The piles of paper will be the first things to go. Those boxes of random articles from college? Gone. Those old retirement plan prospectives? Outta here. Those magazines from who knows how long ago? Trash bound.
A little harder will be those little items that have some sort of strange sentimental value, but at the same time, none at all. And my husbands hats. And perhaps more clothes (I recently purged more than 4 large bags of clothes from my wardrobe). And maybe the house (you think I jest).
Why this sudden change of heart, you may ask. I spent some time browsing on the web today at many lovely places that inspired some of it. Like Thrifty Decor Chick's blog. I've wandered her way a few times in the past, but I was especially inspired by this post about organizing paper. DH and I have a terrible time with paper. Terrible. I'm getting better bit by bit, and he's been told that he'll be getting better, too. And I know there are a ton of ways to cut down on paper, but I'm stubborn. I need to find my own way.
The terrible thing about lovely sites like Thrifty Decor Chick or like the This Old Thing? store on Facebook is that this is how I think my house should look (don't we all?). My house looks nothing like this. At all. Like in no way whatsoever could you mistake my home for one of these well designed, wonderfully comfortable, shabby chic, havens of wonderfulness. Not. A. Chance.
But. I do have a few very nice features in my house that I like very much. I just feel that the stuff that continues to creep into every crevice of our home is taking away from those wonderful features. So the next couple of posts, I'll share some of them with you. And I'll share some of the stress of trying to get things in order. And perhaps I'll even share some of the ridiculous things that I find that I still have and can't for the life of me figure out why I allow it to continue to take up space in my life. Just to show you I mean it, here's a preview:
So (since I seem to be making a habit of asking a question at the end of my posts), what's the one thing in your house that you absolutely refuse to get rid of just because?
Our red couch!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I have a list, you got your pack rattery from both Dad and me!
ReplyDeleteChina cabinet
old mahogany dresser
cute Fisher price houses (I was just thinking about those this AM) and other assorted baby toys
the old dresser now in the closet (it held baby clothes from Timothy, you and Faith-how can I get rid of it?)
Oh my, the list goes on and on...
I did a lot of purging several months ago, yet we still had a vanload to haul to Goodwill (the Sal refused to take our stuff because it was a particularly busy day) after going through the toys (yet again) and the garage. It's like a never-ending nightmare! My problem is that I like to go to yard sales... and at dirt cheap prices, I'm good at justifying. And in the house it goes.
ReplyDeletehats hats hats
ReplyDeleteCan I count "books" as one item? Even though we literally have thousands of them?
ReplyDeleteFabulous lists, everyone!
ReplyDelete@Karissa - never, ever get rid of that couch!
@Mom - don't get rid of those Fisher Price houses! They just don't make them like that any more :-) or the dresser, or the china cabinet... You're right, it is genetic.
@Sarah- I have to be so careful when I find good deals. I'm really making a much better effort to think about why I need to buy something and what I can use it for regardless of the great deal (although, I just bought some things for the house today from This Old Thing?)
@Jeff - :-p
@Aunt Wendy - yes. You can count your books as one. I will say, though, the book purge that I went through was extremely liberating!
We did a big purge of stuff before Ansley came - but now I need to do some purging of her stuff! But I keep (to my hubby's dismay) these 2 brown chairs from my parents house. They are the only things that I had at my parents house, my apartments, and now our house - can't get rid of them! Jas says when we get our "big house" they will be banished to my guest/craft room ;)
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a good chair :-)
ReplyDelete