My husband is a hoarder and collects different things. Most of this stuff is in the basement and his home office. He has bins and bins of carefully wrapped car parts(most new) that might have been needed for his 5 Mercedes vintage cars. (Yes he boarded cars): Thankfully he is down to two Mercedes cars left which basically stay in the garage and he agreed to sell since he bought a new Subaru which he loves because it never needs a repair. So all these hard to find car parts can be sold for some decent money too since many are impossible to find for certain make and models of cars. Then he has his toy minitaure collector car collection on bookshelves in the basement. One part of the basement has a nice family room, uncluttered. I basically am just so sick of looking at stuff and want no clutter and less things.
I have been reading a few books the past two years on leading a more simple life and letting go of possessions that one doesn’t need. It is easy to look around at your house and see things that one may be keeping for some reason but it has no real purpose in their life. For example I had bins of Christmas ornaments. For some reason for many years relatives wanted to keep giving me them because I had kids and they didn’t or they stopped putting up big trees. I just didn’t need all of this. So last year the kids and I went through what we loved and donated the rest. No regrets. Did the same thing with my China and all sorts of things one somehow acquires. I had lots of dust collector things that just took up space. Many were gifts and because things were Lenox, Waterford, or something $ I was supposed to keep it forever? So I gave things away or donated them. Now I have one small China cabinet with a few pieces of pottery that I love from years ago and some scented candles. No more odd things that take up space. I also have no desire to decorate my house in any Holliday theme top to bottom for different holidays. So many things were donated again. I want clean and simple. I do decorate my fireplace and have things in the front entrance area but I am not one to decorate all staircases and every inch of table space like a few of my friends. When I see too much stuff it make me feel a bit of anxiety like things are too busy. I want to feel calm in rooms.
Today I spent hours doing a small project and I am almost finished. My hubby had three bookcases with doors in the family room filled with unique car magazines, from Europe or on classic cars along with tons of Mercedes related books, magazines and brochures. Yes he bought all this crap on Ebay. So I separated everything into bins. Easy to organize each bin and sell back on eBay if some fool will buy it or donate so some other fool can have it..... what a nice feeling to have this open space in the family room. And of course he has never read at least 90% of the stuff he bought.
The more one starts to organize and be brutal with letting go the better you feel. For me it is not easy getting things out of the house because hubby works from home and snoops when he sees me doing things like this. So perhaps living with too much stuff for ages makes me want to live with less of everything. My son who just graduated college is on board and he is a wonderful shopper. Realizes quality made items works out better than cheaper things one only gets one season from. And he feels he does not need a lot of stuff. Now that he just started a professional job he cleaned out his closets and gave me 5 bags of clothing for friends sons or to donate. I think it is great he can start young and realize one does not have to spend all this money on things to fill up space. I also have a daughter in college who worked all summer and loves the malls. She is now starting to realize the difference in clothing from super cheap teen mall stores to clothing made with better fabrics like silk, linen and cashmere. So hopefully she can build on this and not rush to buy every fat fashion of the moment.
If some gets serious and just sits and look around their house I am sure they can find things they don’t need. Many of my friends still have clothing from high school, because you need your prom dress 25 years later. They can’t let go so items continue to take up space in their house. I donated my wedding gown and my moms wedding gown so someone else could use it. Even if it was for crafts it was better than sitting in a chest. Every friend I told this too said they would never be able to let go of their wedding dress and was shocked I could do this. So things hold different value to every person. I look around and feel there is still so much work to do before I am satisfied with my space. But it will eventually happen. And as I age I think I am over the materialistic value of things. I was hesitant to get a LV monogram speedy 40 last month because I was so over monogram designer anything but realized the bag will last me forever and I can use it everyday and it serves my needs. I want d canvas versus a leather bag. My LV bags have lasted over 20 years with a lot of use and still looked good. I can let go of so many other things and feel like I just don’t need more to replace what I get rid of. While I can admire others people items I don’t feel I need to have them.
I do spend some money on things that make me smile, I have started gardening as a hobby and love to buy unusual herb plants and some unique flower seeds. I planted a large vegetable garden this year too. I can repurpose things and repaint them to fix up the garden areas. I guess maybe I feel I am going into a different direction with my life and it will be exciting to see where the journey takes me.
Love this post
