How do you stop the neverending stuff pileup?

I live in a small one-bedroom flat, a few steps above a bachelor apartment. I'm a single mid-30s woman. I earn enough money to pay my rent, a little bit of debt, and not much else. I think I'm doing a lot of things right, but there's one thing that I just can't seem to get: stuff doesn't pile up, it EXPLODES in quantity. I'm never going to be a minimalist, that kind of thing doesn't interest me. But I want to have a clean, organized home. I want to be able to find things. I want to have a spare chair for a guest, or a surface to eat off. I want to have a full set of dishes for myself, and a few extra for company, without stuff constantly breaking and running out. I want to have stuff in case I need it.<br><br>But I don't know how to do that without stuff just taking over my entire life and living situation, especially with a small living space.<br><br>I have gone through my belongings and thrown out the obvious garbage. I have a set of dishes and a few extra, the bare minimum of pots and pans. I have a set of dishes for guests, but I'd have to be very selective in who I invite over. I have the bare minimum of kitchen gadgets. I don't have a microwave. I don't have a TV, I use a laptop. I don't have a desk, I work in the living room or the park. I have a double bed and a dresser and nightstand and a desk chair for a bedroom. I have a bare minimum of cleaning supplies and a vacuum, mop, and broom for cleaning. I don't have much in the way of decorations, just a few things I like that remind me of good stuff I've done. I have a full closet of clothing and not a lot extra, I don't have a lot of accessories or shoes. I have a bookcase full of books, and another half-full. I have two boxes of photos and cards and ticket stubs and various nostalgia, which I have managed to keep at that size for a few years now. My bathroom has the bare minimum of a few towels, a few washcloths, a bunch of rags, and the minimum of bathroom accessories. I rent my flat furnished, so I have a living room suite and a few other bits of furniture, a coffee table and end table, a TV stand that I use for plants.<br><br>But I still get stuff. I buy some, I get some as gifts. I use stuff up. I clean stuff, I fix stuff. I throw stuff out. I give stuff to other people, I give stuff away and get a tax receipt for it. I put stuff away. But no matter what, I always seem to have just a little too much stuff for my space. I've slowly gotten a few extra dishes that I really like and that are useful, but I don't have room for them in the cupboard so they sit on the counter. I managed to buy a secondhand table and chairs so I can eat at a table again. If I get company, I have to move the extra chairs somewhere, hopefully out the door. I have a spare blanket, but not much spare bedding, so having overnight company is a bit of a stretch. I got a bunch of plants from my office when they were throwing them out, and I have to put plants on the floor if I want to use the coffee table. I made an effort to have a good set of pots and pans, and my cupboard isn't big enough to hold them all, so extra ones sit on the floor. I have two drawers full of tshirts, but stuff still spills out of the drawers and overflows into my closet.<br><br>I have a patter of getting stuff, and having just a little too much stuff for my space. It seems like I need to get rid of something else whenever I get something new. I don't want to have too little stuff. I already don't have a lot of the things I want to have, like *two* spare chairs, or *two* sets of bedding, or *two* blankets. I have one of most things, and often only just enough, and I never have extra. I want to have a little bit extra, but I never seem to be able to have that.<br><br>How do you stop stuff from piling up and infecting your life? How do you get a little bit of extra stuff, without it turning into too much stuff? How do you have a little bit of extra, without an endless pileup of garbage that you have to constantly clean and throw out and manage?