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!