stuff…

…this year after christmas i got sort of grinchy.  i couldn’t stop thinking about how stressful the holidays always get (even when i try really hard to keep this from happening) and how it all involves just so much stuff. so many gifts of stuff.  so i made a little plan. i decided that for this year i wasn’t going to buy anything that would contribute to the clutter (stuff) in our house. i love having a bigger space to live in, but my goal is not to fill it up with more – so, instead of not buying anything, i now have a strict one in, one out policy. i think enjoying new/different things is great, but i don’t want to hang on to everything. that’s how basement and garage disasters happen and how things seem to get ‘stuck’ in my house even though i don’t find them useful or lovely anymore. it’s really changed the way i see potential purchases – since i have to already know what will be donated or given away if i bring something else in. oh, and i’m not just doing this for household items either – it’s everything…clothes, shoes, books…

…i’ve boxed and bagged up tons of stuff since christmas (not only with the one in, one out – but just because i think getting rid of stuff is fun. easy come easy go, don’t let things get stuck!) and i don’t miss any of it. it feels like peeling back layers of the house and only keeping what we love. anyway, it’s a work in progress, but i really think that having a system for bringing things into the home and sending them away is important. do you have ways to keep your stuff from getting out of hand?

{ps – that typewriter at the top was one of my swift current finds. it doesn’t work and serves only as a toy/something i like to look at. i plan to get rid of all the other typewriters i have, save for one working one to actually use. it is possible that i have 4 or 5 others in the garage…eeeep!}