oh, finally a quiet morning to sit with my thoughts for just a bit, sip tea & snap a few corners within our home!
i was prepared for a busy january, but i had no idea it would be quite this busy. thankfully i had a little time yesterday to tidy up & fluff our nest. it's true, i don't feel like myself when our home is a mess. my studio is just off the back bedroom so it's important that our home remains a place where i want to spend most of my days.
i've been thinking a lot about our home & the items in it. it might just be time for another great purge! i've jotted down a list of areas that i want to target in february when our schedules lighten up a bit. some of those areas include our linen closet, the bathroom & the pantry. for now, as i find something we no longer use/need/like, i put it in the bin to take to goodwill. i have a load i am dropping off tomorrow morning while running errands.
"have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." - william morris.
how do you approach "stuff" within your home? i'd love to read your thoughts!
love,
natalie
13 comments:
You're timing on this post is perfect.. Having just down sized by about 900 sq feet, we have been purging like crazy.. I had no idea how much stuff we had... It has been tough at times but very freeing... Your quaint little abode gives me much hope and inspiration girl... My closet is last on the list hope to tackle it next month as well...
I have a whole room in my house just full of stuff i probably don't need but can't seem to get rid of. I'm not proud of it. We lived in little apartments and moved eveyr year for a long time, which kept me purging pretty regularly. Then we bought a house three years ago and I've been shocked at how quickly the buildup happened.
It's my goal this year to kind of get my house in order, and I keep telling myself step one is to give away these piles of THINGS I'm not using but keep around "just in case".
This can sometimes be a difficult process, but it feels really great to go from room to room and donate those things that no longer bring us joy! Love seeing photos of your interior, they always spread so much joy :)
Eva
I just took a load to the Salvation Army, so nice, and I feel lighter. I also think it's a great example for my kids. We don't need those things but maybe someone else does. in the course of cleaning out, my daughter suggested we keep certain things because to her they were once treasures, mostly because of the cost at the time, but I pointed out that the items were not useful to us right now, had no sentimental value and maybe they would really brighten someone else's day. I also wanted to impress upon her that we don't give away things that were broken or in a sad state. Now if only I could convince my husband.
Early this month we had a major clear out and ended up giving 2 car loads to local charity shops & other things to friends who needed them. Thankfully there was very little to throw away. It feels good to not only have a clearer home but to be able to give things away for others to enjoy & money raised for good causes.
I regularly schedule a local charity pick up so that I'm forced to purge every few months. I would feel bad if they made the trip and I didn't have anything for them, so this keeps me on my toes. It's my current system that isn't working now. I have a paper bag full of stuff in my bedroom right now. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep doing this and encourage everyone to do so, without having a grocery sack full of cr*p in every room..you know? I love the ease of trying something on in our bedroom, realizing I don't love it and tossing it in there, but need a solution that pleases me aesthetically too. This is a modern day problem, to be sure.
btw, I love that "love grows best.." pillow. I just ordered a big print of it for the family room of our small-ish 1300 sq foot house. :-)
I have a garage sale every mid-to-late Spring. Usually after Christmas, I start collecting items and going through what have we not used much in the last year, etc. Then come Spring, we have a big garage sale. Anything not sold, goes to local charity. This has been helpful for many reasons. 1) Our farm house is small, and clutter really shows. 2) We use the money from the garage sale towards Summer family vacation. My young daughter is more willing to purge toys knowing that it could equal more time on a better vacation.
I have a collector's personality, so I think if we moved less often (every two years on average) I'd be drowning in things. Even with the moves, I still seem to accumulate more things than I need, so one of my goals for 2016 is to decide which things have enough meaning to bring actual value to my life, and which are just items on a shelf (or in a box, etc).
This month I've been sorting and selling, and next month I plan to start doing donation and gifting runs as well.
I love seeing photos of less cluttered homes - it's great inspiration for me! :)
Prior, whenever I would think it's time to declutter, I would overthink everything - where did I get this, when, do I like the color, do I like where I have it and ON and ON and ON. Then I read the book by Marie Kondo ( Art of tidying Up). I don't agree with all her 'advice', HOWEVER, one big takeaway from her book is that now I look at all my STUFF and just say....Does this SPARK JOY? Works for me every time whether it stays where it is, gets relocated in our home or out the door to Goodwill !
The longer I live the less I want - thankfully. I've purged half of my house in the last few years & love it so much I can't seem to leave those rooms to take care of the other half!
Your dog has grown so big!!
Firstly LOVE the pup! such sweet eyes! Second I keep a tote in the basement as a "holding zone" where I put things I don't think I want or need anymore. That way it's physically removed from the living space. Also if I'm unsure about something I get to" try out" getting rid of it. I drop it off about once a month. I've actually purged things I thought I couldn't live without but surprise I totally could.
Oooooh this is so timely for me! My partner is currently on his way to Oregon to buy a school bus... which over the next 6 months we'll be transforming into an RV and *living* in it (!) full time with our baby girl. Crazy, and exciting, and absolutely requiring a major purge. I will keep the quote in this post in mind!
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