Two Weekend De-Clutter

Last weekend, I started the de-cluttering process by cleaning out my closet, dresser, and guest room closet (which was packed to the gills!)  With two huge boxes filled already, I hit the kitchen this weekend… I briefly considered having another yard sale, since we had so much.  But quickly realized many of the items were ones that didn't sell at our last sale in September (why did I bring those back inside?!)

So I packed up an entire car full (literally... including the trunk) and headed to Goodwill.  Needless to say, getting rid of it all felt great!

But what felt even better was moving out a few big pieces… Remember the china cabinet with kitchen items in our guest bedroom?  It found a new home at my in-law’s lake house, along with the yellow carpet that was in the same room.

I honestly really liked the china cabinet, but it was so out of place in a bedroom!  Especially given the fact that everything fit into the kitchen, with a little scaling down and sorting out.

By moving out the yellow carpet (purchased a few years ago at Habitat), we finally have a spot for the 8x11 rug that used to be in our living room! Yep, that baby has been rolled up and stashed in the corner of our bedroom for almost a year… True hoarder style.

With every room, I used the 'one-year' rule... If we hadn't worn/used/thought about the item in one year, it went!  All of the clearing out also got me thinking about 'cleaner' looking rooms... So stay tuned for a quick guest bathroom makeover (and paint job!)

Whew! Now on to the week… Hopefully picking out a paint color for the sunroom and getting at least a coat done one evening after work.

Less is More

For graduate school, I recently reviewed a book called What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption.  I couldn't have loved, or needed to read, a book more… The whole premise is the recent rise of collaborative consumption, or the move away from ownership in the traditional sense to borrowing/ sharing/ collectivism.

I really can’t do the topic justice in a blog post, but the authors discussed everything from product sharing services, such as Zipcar, to re-distribution services (my personal favorite), like Craigslist, and collective lifestyles, such as LandShare.  All of these services connect people who have a product with others who want to borrow it, buy it, or share it.

Thus, eliminating the waste associated with making a new product as well as the waste associated with throwing away an old one.  To get a great sense of the message, check out this YouTube clip:

For me the bottom line was:  We have too much stuff.  In America, the average home size has gone from 932 square feet in 1950 to over 2,400 square feet in 2005 (over double!) – while the average number of people per home has gone down from 4.5 to 2.6.

I’ve mentioned my recent home goal to start de-cluttering rooms.  But this is also a personal goal… Less consumption and greater appreciation for living within the space we need.

{all images via loving.living.small.}

Part of this effort for me includes looking for great design inspiration for smaller spaces… Can't wait to share more, as I continue to explore!

Uncluttered Living

I recently stumbled upon The Nesting Place and a post on how to cure thrift shopping disease.

This is pretty timely stuff for me... When Sarah came over last week, she pointed out that I have four lamps in my living room.  Four.  I also have three end tables, a coffee table, a TV console, and a sofa table.

{evidence of how much I love tables}

Which would be fine... If the room wasn't roughly 18x11.  Let's not even get into the china cabinet (that yes, holds china) in the bedroom.

Moral of the story:  We have too much stuff. 

The first step is admission, right?  So my resolution for the spring is to unpack this house... And send everything I don't love (or need) right out the door.  Can't wait to share along the way!

Psst... A certain eggplant couch is currently listed on Craigslist...  baby steps.