The dumpster was delivered this afternoon. Tomorrow the entire upstairs will be emptied out. We may push our dressers into the bathroom, but otherwise the contents of the bedrooms and closets must find their way downstairs. We will certainly take advantage of the opportunity to send things on to the thrift shop. On Monday the old carpets will be removed, on Tuesday the hardwood floors will start to go down.
I really hate to send anything off to the landfill, adding my contribution to the world's trash. But the carpet was here when we bought the house 15 years ago and now we are finally sending it off to the happy hunting ground. I am looking forward to enjoying the new floors, cool and smooth on bare feet, and sweeping them clean instead of using a noisy and energy-sucking vacuum.
The spare, simple and clean aesthetic of some traditions really appeal to me. Japanese and Shaker come to mind tonight. As we clear out the trappings of a house where four active kids were raised, I long for a more pared down look. This seems a fine opportunity to make a first pass at things.
How about you? Are you lured by the desire to de-clutter and purge? Do you have any strategies you'd be willing to share?
Where does it all come from? That's what I ask myself, along with why I am I so hesitant to let it go? I love to purge but most of the time it feels like I've not gone far enough, and occasionally it feels like I've gone too far!
ReplyDeletewouldn't you just love to get some advice and strategies from moi!?!! so would i....but just the thought of smooth wood floors and walking barefoot make me happy and make me remember to not take anything for granted...good luck with the "purge" tqoe who has miles to go (unfortunately shod) to get to that "shaker" space
ReplyDeleteI have the most trouble letting go of things with emotional attachments. My best tactic for that is: take a picture, then move it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of recreating my 25 year old son's old bedroom into a little library for me that will easily convert into a guest bedroom for when my two nieces stay with me. I, too, am replacing carpet with wood flooring and am looking forward to a peaceful retreat. Down come the door with stickers, the ski posters, bicycle pictures taped on the walls. I guess I should have taken a picture before dismantling but didn't think to do so!
ReplyDeleteI do little purges here and there, but seeing your empty room makes me want to do a big one. I think it happens as we are ready for it; to rush is to have regrets.It's hard to see clutter as clutter when we are around it all the time - sometimes it takes getting away and then coming back to recognize the need for a purge, sometimes getting new floors is the impetus. Whatever the reason, clearing space to leave breathing room is always a good thing! Enjoy your new floors!
ReplyDeleteI'm on the other end of that continuum, but with the same impulses--we try to simplify and de-clutter but that is not the m.o. of our twin almost-1st graders. Legos and action figures just aren't very Shaker . . . perhaps that's the challenge of having children later in life. Mentally you embrace that simplified space but day-to-day life isn't there yet (and even if we had just a few choice wooden Waldorf toys, they'd still be in the middle of the floor!)
ReplyDeleteI am constantly at odds between my desire for sparseness and my predilection towards collecting.
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