Too much stuff no more: my moving experience to feather a smaller nest

We homeowners love our stuff. From that first nest we feather, the stuff grows to fit our spaces. I ought to know. I’ve lived in 11 homes and countless apartments (I probably could count them, with much effort) since finishing college in the 1970s. So when I found my present home, a 1,300 square foot cottage with no basement, I had to decide if I could surmount the biggest challenge in buying it – TMS (Too Much Stuff). 

I definitely had expanded to fill the 2,600 square foot home with lots of basement storage I most recently lived in. In addition to plenty of furniture, I had stacks of treasures ranging from Christmas decorations and several trees to totes full of toys and Barbie dolls belonging to my two daughters who had flown the coop. I also have three cats and a dog and all their stuff.

So, tape measure in hand, I first had to figure out if the furniture I couldn’t part with would fit in the new space and then decide how to part with the rest of the extra furniture. Luckily, my eldest daughter was in the process of moving into a new home and was more than happy to take most of the pieces that wouldn’t fit in my downsized space.

 

Goodwill was the next destination, sometimes on a daily basis and often with the car fully loaded. Everything I donated received close scrutiny beforehand, when I asked myself three questions:

Would this be useful in my new home?

Would I miss it if it were gone?

Does it have sentimental value?

In many cases and many carloads, the answer was no.

 

One of the biggest dilemmas and nearly a deal breaker at the cottage was where I would locate three cat litter boxes. Lacking a basement, I didn’t want the boxes scattered around the house, but one day, looking at the long sunroom, I came up with a genius solution. I would hide them behind three plastic cabinets with lots of drawers for storage, cover the cabinets with a long tablecloth and then top them with a combination of baskets and greenery. Victory!

 

 

The sunroom (pictured) also became the showcase for two prized possessions from Goodwill – original oil paintings of giraffes, beautifully framed, which I had bought on sale for an unbelievable $15. Other must-have pieces there included two all-weather-wicker chairs previously used on a front porch and a former kitchen cabinet repurposed for package wrapping materials. Then, post-move, I found a wonderful all-weather wicker sofa with an end table reduced by about 60 percent – sold!

 

This is just one example of how I furnished my new home, through careful editing of possessions, maximizing their use and letting go of TMS.

 

Which means my daughter has the Barbie dolls and I’ve still got my teddy bear.