moved to Tallinn, so all my newer books were with me in my rental flat.
I sorted them all before moving them to my new place, by creating three piles:
Keeping: Read and emotionally significant (want to read again someday, look up some parts, or pass on to a friend for reading).
Keeping: Unread but classics or something similar that I want to tackle.
Going: Read books that I did not like (“Frankenstein” and “Lord of the Flies,” for example, had to be read because they’re classics, but wtf?).
Going: Unread, acquired in a confused state of mind, or somehow otherwise ended up with me but will never be read. I ruthlessly got rid of books received as gifts with dedications that never truly resonated with me. Sorry, friends, but I believe you’ll understand.
As I like numbers, here are the results of my sorting rounds:
In my parents’ house were about 150 books, of which 53 stayed with me, 43 were discarded, and around 50 potentially readable Estonian books remained on that shelf. In Põlva, I had 122 books, of which 95 would stay with me (plus one stack of comics that fit in one hand), and I reluctantly gave away only 27. From the previous home in Tallinn, I already gave away about 50 books before the move. So a total of 254 books stayed with me then (and would undergo another round of sorting later).
At that time I had successfully given away about 200 books. Initially, all the discarded books were put on Book Exchange so that fans of reading could get their hands on them first and after that they through another round of sorting: to reuse or to the paper container.
So, with all my books lined up in my new apartment, it was time to build a shelf! You can read about that in part 2, coming soon 🙂