Here’s my bottom-up list. There are a lot of things on this list that aren’t strictly necessary, but are conducive to my goals and contribute more to my life than they detract from it. This list assumes living alone in a one-bedroom apartment (which I currently don’t) and that the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom have overhead lights. It also excludes decorative items, which I don’t use much anyway. Many items on this list are things I don’t have yet — there are plenty of things I could still acquire to improve my life, but many items I’d want to get rid of first.
Bedroom
- Bed (with bedding: 2 pillows, fitted sheet, plain sheet, blanket)
- Nightstand
- Light
- Glasses case
- Phone charger
- Small box of personal items.
Bedroom Closet
- 10 business shirts (5x long-sleeve for winter, 5x short-sleeve for summer)
- 10 pairs pants (5x Black [for winter], 5x Khaki [for summer])
- 7 pairs short pants
- 7 casual t-Shirts
- 8 pairs underwear (one extra in case I’m a day late doing laundry)
- 8 pairs socks (ditto)
- 1 suit (dress shirt, jacket, pants)
- 5 pairs shoes (sneakers, sandals, black dress shoes, 2x hiking boots [one regular, one super-warm])
- Dressing gown
- Laundry Basket
- 1 set spare bedding
- 3 file storage boxes of personal items, including items of sentimental value such as mementos of my childhood
- 3 backpacks (1 for computer, 1 for gaming, 1 for other needs when the first two are unsuitable)
Kitchen
- 3 skillets/frying pans (different sizes)
- 3 pots/saucepans (different sizes)
- Roasting pan
- Oven-safe Pyrex dish
- Vegetable steamer
- 1 set wooden or plastic spatula/spoon/fork/pasta fork
- Knife block
- Carving set
- Cutting board
- 1 set assorted measuring cups and spoons
- 1 set assorted containers for leftovers (including plastic bags, plastic wrap, and aluminum foil)
- Vegetable peeler
- Can opener
- Corkscrew
- Up to 6 cookbooks
- 2 wine glasses
- 2 ice cube trays
- 2 sets silverware (May replace with service for four later.)
- Plastic flatware (ditto)
- Paper plates (ditto)
- Paper bowls (ditto)
- Plastic cups (ditto)
- Dishes brush
- Dish towels
- Drying rack
- 1 package sponges
- Dishwashing detergent
- Rubber gloves
- 1 roll paper towels
- Coffee maker
- Coffee filters
- Trash can
- Assorted food
Dining Room
- Table
- 4 chairs
Living Room
- Computer table
- 3 computers (1 Windows XP desktop, 1 Fedora Core desktop, 1 Windows XP laptop) w/ accessories
- 1 printer/scanner/copier
- 1 package extra printer paper
- 2 extra ink cartridges (1 color, 1 b/w)
- 1 large binder CD-ROMs
- 1 medium binder audio CDs
- ~20 DVDs
- 1 spindle blank CD-Rs
- 1 spindle blank DVD+RWs
- ~1 dozen computer books
- 1 file storage box spare computer parts/cables/occasional-use accessories
- 1 file storage box user manuals and other documentation
- Trash can
- Paper shredder
- Lamp
- Drawing table
- Drawing supplies (paper, pencils, kneaded eraser, pens, ruler, etc.)
- 1 file cabinet (contains important documents and financial records going back seven years)
- 1 drawer office supplies (envelopes, stamps, stapler, staple remover, scissors, etc.)
- Small bookshelf
- ~1 file storage box worth of “keeper” books
- Spare batteries
- Change jar
Bathroom
- Plunger
- Toilet brush
- 1 bottle toilet cleaner
- 1 bottle Liquid Plumr or the like
- Candle
- Lighter
- Cup
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- 1 box floss
- Mouthwash
- Hand soap
- Body soap/bodywash
- Shampoo
- Hairbrush
- 1 box Q-Tips
- 1 stick deodorant
- Buzz cutter
- Electric shaver w/ charging stand
- 1 bottle electric shaver cleaning fluid
- Bathrobe
- Medical supplies (as necessary, including cold medicine)
- 1 set towels
- Trash can
- Utility Closet
- Swiffer
- Swiffer pads
- Broom
- Dustpan
- All-purpose cleaner
- Glass cleaner
- 1 set bathroom towels
On Me:
- Glasses
- Keys
- 2 Wallets
- Cell Phone
- Moleskine
- Pen
- Glasses cloth
- MP3 Player
- Ear buds
- Small bottle of Tylenol and antacids
Whew! That list is actually longer than I expected it to be. But now I can refer to it and any time I have things that aren’t on it, I know I need to get rid of them if there isn’t a really good reason it should be on the list!
What about your list? Did I miss anything? If I think of anything, I’ll come back to the list and add it! Could I cut anything off of this list without missing it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!