I'm not very good at making and keeping New Years resolutions, however, 2015 is going to be different. I made a list a mile long of all my resolutions. Go big or go home right? The biggie, (and the only one I want to share with blog land) the one I have been pondering for months, is to save money, pay off bills, clean out some much needed space in my house and stay out if the thrifts for awhile. I know that sounds like 4 resolutions (and I guess it is) but they all tie together. But wait, did I say stay out of the thrifts? Yes, yes I did. Most people have an inner threshold of how much "stuff" they can own before they start to feel overwhelmed. I'm here to tell you that I am at that threshold. I literally can't handle another tchotchke, article of clothing, Christmas item, or speck of dust entering this house or I may lose it. Now this post is a "keeping it real" post, as the pro bloggers like to call it. If you came to my house you would think it was pretty neat and clean. And the parts you see ARE! If you looked a little deeper you would find lots and lots of "stuff" hiding. Let's take a little peek shall we?
In between my kitchen and dining room is a little hall. They call it a butlers pantry? Whatev, it holds gobs if crap
Here it is looking all clean and innocent.
Here's under one of the cupboards
Here's the other. I promise not all my cabinets look like this but the ones holding vintage, booth, show, and etsy items...oh yes they do. Continuing on.
This is a hall closet. All of those coats are eBay, none if them are ours. Above is stuffed with vintage games.
The rest of my eBay lives upstairs. I have a walk in closet in my bedroom. Behind it is a "bonus" closet. It is cedar lined and I guess meant to hold your out of season clothing. Ha! My wardrobe consists of scrubs (for work) and jeans, t shirts and sweatshirts, with a sprinkling of nice clothes for church and weddings. That's it. That bonus closet is my eBay room.
Here it is in all it's glory.
This side has shoes, hang clothes, belts, and other accessories. Also books.
This side is folded clothes and all my non clothing items.
I do try to keep it fairly organized (I hate not being able to find something I sold) but the amount of inventory is TOO MUCH. Probably half isn't listed.
Next up is the basement. I've got a pretty good sized basement, which is great if you don't have a weakness for collecting. I do.
One whole side is big sturdy built in shelves. There are 3 sections. The first 2 are ALL Christmas...
The next one is just stuff. Kids stuff, decor stuff, electronic stuff, you know the stuff that just multiplies while you sleep.
On the
other side is my craft area, desk, couches, etc. It also has built in shelving (uh oh)
(No idea why my kid decided to paint his name on that shelf, it is most definitely NOT Zach's)
Next to this built in is my craft cupboard. I love it. It holds a ton of stuff, but it needs an overhaul
Also in the basement is this huge area under the stairs. I keep all if my Halloween stuff under there.
Apparently I also keep lamps, baskets, and plants. You can't even see the Halloween stuff! Lastly in the basement is the area
next to the stairs .
This picture actually makes it look better than it is. Now that is a lot of stuff you may be thinking. And it is. But I have yet to show you the worst room of all. Meant for our cars and I don't think we've parked their in a good 8 years. THE GARAGE! Shield your eyes kids..
Ok I don't know if you can tell but there is a boat under there. A boat my stepdad gave my son. It never gets used except as a place to
store more crap! I also store all my boxes, bubble wrap, etc out here. Also much furniture. Here's the other side
Goodness did I just show that? Hideous. And the thing is I like to organize! I like neat spaces! I also like to shop and I have too much crap!
So here's the plan. No thrift stores (I'm crying inside) antique stores, flea markets or estate sales. I am going to shoot for one month shopping free. In that month I hope to get a lot of stuff listed. I also rented a booth again at a local antique mall and lots will be going there. Also organize, clean out, get rid of, etc. So do you think I can do it? If I feel the urge I will come back to these pics and remind myself why I need to stop. Anyone wanna join me in a 1 month no spend challenge? Misery loves company!!!!
Heh, I am totally not perfect, but I find that the system that actually works best for me is to just take one bag a week to goodwill. I have done the big CLEAN OUT (TM) many times and it all goes to hell again soon after. Once a week is a good sort of maintenance routine for us! I also donated a bunch of shop inventory I couldn't sell for the life of me this year, and as the year end approaches I guess I ought to do it again for tax purposes, huh? Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI also have lots of stuff squirreled away...but you have me beat. I am like Sarah and do a weekly bag or so to Goodwill. I am a constant purger. I am also bound and determined to get a handle on some of my piles and get them headed to Etsy or Ebay. I can't say I won't be hitting an estate sale though...I need that fix. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI too have been trying to work out a 'doable' way to tone down my hoard... I know I would fail immediately at NO SALING, but I'm thinking along the lines of 'Purging Goals'. Maybe like trying to get everything that we bring into the house (for resale) listed within 7 days - PLUS a box from storage??
ReplyDeleteAny way you look at it, You are NOT ALONE!!
I noticed you had the game Perfection in your closet, if you are looking to get rid of it let me know, my brother really wanted one this Christmas and we weren't able to find one. You can email me a price and I will tell you if I can afford it lol. Good luck with your New Year Goals, they run similar to mine, but staying out of a thrift...I don't know if I can do it. o d e l l b a 1 4 @ gmail
ReplyDeleteYou are brave to show your "messes". I hide mine. But, TRUST ME, I have messes. Oh, do I have messes. I have a terrible time letting things go because I see it all as money - things I can sell. I do always have a Goodwill box going and donate about every two weeks or so. Doing shows makes you need to hunt for things and have things on hand. I dream of my own liltle shed or outbuilding for all my junk. Ah. That would be heaven. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess that’s one way of greeting the New Year. What you have done with them is a great start. It really helps a great deal to organize cluttered space, so that you can see what needs to be kept or discarded, and to have easier access to them as well. I know you are going to make it cleaner, judging by the neat areas we were able to get a sneak peak of. Keep this up, Marci. Good day!
ReplyDeleteGerman Zollinger @ Total Clean Equip