purging

Just my basement, don't worry. Currently my basement looks like this when you walk in:

And now another, just as horrifying view:

And that’s a whole lot better than it looked a few weeks ago. Or at least, there are a lot less treasures boxes of crap down there. But there are still dozens of boxes and bags and trinkets to sort through before we make the final move to our new house. And I hate it. Or part of it. Like a lot of people, I find it therapeutic to remove unnecessary things from my house. I've seen all over Pinterest the William Morris quote, “have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” And though I find it inspirational,it clearly isn't motivating enough to get me to throw some of that stuff away!

Earlier this year I made it one of my new years resolutions to get rid of 5 things a month. And so far I have been successful, each month I usually even exceeded getting rid of 5 items as I tackled a problem area of the house- my closet, the junk drawer, etc. But back to my current problem- the basement where I house all my high school memorabilia, childhood toys, and elementary school awards- I am having trouble saying good-bye. Here are a few of the treasures I found:

 

And so, I am stuck in my basement struggling to place things that I look at fondly and smile, in either the "get rid" pile or the "save" pile. As much as I want to live by that above William Morris quote, I am much more of a “waste not, want not” sort of person (thank you mom) who holds on to things for those “just in case” moments and the times where I am feeling nostalgic and want to physically hold on to something from the past. Hopefully I will be able to keep on truckin’ through and finish by the weekend- after all, we have to be moved out by October 1^st! And I will have one unhappy husband if I make him move boxes and boxes of unsorted nick-knacks to our new house.

To which camp do you belong? Do you follow a more minimalistic approach to what you keep in your house, or could you have your own episode of Hoarders?



Side note- after moving 3 boxes of pictures documenting the first 18 years of my life, I am incredibly thankful for digital cameras and the ability to store photos on a computer!

the last 50 days

August 9, 2012: We bought a duplex. We bought a 100-year old, foreclosed duplex. It’s our first home.  And we were really excited.

September 27, 2012, today: We are 2 weeks behind schedule to get this baby rented out, but still excited, and tired, stressed, a little handier, and (hopefully?) wiser. So what have we done in the past 50 days?

Cleaned, cleaned, and then cleaned some more. Once we thought we were finished cleaning, we started painting the first floor, only to find out there was still more grime and grease to be cleaned (seriously, how gross can people be- there was grease everywhere, including the living room ceiling).

Then we painted, then stopped to sand, then clean, then paint again.

Then we had a friend re-tile the basement bathroom.

Then we laid carpet (tiles) ourselves(!) in the basement and attic.

Then we started knocking lots of smallish jobs off the never-ending list- replacing trim, painting vents, fixing loose drawers, repairing screens etc.

And then, this week, we tackled the biggest job of all- moving the upstairs toilet to create our laundry room. And by “we tackled,” I mean, we finally got the plumber in to lay the pipes, followed by an electrician, followed by a friend to fix the walls and ceilings. With any luck we will have a working 2^nd floor bathroom and laundry room by the weekend.

And so I have started a blog to document this: to document two, very-unhandy people fixing up a literally, century-old house and becoming first time homeowners and first time landlords. But also to document the smaller details of our lives- our vending jobs, other DIY endeavors , new recipes, Winston, exercising, vacations, house decorating, coaching. Hopefully this blog will become not only a journal- something I can look back on fondly in the future, but also become something more- something to motivate me to try new and beautiful things in the present and something to remind me to enjoy the everyday things.

*A little disclaimer- the other "we's" used when discussing work done on the duplex were not merely referring to David and myself, but also to my parents and David’s, to Grandmas, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends and coworkers who donated their time, tools, and hand-me-downs to David and me.