Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Less is More (no, really it is!)




I've been thinking a lot about the concept of stuff lately. It probably helps that I'm in a major de-junk, purge, and organize mood. I've been in it before but this time I'm in attack mode. 
I am pretty much ruthless in my method. I say pretty much because at my heart, I'm a packrat. I hold onto little random stuff because of the sentimental value to me. Growing up, I always had a full closet because I could never bear to get rid of my clothes, they all had so many memories attached to them. 

But I can't afford to be that sentimental anymore. 

We've moved a lot since getting married 3 1/2 years ago. We've lived in a lot of different places.  And we've accumulated stuff. Stuff we keep moving around with us.
We're most likely going to be moving again in the future, our little hobbit hole basement suite is only so big. I don't want to move stuff around just because it has memories attached to it. So I've been going through everything, taking bins of stuff to the thrift store and posting ads on kijiji.



It has been so freeing. Our souls aren't so weighed down by stuff. We're free to just be and enjoy what we do have.

We have more space.
I got rid of a change table and an exersaucer. I was only using the change table as storage and Khaira was quite done with the exersaucer. There's so much more space in the girls' room for them to dump their teddies and tea set all over the floor  play. 

The house can be really fast to tidy up.
The girls have three baskets in their room of assorted toys, teddies and books. They also have a little shelf in the living room. It can look like a total disaster but I can clean it up in five minutes making me feel like Mary Poppins. I just need some sort of trick for the laundry now.

I've gotten rid of all kinds of things that I was saving for a rainy day or oodles of spare time.
-A wicker picnic basket with a broken handle, it would probably be an easy fix but I haven't fixed it and it's been two years. I'm not going to be fixing it. 
 -Random knick-knacks that I will never display again and have just collected dust in my hopechest. My style and taste has changed a lot since I was 16 and there's no need to store stuff for no reason.
-A cupcake storage and transport container. I have never used it. And despite my fascination with cupcakes, I'm not keeping it for that 'just in case moment'. When I make cupcakes, I'll be creative and use something I already have to store them.  
I saved the memories and got rid of the stuff. 

 I know what I have and why I have it.
I haven't been completely cold-hearted and cut throat. I saved my tea cups and silver tea service. I have two little girls and I forsee lots of tea parties with real china in our future. I also saved four tupperware parfait glasses. I have never used them. I have four cut glass parfait glasses that are a lot prettier. But the tupperware ones are quirky and retro and I have so many memories of my Nana serving up her famous chocolate pudding in parfait cups identical to mine. I'm keeping them to create new memories for little people in my house.

Are you a pack rat as well? What's your secret to keeping stuff organized?


P.S. These pictures were taken on Mother's Day, I got the girls matching outfits last fall and love that they can wear them now. And I seriously wish they came in my size!



   

6 comments:

  1. I too am a pack rat! And I live in a decent size house with tons of room to store precious sentimental and beautiful junk! It is freeing to be ruthless and dejunk the house!

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    1. I loved how you described your stuff- precious, sentimental and beautiful junk. =) It is very freeing to de-junk.

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  2. We are moving at the end of July... and possibly downsizing out house size. Decluttering is the only way we will manage. I get a real fulfilling joy about doing it although it sure is hard... It is much nicer not to have to 'take care of' useless stuff. Rather spend time with my 3 girls. Breanna

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    1. It is very fulfilling and surprising to see how much 'stuff' we don't actually need or use. And it is SO much nicer to spend time with people then taking care of stuff. Love to you, Breanna! Hope all goes well with your move!

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  3. Before we listed our house, I packed almost everything and John took it to the basement. It made it easier to keep things tidy for last-minute showings. Funny how, once the stuff was in the basement, I have had zero need for it and if I never saw it again, I'd be quite all right. It's been down there for five months, and I think I've only gone down for an extra notebook. So one by one, we have been bringing all those boxes back upstairs and getting rid of it. Well...not all of it. But much. :)

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    Replies
    1. That is such a good idea! It is amazing how much stuff we can accumulate without actually needing it. We have rubbermaids storing stuff in the backyard shed and I have no idea what is them, obviously most of it will just be going straight to the thrift store since I haven't looked at it in over a year. =)

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