My husband left the corporate world 8 years and 5 months ago. Though he occasionally wears a suit, for the rare wedding or funeral that we attend, for the most part his days of dress shirt and tie are gone. When we purchased this 1970's ranch style home in 2006, we completely remodeled the main body of the house, giving it an open floor plan and very casual feel, like us. The bedrooms are tiny and the closets even smaller! We downsized over 1,000 square feet from our old 1924 home (which I completely remodeled and LOVED) and detached garage apartment in Del Rio. Though we got rid of a lot of stuff in that move, not nearly enough to fit into this home. The tiny closets, the garage attic and every imaginable space is jam packed with things I couldn't part with. I have yet to tackle the photo box and my school papers. As evidenced in the post earlier, obviously my mother was the same since I have HER school papers!!
*Side note: my husband is not a packrat in the sentimental area, this man threw out his high school year books! But heaven forbid he should get rid of a rusty old screwdriver when he has ten more just like it!
When I tackled this simplifying and decluttering journey the first area was our master closet. It felt so good to purge that area, and that tiny space is still quite full, but everything is neat and tidy and only contains clothing and shoes that we wear regularly. There was, however, one group of things hanging around that I didn't remove - ties!
As I was putting laundry away last week I looked at those ties hanging on two different display racks (that they often fell off of and would end up on the floor) I asked myself why didn't I include those in the purge? So I placed them all on the bed and when Waylon got home from work he said "here we go again!" There were 50 ties in all, including 10 Christmas designs! Surprisingly he was a bit sentimental about the ties. He could remember which ones Chelsea (our daughter) had given him as gifts, he remembered which were the favorites that he wore to work at the bank, and would get the most attention. Of those 50 ties he had very few shirts that they could still be worn with. So we went through them together. It was an interesting process because in the choosing he was being swayed by sentiment and I was pointing out to him that the ones he was choosing wouldn't even go with the few shirts and 1 suit he still has! So together we came up with a small selection of ties to keep, that have an element of fun but also a couple that are basic and will work well should he need to wear a tie to an event. He chose 1 Christmas tie to keep as well. Now we have a very small hanger of ties and the majority of them have already been taken to the thrift store.
Since I have already done a round one purge on my craft closet an interesting thing happened as I was working with those ties. In the past I would have looked at all of those ties and thought "I can make something out of them!" There are many projects that use up old things to keep as mementoes. While I probably would have had fun making it (IF I ever got to it!), it would have been one of those things that either sat in the box for years, taken out every so often to look at and remember, then tucked away again taking up space until someone else decided to get rid of it, who REALLY wants a quilt made out of ties!?
My tight hold on material things is getting looser with every load that I take to the thrift store. I'm focusing on fond memories, and writing them down. I'm cleaning areas of our home and finding that I am not feeling so agitated when I open a closet and things tumble out (think messy Marvin!).
Another area of progress: cookbooks!
I just donated between 65-70 cookbooks that I have collected over the years. Many that were never used. I loved to read them, but dusting and having them stacked 3 deep in precious little space got to be too much. It was HARD because I remember buying them, like the Charleston Receipts book when I was stationed at Charleston AFB - never made one recipe from that book and that was 36 years ago!! I also had cookbooks from nearly every Bed and Breakfast we have stayed at over the years, yet never made one recipe out of them. I now have one shelf with the books I use the most, along with two recipe boxes of cards mostly written in my Mom and Dad's handwriting, along with some of my favorite family recipes. I know I can read and enjoy many cookbooks, and stories, on the internet or use our local library and not have to move or dust them!
Also gone: 10 men's and women's coats - one that I wore before I lost over 65 lbs - two of me could fit in it now! All gone.......
I share these stories because my ultimate goal in all of this is for my 70 year old husband to finally retire again. I work my Direct Sales jobs diligently, and as I build those and get our house in order at the same time hopefully he will get back to the leisure and enjoying our home as he deserves. Some of you may just be starting your life others may be like us and in the later stage - take a look at what is important to you and embrace it. You may be surprised as you loosen your grip on things you have placed value in and find an even bigger treasure that is waiting for you. I know I am!
When I tackled this simplifying and decluttering journey the first area was our master closet. It felt so good to purge that area, and that tiny space is still quite full, but everything is neat and tidy and only contains clothing and shoes that we wear regularly. There was, however, one group of things hanging around that I didn't remove - ties!
As I was putting laundry away last week I looked at those ties hanging on two different display racks (that they often fell off of and would end up on the floor) I asked myself why didn't I include those in the purge? So I placed them all on the bed and when Waylon got home from work he said "here we go again!" There were 50 ties in all, including 10 Christmas designs! Surprisingly he was a bit sentimental about the ties. He could remember which ones Chelsea (our daughter) had given him as gifts, he remembered which were the favorites that he wore to work at the bank, and would get the most attention. Of those 50 ties he had very few shirts that they could still be worn with. So we went through them together. It was an interesting process because in the choosing he was being swayed by sentiment and I was pointing out to him that the ones he was choosing wouldn't even go with the few shirts and 1 suit he still has! So together we came up with a small selection of ties to keep, that have an element of fun but also a couple that are basic and will work well should he need to wear a tie to an event. He chose 1 Christmas tie to keep as well. Now we have a very small hanger of ties and the majority of them have already been taken to the thrift store.
Since I have already done a round one purge on my craft closet an interesting thing happened as I was working with those ties. In the past I would have looked at all of those ties and thought "I can make something out of them!" There are many projects that use up old things to keep as mementoes. While I probably would have had fun making it (IF I ever got to it!), it would have been one of those things that either sat in the box for years, taken out every so often to look at and remember, then tucked away again taking up space until someone else decided to get rid of it, who REALLY wants a quilt made out of ties!?
My tight hold on material things is getting looser with every load that I take to the thrift store. I'm focusing on fond memories, and writing them down. I'm cleaning areas of our home and finding that I am not feeling so agitated when I open a closet and things tumble out (think messy Marvin!).
Another area of progress: cookbooks!
I just donated between 65-70 cookbooks that I have collected over the years. Many that were never used. I loved to read them, but dusting and having them stacked 3 deep in precious little space got to be too much. It was HARD because I remember buying them, like the Charleston Receipts book when I was stationed at Charleston AFB - never made one recipe from that book and that was 36 years ago!! I also had cookbooks from nearly every Bed and Breakfast we have stayed at over the years, yet never made one recipe out of them. I now have one shelf with the books I use the most, along with two recipe boxes of cards mostly written in my Mom and Dad's handwriting, along with some of my favorite family recipes. I know I can read and enjoy many cookbooks, and stories, on the internet or use our local library and not have to move or dust them!
Also gone: 10 men's and women's coats - one that I wore before I lost over 65 lbs - two of me could fit in it now! All gone.......
I share these stories because my ultimate goal in all of this is for my 70 year old husband to finally retire again. I work my Direct Sales jobs diligently, and as I build those and get our house in order at the same time hopefully he will get back to the leisure and enjoying our home as he deserves. Some of you may just be starting your life others may be like us and in the later stage - take a look at what is important to you and embrace it. You may be surprised as you loosen your grip on things you have placed value in and find an even bigger treasure that is waiting for you. I know I am!
No comments:
Post a Comment