OMG how is it that one thing always leads into a million more?
I had to look for some chairs for my dad, which led me to the Easter Baskets, which led me to my closet. My husband's side was just driving me nuts, so I organized that, then took a whole bunch of stuff and bagged it for Charity
I can definitely relate! I have a third bedroom that somehow becomes the resting place for items that I'm on the fence about. The closet in that room is a catch all for miscellaneous stuff. Everything from a fax machine to my daughters barbie doll collection to my yarn for when I go into my knitting phases.
On Sunday morning, I cleared out the room and kept on thinking that I couldn't believe how big it is. I gave the bedroom set to my parents for their house in Ireland two years ago. It was my ex-step daughter's room, and I had it in my head that I did not want the furniture. The furniture was beautiful. My ex-husband and I purchased it unfinished and we stained it to match the rest of the natural wood in the room. There are also built-in custom oak book shelves and a built in oak desk. After my divorce I repainted the room, and picked up some really nice desk stuff, and the wall decorations are beautiful, I was in an exceptionally creative phase when I redid the room.
Now I just need a bedroom set for the darn room, and I can't find one in the right finish to go with the rest of the built-ins. Especially since I had a beautiful set, that matched perfectly.
Two years after getting over my distaste of anything to do with the ex-husband I am really kicking my self in the butt, because duh I had the perfect bedroom set, which is now across the ocean, and does not look nearly as good in it's new bedroom as it did in my house!
Act in haste, repent in leisure...... At least I can see the rug again, and the closet is re-organized with all of my odd stuff!
Tess, I'm always amazed at the hours you keep! According to the time on your post, you were up at 4 a.m. again!
I can't stand having stuff in my house that isn't currently in use or pleasing to me. I've turfed out tons of odds and ends over the years. Unfortunately, my husband is a sentimental packrat, so we have some conflict over his collections of memorabilia. Eventually he tosses it, but it's a constant source of angst to a degree. He's been relegated space in the garage for the junk he insists upon hanging onto, period. A few times a year, I'll go into the boxes myself and shred and toss, and he's never once been the wiser. Feels good.
KaeEll, I'm afraid that your husband and I are cut from the same cloth. I tend to assign sentimentality to a lot of objects that don't deserve it, but I'm getting better! Unfortunately, I also have a lot of "creative" projects going on -- my dollmaking, my needlepoint, my watercolors, my love of cooking, BOOKS, etc., so I've accumulated all the necessary "stuff" to go along with those outlets. I have my own work area for my sewing, and my husband and I share an art area in our basement, but there's still a lot of stuff around here!
Add to that confession the fact that we inherited a TON of heirloom china, antique crystal, antique flatware, linens ... oh, I'm not even going to try to list it all ... even after auctioning off much of it, that I decided was necessary to keep for my kids. A lot of it is in storage right now, but that means that I can't put what was ALREADY in my house into storage because the storage space is used up! (And, I'm NOT renting a second space...)
Okay, I'm going to get off the computer, and go throw something out!
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Today I cleaned my kichen drawers, it kind of feels like that "nesting" stage of pregnancy! I hate clutter, and am the opposite of a pack rat
I think what got me motivated was walking thru some really nice model homes and they are all so tidy, it makes you come home and re-arrange stuff ya know!
Moore, I used to tolerate clutter much more than I do now. I've found that keeping a place stripped down to just a few of my favourite things is much more serene. I do have some doo-dads around, certainly, but I gave away tons of heirlooms already. Fortunately, my 2 nieces in Kentucky and Virginia were happy to take their grandmother's things. My husband got to hang onto a couple of really lovely pieces from his mom.
Now the kids are another thing! They still have high school notes in the garage, boxes of baseball trophies and stuffed animals from old girlfriends. I'm hoping the resident chipmunk (demon spawn that he is) out there will nest inside them.
It's funny, I can make life-and-death decisions without too much of a challenge, but choosing what to eat for dinner, or what to get rid of seems to stop me cold. I know that your nieces must be thrilled with their loot!
Those stuffed animals from former girlfriends could probably go. (By the way, I read your post incorrectly the first time, and I thought you wrote that there are still some stuffed animals AND some old girlfriends being saved! LOL...) Perhaps if you accidentally drop a little piece of food in with the stuffed stash, your little demon spawn will get new inspiration about where he's meant to nest.
We have a "pet" chipmunk in our yard, and I much prefer him to the squirrels who are currently, brazenly, engaging in some significant foreplay on our back deck...
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Ha ha ha regarding the chipmunk. I used to love the little guys, and in fact in our old house, I had them trained to come sit on my feet and take peanuts from my hand. I thought they were just the cutest.....until the demon spawn came along.
This fellow taunts my poodle all day long! He sits on my back porch chittering until Chloe (poodle) nearly goes into apoplexy. I have to make a dreadful racket at the sliding doors to get him off the porch to let the dogs out. He then runs into one of the downpipe extensions and chirps away. It drives Chloe completely crazy! She's already trampled my hydrangas to a pulp and all but destroyed the potentilla bushes in that side garden. Grrrr!!
Last year I tried a few things to get Demon Spawn to leave (used dirty cat litter, human hair and cayenne pepper) and for a while I actually thought he'd left. But as soon as the snow melted a few weeks ago, he was back to his old tricks!
But I like the idea of salting the memorabilia boxes with some tasty morsels, heh, heh, heh.
You guys are cracking me up! During the week I get up every morning around 4 am. I try to have a cup of coffee before jumping into the shower. I'm a very slow riser, so a few minutes on the computer with my coffee, and the news in the background tends to ease me into the reality that I need to try to beat the Boston traffic.
I'm in very good shape related to the kitchen, because I really went through it the weekend before my surgery. I also went through my clothing while I was out on medical leave, because it was not heavy and I felt productive doing it.
I don't know if I told you guys about a really neat purchase I made about a month ago. I purchased a commercial grade garment steamer. The brand is Rowneta, I picked it up at Macy's, on sale. It is absolutely amazing. I can not stand wrinkles, nor ironing. I am saving a fortune on dry cleaning, with throwing garments in the delicate cycle, air drying and taking my steamer to them. It is also incredible for curtains, one thing that I hate ironing. I am even steaming the wrinkles out of my comforters, and ducking.... my sheets. It is truly that amazing, you just wave the steam wand over a wrinkled surface, and the wrinkle is gone. I had the curtains changed, wrinkle free in three bedrooms in less than a half hour. Truly amazing...... It's also wonderful on sweaters.
I can relate to the china situation. I love the Royal Dalton, Old Country Rose pattern, and have place settings for twelve people, not that I could ever fit that many people in my house for a meal. I also have most of the complimentary pieces. I have had a great time in England picking up pieces for a fraction of the cost over here. Half of the collection is in my kitchen cabinets. I also finally made room in my living room to get my Waterford Crystal collection, and the china cabinet back into the living room, so I have that all on display. My mother is from Waterford, so every time I go over there I go to the glass factory, and I have cousins who work at the factory, so we go into the employee showroom, and pick-up pieces for at least half off the market price. My favorite is my brandy decanter and the brandy glasses. I have the wine glasses, vases and rocks glasses in the same pattern, and they are gorgeous.
I have definite pack rat tendencies, although I have gotten better. I periodically hit my basement and make trips to the Salvation Army with donations.
I will not even talk about all the lawn furniture and neat toys I have for the outside, let's just say that I seriously need a second shed, and I have shut myself off from purchasing anymore stuff for the pool. I even have flip-flops in every size from child to adult, for my visitors, so that they do not ruin their regular shoes walking from the pool to the courtyard.
