Sorting the clutter

The piles are diminishing at last! No I'm not de-cluttering in the traditional sense, my living room will still be full of books, pictures, music and films in various formats, plants, seeds, stationery, puzzles, games, jugs, vases, wooden boxes, candle holders and lots of other bits and bobs that are still useful, still give me pleasure or may indeed come in useful one day. What I am doing is getting rid of the other stuff: the catalogues, pamphlets and post that accumulates in corners and drawers, the magazines that I really am not going to use again no matter what I thought 5 years ago, the backs of envelopes that have been scribbled on but not discarded once their usefulness passed, the DVDs that I haven't watched and the CDs I haven't listened to in ermm about 5 years and the paperbacks that I've read, quite liked but haven't passed on since the last sort out ooh let me think... about 5 years ago! I'm making room for the person that lives here now, the person that could really do without tripping over piles of shoes in a corner, that wants to be able to get to her paints or puzzles without moving the three piles of books that are stacked in front of them, that finds it harder to reach the floor so why on earth is she keeping the stuff she needs on a day to day basis there instead of at waist height on the side-board...
So here I am recycling, re-purposing and setting aside for donating or shredding or composting and yes a few things will no doubt end up in the black bin too but we'll keep those to an absolute minimum.
I'm actually finding it quite satisfying. I'm remembering that I like being able to see the floor and to actually get to the window ledge to water the plants, to hold the jugs, vases, bowls of stones or conkers that I've collected, to actually see the things I like, the pictures of people, places and things that I love and the books I want to re-read or haven't got to yet. I'm even re-discovering a few things that I knew were in here somewhere but couldn't lay my hands on and there may even be a few pictures of those as the week wears on. (but please don't even begin to mention the landing, the bedrooms, the attic or the kitchen...)