How Little Can I Live With?

Much more than I thought or want.  Really.

My thought was to purge a lot of unwanted stuff and start over this part of my life by living more simply but I still ended up with...say it again?  Much more than I wanted.  This is what was left after a packed-car trip to the new place!

Does not include the furniture that I will take! 

The biggest space hogs among my moving boxes are the six and a half boxes and plastic totes devoted to sewing books and fabric.  That is even more than the space devoted to my finished items of clothing!  That does not even include the two sewing machines, a table and a wardrobe dedicated to hold everything.  For sure, this is not a hobby suited for minimal living!

I guess I will never be able to live like this:

All-in-one unit. Designer unknown.

let alone this apartment in 300 square feet.

The funny thing is that I really thought I had less sewing "stuff n' stash" than most  bloggers I read until I combined the stuff from my bedroom closet, under the bed, in the wardrobe/armoire, on my bookshelf, and next to and in the sewing table. Yes, in denial, was I.  So can anyone show me a seamster/sewist* that does live minimally?  I'm serious, I dare you!


*Of adult garments, not quilts, children clothing or stuffed animals.

Purging Your Stuff (and part of your life) is Hard

I am moving out of the city and also into a smaller space (my old bedroom in my childhood home) and realize it would be easier and more efficient to limit the amount of stuff that I actually move from here to there.  I once lived in an efficiency and was fine with minimal belongings, but after moving into a "palace" in terms of square footage, I began to accumulate more items and furniture to fill the space.  In the picture below, the only other furniture missing in that picture was a double bed, dining table, folding chairs and a bureau for my clothes. The truly funny thing is that I still own everything in that picture, save for the lavender vase on the coffee table, which broke years ago.

Efficiency.  Arlington, 1997.

I started looking on the Internet to see how others accomplished ridding themselves of things. Check this article on Lifeedited for one family's experience doing this.  If you are also thinking of going this route, two books I have reviewed here before may help you: Throw Out Fifty Things (reviewed here) and Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure that I wrote about here.

For this task, furniture-wise, I'm only keeping what I love.

"Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." William Morris
Unfortunately, that is still too much for the space, but I'm going to make it happen.  The secretary desk turned dresser that I still mean to refinish, my IKEA desk (as future sewing table), my armoire (sewing storage), the chunky mid-century rocking chair, and a self-tiled mosaic table are what I mean to bring with me.  There's also the possibility of keeping the IKEA MISI table, seen in the picture below before its current paint job.  It has been an ideal sewing table with it's six individual drawers the perfect size for scissors, buttons, and other notions.

One bedroom. Arlington, 2003.

I can see that I've kept moving the same stuff from place to place even though many of the pieces were what I came across or someone gave to me as opposed to what I went out and got because it spoke to me and I wanted it. A lot of these items make me feel unsuccessful, like the loveseat a friend gave to me when she moved. She had purchased it years earlier from a thrift store and ten years later it is still in my living room. Underneath the slipcover, it is in horrible shape, to the point I'm ashamed of having people get a good look at it.  I guess I won't feel like I'm an adult until the day I can afford a couch that I choose myself, while this one just reminds me that my lean years are still here.


If you're going to find out who you'll become, you need space in your life for who you are, rather than storing reminders of who you thought you were going to be."
Wende Feller
The rest of my furniture has made its way to Craigslist. A Panasonic portable CD/ dual cassette player (a suggestion to also get rid of my other one was hard to take since I use my music as a way to destress), a bedside table that I repaired, stripped, and painted; an IKEA TV/entertainment center, another IKEA piece, a beautiful dinner buffet (just sold!). There are also two IKEA Robin bookshelves in great condition, a twin-sized futon and frame (remember those?); and a golden yellow (one of my first painted furniture projects) Queen Anne coffee table. Not enough? How about a mini Cuisinart food processor and a Braun 10-cup coffee maker. I am getting inquiries and I've sold two pieces, I just hope to get rid of more as I really need the money they would bring in.

One bedroom. Richmond, 2006.

I hope when I move into my own place again, that I will have the money to buy what I really like, so that my apartment (or house?) will truly reflect my personality and no longer look like I just moved out of a college dorm. I think it's about time.

Does It Ever End?

Due to some last minute signatures needed from the VA State government, I had to stay home today from work. So, yes even more money I won't get paid this week.

So I am taking the time to get rid of some clutter and stuff around the house. There are so many surfaces, boxes, and closets that need to be dug through and pared down. For the longest time, just the thought of doing this could paralyze me. I've decided to work slow, moving from one area to another, and taking small breaks (like this one!) as I go. Wish me luck.

Possible domestic Bermuda Triangle in my home

I lost a dress in my apartment.

Not just any dress but my favorite black knit dress with the awesome neckline.

It is a one-bedroom apartment and I live alone.

I noticed it was missing a month ago and really haven't done much about it. I know it has to be here somewhere. It's not like I went on a whirlwind trip around the world and left it at one of my swanky hotel stops. I just have too much stuff! Can you believe it? Losing a dress in a one-bedroom apartment?

Though I DO have eight-foot wide closets that ARE stuffed with so much stuff that I DO double things up on hangers (dresses under jackets) and I DID move a bunch of things to the hall closet as a makeshift Out Box. Also, the dress IS black and my closets ARE dark.

But still...this is getting ridiculous.

I feel a series of MAJOR de-cluttering sessions have to happen!

Dealing with 50 things

So when I currently think about my apartment, I just think clutter and "Must get rid of EVERYTHING! Really, this is a daily occurrence now. I would love to start over with a clean slate but that's just not possible right now. I'm usually looking at all the big stuff when it's the little stuff that's driving me crazy. I find I have loads of things for "One day, I will need..."

Things such as free address labels for mail; however, I pay almost all of my bills online and use USPS online postage system for all other mail. (Seriously, look into Click-N-Ship, I love it.)

Old college textbooks that were interesting (Psychology and Communications) that I think I might refer back to one day. So, how many times have I referred back to the books from my first go at college? NEVER.

Cookbooks for that time in my life when I will suddenly start making all of my meals and diligently use that Moosewood cookbook, the pasta one, the two vegetarian ones, and Martha's cookie book. In my last big purge, I donated the four other vegetarian ones I had received knowing full well that more than two would just overwhelm me. Hopefully, I will get to cooking from some of these one day. Especially the brunch cookbook I picked up a few years ago in California. Yes, it's just brunch recipes. Mmmm...

5 new items moved to the Out Box:

• Two necklaces given as presents that I never wore
  
• One of the shoes that I needed to replace (they were replaced by the Borns)
  
• One pair of elastic strap sandals, only wore them twice. They were too big, therefore, I didn't feel secure in them (Why I didn't take them back, I don't remember).
  
• Red fleece scarf, mittens and hat with Burberry plaid accent that I made from a pattern and rarely wore. I will probably give these as a gift. I just have to find the right person.

Lightening Up...

I realize as I go through this de-cluttering thing that so much I possess doesn't reflect ME. Most of my possessions are as such: a cute top that was on sale, a gift someone gave me, shoes that happened to be at the right price, right time.

To see me as I see myself you would have to disregard a few things or search through my closets to find ME. What happened to the individual I was in college who bought things she loved that rarely anyone else did? Having no money wasn't a good excuse back then either.

A while ago I made the decision not to bring things (or people, for that matter) into my life that don't fit in, but what do I do with the "stuff" that's already here?!

Every 6 months or so, I have pledged to declutter but I'm still having a really hard time doing it. Well, I read a great article in the April 2007 Real Simple magazine by life coach Gail Blanke about getting rid of 50 things*. You use this technique to not only get rid of stuff but also to get rid of any negative thoughts in your head that are holding you back. Obviously, if I still have all this stuff despite constantly saying I don't want it in my life then there may be something else involved. In the article, Gail mentions something that her mother taught her; " 'If you don’t know what to do with it, or where to put it, or why you ever bought it in the first place, or if looking at it depresses you, throw it out,' she’d say. 'Never keep anything that makes you feel heavy or weighs you down.' "

Apparently, I'm not the only person thinking about this, just a few days ago I noticed that Ana of Rearranged Design, is getting rid of five things a week and has even started a Flickr group for others who want to join in.

So, I'm going to do the "50 things". I just wish I had a separate space to put everything I'm discarding; otherwise, it's just me, making another unsightly pile in my home.

When I dropped off my rent, I inquired about our elevator that's been broken for three weeks. It turns out it may take a LOT longer (thanks for telling us!) being an older model. What all this means is that taking the accumulated things to the trash, or just to my car will be more complicated unless I can rope in some help. Oh, well, no excuses.

My 1st go at it:

• A nubby green basket weave blanket by Martha Stewart from K-Mart that has holes, dangling threads, and has not been unfolded for two years.
• A marble tray that I didn't know I still had.
• Four books, one I picked up at a library's "Please take one" table; a design book I didn't connect with (a gift); the DAR handbook (I used to work for them); and a Dilbert book I never look at anymore (another gift).
  
  

* According to Gail's rules, a group of magazines and/or catalogs only count as ONE thing. Darn!