LAURA CARTLEDGE Life's like That...Growing up and moving back home means its time to de-clutter

I always blame my hoarding habit on the fact I like to make things.

Interesting insides of envelopes for instance, buttons and those little ribbons that come in t-shirts – they are all carefully collected and put safely in a drawer.

And then that drawer becomes a box, and that box becomes two...and before I know it my bed isn’t being held up by its legs any more, but by the mountain of ‘useful’ things I have stored under it. But I always maintain I am not messy, I just have a lot of stuff.

So when it came to moving to university I was very excited.

My new empty room cried out with ‘fill me’ potential.

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It wasn’t hoarding, it was decorating – at least that is what I would tell myself as my photo collection grew over the walls like ivy and my cupboards brimmed with mementoes from nights out.

Needless to say, it was interesting when it came to moving out.

The looks on my parents’ faces said it all as pile upon pile was removed from my little room – like clowns coming out of a clown car, it shouldn’t have all fitted in, but it did.

Then, before I knew it I found myself back at home.

And as old boxes met new boxes, all I could do was stare in disbelief.

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However, all was not lost, as coming home coincided with my bed being upgraded to a double – so no prizes for guessing where my stuff set up home.

And that is where they stayed until last weekend.

I live at the cottage version of the Forth Bridge so the time had finally come around when my room was top of the do-to list.

Loving any opportunity to put my messy clothes on, I donned dad’s old shirt and my paint-splattered jeans and got ready to get stuck in – obviously forgetting the monster that lived under my bed.

Four hours later I was done, or rather, my room was empty and the upstairs landing was full.

I was exhausted and I hadn’t even picked up a paintbrush.

But now I have, and my room is beautiful.

The only problem is – it’s empty.

And while I can’t promise it will stay that way, I do have to admit I like it.

So I think it might be time to compile another collection – to donate to the charity shop.