I have finally pinpointed the source of my anxiety and depression, and am taking action to combat it.
In one hand is a trash bag, in the other, a donation box. Bring it on.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Furniture-pocalypse.

I've been a busy little bee the past few days. Between family obligations and the every day adventures of having two toddlers at home, I've managed to expel a good bit of furniture from our apartment. We've shed one bench, a rack of TV dinner trays, a side table, a TV, a TV stand, and a DVD rack, all gone to live with my little sister. (I made it clear to her that she was in no way obligated to take or keep any of it. She was welcome to say no to, sell, give away, or donate anything she liked.)

The TV and stand were extras that we had sitting in storage. Though I really (really) liked the stand, it didn't work in our space, and we couldn't use it because of its low profile. (Our kids are button pushers!) So why was I storing it? In hopes that I could use it one day, when we can afford to move in x years? Foolishness!

A little inspiration...
The bench is one that we've had for a while. It's actually one of the few pieces that moved with us from Florida, and I've held onto it all this time. There's just no space for it, and no real need for it . It's been shoved into one corner of our dining or living room since we moved in, and resulted in a lot of banged shins. As much as I love it, it's just not worth the space it's taking up.

I don't think we've used those TV trays a single time in... two years? Yeesh.

The DVD rack was actually being used as a make-shift second bookcase in our bedroom. We could only fit paperbacks onto it, and there were stacks and stacks of leftover books on our dresser. (Not to mention all the books crammed onto our first bookshelf, or stacked on the floor.) The shelf we still have is relatively cheap at Walmart, so we'd benefit from just getting a second matching self. It will take only a little more floorspace than the DVD rack did, and provide a LOT more storage. I could also use it to store office and craft supplies, in order to clear out some of my closet for clothes, and clear off our desk for working on. It just makes more sense. So yes, I am getting rid of something in order to bring something else in, but it is a fair trade since it will help solve the storage problem in our bedroom.

I'll be honest, I'm afraid of when the time comes to go through my books. I donated and stored hundreds of books when I moved to Florida, and many of the ones that were stored ended up being donated upon my return. (They were YA books that no longer interested me. Not classics, etc.) It was HARD for me to say goodbye to them. I LOVE books. One of my "dream home" fantasies involves a large library, with floor to ceiling wall to wall shelves, covered in leather bound books. That rich, almost musty smell is one of my favorites. Giving away a book feels like abandoning a friend...

Am I ever going to read this dime novel again, though?...probably not. Ok, fine. Definitely not. It's valuable real estate, to be wasting on something that doesn't hold any value for me beyond a sense of obligation.

I know that one day soon I'm going to have to address my books, and I'm going to have to say goodbye to a lot of them.

Thankfully, today is not yet that day. I'll be honest, I'm just not yet emotionally there.


The furniture, though.... I've not missed it. I thought I would at least feel sad that my bench was no longer there...

...Eh.

The only problem was that it WAS a storage bench, which we used to store overflow in drinks (soda, juice) from our two pantries. Those drinks are now on the floor along the wall in my kitchen. Nooooot the best place for them.

I think the next step in Mission: Minimalism is going to be the pantries. It's time to clean them out! There's some stuff in there that's been hanging around for ages, never getting used. I wonder if there's even enough space in there to store some of our counter cluttering and cupboard hogging appliances? Only cleaning it will tell! I'll be sure to post before and after photos, though they may be cell phone pics. My memory card seems to have disappeared in the sea of clutter...

2 comments:

  1. This is awesome Brooke! I paid an electrician about $200 to install outlets in my kitchen cupboards and pantry. Now my microwave, toaster over, blender etc. are all out of the way and never take up counter space and are always neatly tucked out of sight.

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  2. I would love to have everything out of the cardboard packaging and into see-through containers. Containers bring a uniform look and make things look much more organized.

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