Breathing

I started this lifestyle 15 days ago and hadn't yet had time to start the purging process until this weekend. I only had plans this weekend to declutter - 3 whole days! I got a wind of ambition on Friday night and started early...with the most overwhelming room - my bedroom.

I had previously done some decluttering, but nothing to this magnitude. I knew cleaning out my closet and dresser would be the hardest - so why not start there first. Get the most difficult out of the way and then it should get easier to let go of stuff, right? That's the way it worked for me.

Really seeing the stuff for what it was, yeah, that was a bit overwhelming. I had clothes in both my closet and dresser that had never been worn. I had given space to things that added little to no value to my life. One by one, each article of clothing and shoe was touched - it was like I needed to give myself permission to let go...permission to breathe. I ended Friday night after 4 hours and felt like I had just resuscitated my bedroom - its lungs were filling with breath again and were freed from the weight of the clutter and stress.

Saturday started early and ended late - I walked away for errands and felt as though the same weight my home had been feeling was lifted from me. I was no longer being held to the idea that I NEEDED the stuff that was put in tubs for donating. I found air again.

Sunday - I tackled the kitchen (my favorite room). By this point, it was much easier to let stuff go. I cleaned out drawers that were brim-full and hadn't been accessed in years. I donated not 1, but 2 (WHAT?!?) cookbooks! And discovered that they were blocking one that held value to me. I found a cookbook that was my grandmother's with her name written inside in her handwriting - I sat there in tears. I had put this item away and forgotten about it...sentiment shouldn't be easily forgotten.

Monday - I finished up a couple of little places that had received their own amount of clutter and have even started shopping differently. I went to the thrift store looking for more cloth napkins and found myself seeing objects in a different light - how are they useful and how can they add to my home?

Throughout this process, there were moments of overwhelming stress and tears, but the feeling at the end...that's when I felt the reward. Not only was I able to donate a lot of things to a great, local organization, but I was able to throw away a lot of stuff that just brought me stress. Is my house completely free of clutter? No...but for me, this is a process and it's going to take some time to sift out even more that's not needed.

Useful & Beautiful

have nothing in your house that you do not know to

be useful, or believe to be beautiful

- william morris

We are a cluttered culture. We crave filled spaces - in our homes...in our lives. We have junk overtaking our drawers, multi-car garages, storage sheds, and possibly rent storage space down the street. Think about that for a moment.....we actually pay for extra space to store our extra stuff.... All of this "more" we thought we needed is sitting somewhere else collecting dust.

At every thought of this lifestyle, I've seen a glimpse of freedom. Freedom from the clutter, freedom from the stress, freedom from the burden. Most people don't look at their house and say, "I think I need some more junk mail piled up on the counter and maybe another load of laundry just sitting by the couch." I don't look around my home and wish I had more clutter. But isn't that what the "more" we're always wanting becomes? Just more sitting around with no purpose, seemingly no value, taking up space, and growing another layer of dust. It's time for a change...I'm trading clutter for useful and beautiful.

About 2 years ago, I had a vision for this skinny little wall that separates my living room from my kitchen. I was never really happy with the items that graced its space. Until one day, I stumbled upon an idea on Pinterest (shhh...it's my other love). The idea was simple and had this sort of industrial beauty. I enlisted the help of my dad to find the boards and the next time he was visiting we went shopping for the other pieces. Now it's one of my favorite walls. Not only did I find a way to make this little space useful, but its purpose became something for beauty.

These are found to be beautiful - art, gifts, and memories.

I'm done with the notion of having something in my home just because someone else has deemed it trendy. I want my home to showcase not just the things I find useful and beautiful, but highlight all the things that I do that are beautiful - raising my children, spending time with family, cooking for those I love. From now on, my collections will consist of laughter, love, and memories.