I know, I know, everyone has posted their goals this month..I am linking up to The Nesting Place so read along and better yet, join in.
I never thought much about goals for my home, but why not. I think my biggest goal for my home is to mentally come to love this place and realize it IS home. We bought this house when we lived out of state, sight unseen. Oh, my parents who live nearby had seen it, took pictures, and the price seemed right. But it’s small. At least for us, small. 1400 square feet. Our previous home was 2600 square feet, and we have about 4,000 square feet of STUFF.
We have STUFF in the closets, STUFF in the garage, STUFF all over the back patio. We can’t enjoy our backyard, too much STUFF. I know my hubs is as frustrated as I am and we are stuck as to where to even start.
My sis had a great idea. Rent a storage place temporarily. Go through the stuff and weed out what we can give away and the rest put in storage for a while. Get it out of the house. Because I honestly don’t know how much longer I can deal with it.
Now, that that is settled in my mind anyway, I need to learn to LOVE this house. Make it a home. I would rather be somewhere else, I have never gotten over selling our favorite home SEVEN years ago. It’s time to let it go, I know..It’s been gone longer than we lived there at this point, but we should never have sold that home. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, but in retrospect probably the only thing that we regret the most in our lives. I’m trying, I really am, but it brings me to tears still when I think about it. How do I get over this? I can’t make this a home until I release that one.
This is a rambly post, sorry. Here is my goal for our home this year. Paint the interior. Sorry, but I can’t stand white walls and this place is full of them. And get rid of the STUFF. I think once those things are taken care of, I can move on. We are here for the duration, will not be moving so it really is in our best interest to make this our HOME.
What do you think and any suggestions for me??
Here are a few pictures:
Now the ugly
So..any ideas?
Posts
i def think painting is a great place to start....making it more you. since you have to remove everything to paint, edit intentionally and clear the clutter as you add back in. you need less to calm your life (as i do!). make a year long calendar and focus on small steps so that by the end of 2011, you can see measured progress. don't expect too much as you have some limitations to consider, but if you get small goals met, you will be encouraged to keep going...this is actually self therapy going on here...lol!
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. We move a lot so sometimes I get sad over past houses. But if you're in this one for the duration, def make it your own. Once you get going, you'll be happy with the results and feel better about it. We currently rent so it's very hard for me to get motivated. I started today by cleaning and rearranging. I already feel better. Your garage looks like mine. lol One thing I like to do, is take everything out of a room, then start over. It's amazing how much you can live without. It looks like you are a collector. That much stuff would drive me nuts but some people enjoy being able to view their collections. I think your sister's idea is great. A little painht would go a long ways too. Wish I was there to help you! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGreat goals but scary, huh?
ReplyDeleteI think simplicity is good. If you haven't done anything with it in 10 years- donate it, 5 years- think of offering it to your kids, less than 5 years- store in boxes with details and date it. If another 5 years go by, donate it.
Clearing out some clutter and learning to love the home you are in are great goals!! My husband and I were talking about that while we were on our walk this morning. There is this old farmhouse that we walk by, and every time we do, we covet it. Even though we live in a very nice house, and we have done a lot of work to it to make it our own, we still covet what is not ours. We need to just realize how lucky we are to live where we do, and love our house for what it is, not despise it for what it is not.
ReplyDeleteI think if you get rid of stuff, you will feel much better. We don't have a lot of clutter, and our house is only 1600 sq ft, and there are 7 of us living here. I think the fact that we don't keep a lot of stuff makes our house feel bigger than what it is.
Good luck, and happy new year!!
Beth.
Oh my thank you all for your ideas! Wonderful..I hate to spend money we don't have for a storage place, we could use the garage as a sorting zone, he does plan to use one side of the garage for his workshop, etc...we would just have to leave both vehicles out, but only one in there now ~ barely.
ReplyDeleteI hate the cardboard too and I know I have lost some things already due to wind, sand and heat.
When we get started on this SOON I will document! He did clean off the part of the patio today that we can get to, we have a nice table and bbq there..so someplace to sit..now need a big curtain to block off that mess:-/
Hey there! Thanks for the visit. :) I think your patio looks like an AWESOME space to relax and enjoy the outdoors. I think moving all the stuff out for a bit is a good way to get started and decide what you don't want/need anymore. I saw on a blog somewhere this week where the girl took all the stuff off of her counters, hutches, etc. and live with "empty" for a week. She really liked the clean feel.
ReplyDeletePainting will definitely make it feel more like "you". Your sister had a great idea to rent a storage unit and go through things.
ReplyDeleteSissy I'll be there in March I'll help you !
ReplyDelete]You have a beautiful home you just have way to much stuff and unfortunately that stuff is memories of your life and that is so hard to part with.
We figure something out remember the idea of making a photo album of all the things that you decide to get rid of and then you still have the memories.
Love you,
Sissy
Your home is beautiful! Hmmm, stuff......I'm a packrat (read my profile). It is a lifelong addiction. LOL
ReplyDeleteBTW, you have an awesome mirror/shelf showing in your bathroom pic!! LOVE it!
Happy 2011!
Big TX Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents
Sorry I'm a bit late in commenting but we've been traveling again this week so I'm behind on my google reader. Anyhow, I can relate to your loss and your mourning your old home. Due to economic circumstances beyond our control, we also had to sell our dream home over two years ago. We had 3,800 sq. ft. and downsized TWICE...IN ONE YEAR. First to a 1,450 sq. ft. apartment and then finally to our Love Shack with only 687 sq. ft. YEP YOUR READ IT RIGHT 687 sq.ft. The way I got MY HEAD AROUND it was...realizing that the fact that even though we loved our big house we loved the IDEA OF IT more than we loved living in it. Maintly because in order to keep it...we both had to work a lot of hours in two very demanding jobs. Also the maintenance and upkeep with the one acre lot were just so time consuming. The final realization was that all my kids had flown the coup and we were empty nesters...we only lived in three rooms, our bedroom, the living room and kitchen. So when I lost my job we put it on the market and took a huge loss when we unloaded it. We also had two other homes, a vacation home in SC which we also sold at a loss and the final home was a second home that my son lived in while in college which we couldn't sell. SO we decided to make the final move and make it our Love Shack ;) Five years ago we lost my father to cancer and my mom has been stuck in their house because she is too overwhelmed to unload their STUFF! This was also a MAJOR factor in our decision to downsize...I didn't want to have a mess to deal with when I was too old to deal with it...lol Also I didn't want to burden my children with it as my parents have with our family. After all...you can't TAKE IT WITH YOU!!! I cried when I had to sell my Ethan Allen custom furniture that I paid over $5,000.00 for for $500.00 but the reality is...it was only worht that to me and not anyone else. The emotional attachment is MUCH WORSE than the physical attachment. I used craig's list, yard sales and consignment shops to unload my STUFF. Now my DH and I travel when we want and I no longer have to work, unless I want to. I will never be financially or emotionally attached to STUFF again. So I guess that is what you need to do for yourself in making this house your new home...fall in love with your actual life and not the IDEA OF A LIFE you are really no longer living. Hope this helps, fondly, Roberta
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading these great ideas, I could not think of anything to add! Everyone has some wonderful ideas, but the only thing I could say is, your house looks lovely! My house is bigger but not nearly as neat and pretty as yours! I have piles of crud everywhere and that is my goal for this year...to clean the crud. I also read your last post and saw that you have had some financial issues. Use craig's list to clear your excess and make some extra money in the process!! Pay some bills or get ready for that grandchild you are expecting!! The more you make this home yours, the more you will realize home is where you make it, not an image of what was!!
ReplyDeleteBarb,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I finally got to the point of getting rid of "stuff". I noticed my dresser becoming a catch-all, so I tossed it and LOVE the bare dresser. Less "stuff" means less "stress". When I walk through the house now, I'm not on edge because of the clutter. I feel like I've actually accomplished something (w/o lifting a finger). Keep the boys' momentos...but remember, you have a new little one coming and you want time with her/him, not sifting. One or two special pieces of a collection and the rest to the boy's or Craigslist. That will help pay for all those trips to No. Ca. that you'll be doing :) It's do-able and you won't even miss it. (One of these days, Chuck's box of black cords is going to "disappear") Shhhhhhh!
We, too, put some of our things in storage when we moved to a smaller house. Best move ever. Now we are in a bigger place and I still wish I could put some things in a storage. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI had fun reading all the comments....I am so into downsizing its unbelieveable....but I think when yiou feel the "stuff" is taking over an dcontrolinmg your life its time to let go...that is what Ihave been doing....today I cleaned out my hubs and my closets...have 6 bags full of clothes and shoes, that either we can't wear, won't wear and never will...it is such a good feeling...my tastes have changed so much, and sometimes as hard as it is once I get rid of it, Inever miss it...have been listing tons of stuff on Ebay...slow but it adds up and best, its gone! I guess the old saying "Less is MOre" is true...good luck...and wow, what a neat back space outside you would have if the stuff was gone...I would live out there...lol!
ReplyDelete