Well, it looks like I won’t be having that garage sale this weekend. I did sweat and grunt and declutter and grumble this morning, and even went so far as to park the Suburban on the driveway and set up tables in the garage.
But alas, as some other things are weighing heavily on my mind (two upcoming speaking engagements), I decided I would put off the garage sale for another weekend or two and take advantage of this quiet time at home. Then, this Saturday, when the house is far from quiet, I’ll continue prepping for the sale.
And the fact that I’ve come to love parking in the garage over the past year will (hopefully) be motivation to not procrastinate any longer than absolutely necessary in getting the garage sale over with.
I must say, I’m proud of what I did this morning.
What I did was only possible because of what I’ve done over the past almost-three-years of my deslobification process.
I’ve decluttered. Like crazy. So now, even though there’s still a seemingly endless supply of clutter . . . I’ve actually been able to almost completely empty several cabinets in my gameroom.
For the girl who used to consider it a success when she pared down her stuff to the point where cabinet doors could shut . . . this is big.
Empty cabinets? Who ever heard of such a thing?
It turns out, as you declutter a space that contains only things you couldn’t bear to part with the last time you decluttered it (but that you haven’t used and hadn’t remembered you kept), parting is much easier.
My goal now? Use these empty cabinets for things that need a home. Things that haven’t had a “spot” before.
And hey, one big advantage of planning a garage sale is that it motivates me to tackle cabinets like this one. If I’m going to go through the hassle, I want to be sure that every last long-forgotten cabinet has been opened and every last totally-unnecessary-in-our-house-but-maybe-someone-else-will-pay-a-dollar-for-it item has been uncovered.
Hello!
I think this is the first time I’ve commented, but I’ve read your whole blog & love it. Anyway, I totally agree with the point that things that you can’t bear to part with first time around are obvious candidates for decluttering the next time you go through them. I’m taking this approach a lot – takes longer but means less angst! Marianne xx
My Gramma used to quote Shakespear when we were saying good-bye to her and going home to our house 80 miles away: “Parting is such sweet sorrow, I fain would say good-bye until it be tomorrow.” As we all know, tomorrow never comes. Unfortunately, some of us tend to be this way with our things. If we can get past that initial “sweet sorrow” and “putting it off till tomorrow” issue, it helps so much. I’m making some (seems) slow progress in this myself and hoping to for more. You’re experiences are an encouragement to keep going, girl! 🙂 Thanks. 🙂
Four + years ago, I had a major declutter and filled a big box on the living room floor with things I just had to keep. Apart from one or two things that have just ‘landed’ on the top meantime, I’ve never gone into it, so this week might be the week. In fact, as it’s raining, today MAY be the day …