Clearing the clutter..one thing (or bag!) at a time

after reading numerous blogs (the majority of them under my Sites to Visit list) i've been inspired to clear out more clutter. i completely organized my linen closet, cleaned out under my sink and got it all organized, and organized my two junk drawers. i loaded all of it up into a brown paper bag and destined it for freecycle. it had been sitting on my floor for a few days and finally, i put it up on freecycle and less than five minutes, i got an email. so now it's sitting outside my door waiting for its new home. :)

i need to go back through my closet again because it's getting crowded. i packed up all of my things at boyfriend's house and brought it back to mine which made my head spin. ahh. no room. so i'm either craigslisting it or goodwilling it. (no, we're doing fine, not breaking up! i'm just never over there, we're always at mine) hopefully that will bring in a little income and keep the house organized.

i guess we're not having our internet outage today, so i'm going to be plotting my new $150/month "diet". wish me luck!!

Addicted much?

Ok, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE furniture; I inherited this from my uncle who loves furniture as well. There's just something about a quirky table, chair, bookcase, etc. that gets me excited. I reported the other day that I've been check craigslist more often; I think this is in part to the other blogs I've been checking out and when they reference a retro lamp or table they got for $30, my fingers start flying. Needless to say, I've been checking every few hours so that I can be the first if a retro ____ comes up for sale.

This weekend I drove to the other side of town to purchase some vintage Marilyn Monroe articles from an artist who had no more room for them in her house. For $20 I was more than pleased to pick up 5 articles written about her (when she was alive, I hate stuff written about her after her death). After I arrived at her house and we began chatting about our love of Marilyn, she said, "Oh, I should show you this bookcase I did." Uh Oh. So she takes me in her garage and begins unearthing this really cool small bookcase that she had hand painted (literally, painted with her hands) and decoupaged (she uses a similar technique she invented) a gorgeous photo of Marilyn on it with vintage Los Angeles postcards. Very cool, eclectic, and fun, instantly fell in love with it even though I only saw about 1/4 of it!! "Oh, I had this on craiglist for $65 but only one guy responded to the ad, he was really creepy and had a Marilyn tattoo on his neck and I did not want him coming to my house. But I'll sell it for $40." Zing.. sold.

After bf loads it in the back of the truck, I smile.. like a druggie who just got her fix. After an hour of rearranging my room to maximize my new piece, it now rests comfortably next to my bed with the 1960s lamp I happened to snag from my hoarder grandma. My room is now bursting with furniture; queen-sized bed with matching chest of drawers and bedside table, seagrass 3-drawer dresser (medium-sized), small antique piece I bought in England with graduation $$ from my grandparents, and my new Marilyn piece. It's pretty sad when I'm considering getting rid of my bedside table that matches my furniture so I can have more fun pieces, but I think I might do that. I think individual pieces are a lot more fun, attention-grabbing, and interesting.

Ok folks, what does this have to do with the price of eggs in China? A good rule of thumb when you bring something into the house: One thing in, Two things out. This will help you control the clutter that may be taking over your life. You can't have everything, really focus on the pieces that make you happy and that you love, if you have something that doesn't make your heart sing every time you see it, get rid of it. Eventually you will find something that replaces it and makes you happy.

Happy to say, I did MORE purging this weekend after I worked Sat. I have another bag load of things to take to Goodwill and after browsing so much on craigslist, I think I'm going to post a few items on there myself and get rid of things that take up too much space, things that I don't use, or things that I have NO room for. My DVD player in my room pooped out, I think I'm just going to sell my TV, I now read at bedtime which is better than watching videos anyway. I have an old retro table I picked up on freecycle that my roommates decided to plunk in my room, so since we no longer use it, I'm going to post it for free. And a new chip and dip set I received as a wedding gift almost 7 YEARS ago that's never seen the light of day? it's going on there as well. Why not clear out the house and make a few bucks? The new-age garage sale. :) I love it.