October 2026 · Entry 1
The beginning: living room and bathroom
It started with a walk through every room with my phone. The AI described what it saw and named the most restless spots. That turned into two rules and a plan with one small task per evening.
Living room
The wall above the sofa is now empty, and the world map has come down. Far fewer pictures hang overall, and that is exactly why a small gallery now opens above the armchair: one picture hangs, the others wait and take turns. The display cabinet has become an exhibition on the same principle, with a few favourite pieces and space in between. The rest waits in a box for now, until the study is finished, and will then be swapped once a month. The speaker has moved onto the shelf, the sports kit has gone into the cupboard, and the plants now stand in pairs by the window instead of spread around the room. In the corner with my grandmother’s old cabinet and the armchair, only what belongs there remains.
Not everything worked. I wanted to keep scratching off the scratch map, but after years on the wall the coating had hardened. A hairdryer, alcohol, an eraser and acetone achieved nothing. The map now stays as it is and joins the rotation like that. Not every thing has to be perfect to be allowed to stay.
Still open: the room echoes a little more since clearing out. I will finish first and then listen again before buying anything against it.
Bathroom
The bathroom became calm quickly. The hooks for running and swimming kit stay, because they have a clear purpose. Tins and tubes are being used up and not rebought. The pleated blind is now properly fitted. Tomorrow it is the turn of the adhesive left by old hooks: warm it with a hairdryer, let oil soak in, scrape it off.
What happens to the things
- 1 Keep
- 2 Repair
- 3 Pass on
- 4 Recycle
- 5 Dispose of
Kept, with a new place: kettle into the cupboard, sports kit into the cupboard, world map into the rotation, a spare pleated blind, a terracotta pot and a small planter into the cellar, the kitchen pictures stay with their frames, the Japanese cards get two frames that were already in the cellar, three small frames stay for later, and the Götz picture now hangs on its own.
Passed on, all still on their way: three pairs of shoes and two pairs of socks to the clothing bank, a small basket, a wetsuit and a charging pad up for sale, a deer antler to give away and a shelf board back to the shop. Anything that can be sold gets three weeks at the normal price, then one week cheaper, after that it is given away or donated. I do not bother selling anything under about 10 to 15 euros. Any proceeds are donated or saved, not spent on new things.
Recycled: a large bag of old paperwork, shredded, and a pile of paper into paper recycling. Old screws and wall plugs will follow. Disposed of: three broken pleated blinds and a flower pot that arrived already broken. Digital: around 600 photos deleted from my phone. Still open: whether the trailer stays and gets lent out or is sold. The old blankets in it stay where they are for now.
New arrivals: four things. A picture rail for the rotation spot, two white planters (one replacing the terracotta pot, one for the rubber plant, which is getting so big that it will soon need to move) and “Nachhall”, a large print from my Rakel-Atelier for the wall. To be honest: something new only if something else goes did not quite work this month.
Two projects that happened along the way
While decluttering, the question came up whether this way could help others too. Within a few days that became form folgt leben: this site with the guide, an Instagram account and a small registered business so that everything is in order. Online since 31 October.
Under the same roof, the Rakel-Atelier is now online too. There you paint an abstract picture in your browser with a squeegee, brush and palette knife and download it free as a print file. No shop and no shipping: only what someone really wants on their wall gets printed. My first picture, “Nachhall” (“Reverberation”), is already here and will open the gallery as soon as the picture rail is up.
What I learned
Every beginning is hard. In the first month more stayed than went, and a few things even arrived. But every thing now has a place, and whatever is out is out on purpose. Calm does not mean empty.