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Simplify and Downsize...You can do it too! - Page 4

post #61 of 319
10/7/06 at 10:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mom2Wilmo View Post
Wow, I know how to kill a thread
Don't be silly It lives! It lives!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mom2Wilmo View Post
Delight, I just found your blog at lunchtime...and I already cleaned out my closet!! And my books!! Thank you for being such an inspiration. Our house is 1189 sq ft an I often feel like we are in such tight quaters when really it's all of our stuff!! I now see so much possibility in the space around me. We had told ourselves that we could not have another child w/o abigger house. I knew all along that this is not true but now I really see how it could work. BTW, I have a red couch too and my livving room/dining room is also yellow, green, and red.
Isn't a new perspective great? We get so stuck in our thought processes that we can't see out of a situation. Lately, I even find myself thinking..."we could totally have 2 kids in this apt". A year ago I probably would have thought that was insane.

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post #62 of 319
10/7/06 at 10:46pm
Sara, I decluttered more today!! My MIL is a total garage sale packrat. Garage sales are great but if you don't use the stuff not so great. Do you have people always trying to give you stuff? I just can't say no b/c I don't want to be mean, then I have all this junk in my house and it drives me nuts. I also must say that I was very impressed by the toys fitting into one box!! That has got to be our single biggest problem. I know they don't need a lot and I don't buy for my kids really but I hate to get rid of toys that they sometimes play with. Any suggestions?
post #63 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:15pm
I'd think that having a small home would reduce people offering you stuff? I'd guess Sara wouldn't get many people trying to dump stuff on her.

Maybe you could try saying "That's lovely and I wish I had the room for it, but I simply don't" if you can't bring yourself to just say no.
post #64 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
As for people giving me stuff...they've pretty much stopped. There is a joke that "you better not give Sara anything...or you'll see it on eBay". Somewhat true. If they truly know me, they would stop giving me crappy stuff anyway. But it's the thought that counts of course...so most of the time I will graciously accept the gift...and then freecycle or craigslist it. My MIL has come to know me well...she will bring me something and say, "ok...tell me if you don't like this". At least she gives me an out.

Anyway. On to the toys. Your kids will play with whatever is there. They may whine or be mad for a bit...but maybe you can get them involved? Can they help pick toys to donate to other kids? I know it's different for older kids...so I can't really give advice on how to help them adapt. Basically, if I don't like a toy, I just give it away and Bella never notices. Most of the time, it's ME having the trouble getting rid of something because I'm the one who thought it was such a cool toy. For me, the key is finding toys that are compact or can shrink down. She LOVES her playsilks. I think I have 4-5 of them and they shrink down to nothing. But when she's playing with them, they are huge and extravagent. We have nesting blocks, small wooden blocks, soft cloth dolls, small musical instruments. It's all small...and it works.

I know their are tons of threads on toys...you'd probably find some great ideas by searching on that. Congrats on continuing the decluttering! Isn't it addicting!?
post #65 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sapphire_chan View Post
I'd think that having a small home would reduce people offering you stuff? I'd guess Sara wouldn't get many people trying to dump stuff on her.

Maybe you could try saying "That's lovely and I wish I had the room for it, but I simply don't" if you can't bring yourself to just say no.
You're right...the small apt. is the perfect "excuse". I love it.
post #66 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:25pm
Wow! Your home is BEAUTIFUL! Your photographs are well done - are you professional?

Have you seen the book "The Not So Big House"? I can't remember the name of the author but the subject is just what you said, smaller spaces, made more livable.

You've inspired me to reconsider my own space!
post #67 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delight View Post
Ever wondered what a 478 sq. ft apartment looked like? C'mon in and check it out! Blogged here. Photos here.

Has anyone else gone REALLY small and loved it?
Your home is beautiful...really beautiful. But can I inquire how many people live there? If it were just me and one other person, I think we could manage with around 500 sq ft, but if you add more people you need more space (IMO).

Still, the McMansions being built today are OBSCENE!!
post #68 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:30pm
Ok, I LOVE your patchwork quilt!! Please, please tell me where you bought it (or is it hand-made?)!

Your taste is impeccable and if you can tell me where you shop, I would be overjoyed! So pretty!
post #69 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:30pm
You are right about the toys, Sara. They will play with what's around. I never really thought of it that way. The problem for me is DS looooves his toys. And he plays with them alot. I am pretty good about getting rid of toys I don't like though there are several in ds's room right now that I hate. He is going to see a moivie with grandpa tomorrow I plan on my sneak operation then.
DD never plays with anything so it's easier to get rid of her stuff.
I will try the "I just don't have room thing" sapphire_chan. She's coming in a couple of weeks and she is going to find a lot of her junk gone!!
post #70 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hipcoolmama View Post
Wow! Your home is BEAUTIFUL! Your photographs are well done - are you professional?
I was a photographer in the Air National Guard for 6 years...so I had lots of free training My major in college was graphic design/photography...and now I just do some freelancing for friends and family.Thanks for asking

Quote:
Originally Posted by hipcoolmama View Post
Have you seen the book "The Not So Big House"? I can't remember the name of the author but the subject is just what you said, smaller spaces, made more livable. You've inspired me to reconsider my own space!
Yes! I actually just heard Sarah Susanka speak this week. I blogged about it here. And there is a thread about it here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hipcoolmama View Post
Your home is beautiful...really beautiful. But can I inquire how many people live there? If it were just me and one other person, I think we could manage with around 500 sq ft, but if you add more people you need more space (IMO).
It's me, DH, and DD (2.5 yrs). It's the perfect size FOR US.
post #71 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hipcoolmama View Post
Ok, I LOVE your patchwork quilt!! Please, please tell me where you bought it (or is it hand-made?)!

Your taste is impeccable and if you can tell me where you shop, I would be overjoyed! So pretty!
I got the quilt from Pottery Barn (Providence Quilt) ... I think you can still find it on eBay. If you move your mouse over most of the photos in Flickr (as long as you're not in slide show view), you can see little sticky notes that say where I've found things. If there is something in particular...let me know. Most of it is totally random!
post #72 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hipcoolmama View Post
Your home is beautiful...really beautiful. But can I inquire how many people live there? If it were just me and one other person, I think we could manage with around 500 sq ft, but if you add more people you need more space (IMO).
My 8yo, 10yo, and I live in 513 sq ft. I hear tell that some former tenants were a family of 5 (!). I don't know how crowded the family of 5 was, but my kids and I are pretty comfortable in the space we live in. Our biggest issue is storage since our house has no closets (doh!). I have learned to be very creative with storage and declutter ruthlessly.
post #73 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lckrause View Post
I have learned to be very creative with storage and declutter ruthlessly.
I think that you pretty much summed up why small space CAN work. It's a DAILY thing for me...I declutter daily. I have a box ready and waiting for things that don't make the cut. I love how you put it..."ruthlessly". That's so true. I think outside the box with storage, etc.

It goes so completely against what our consumerism obsessed society tells us though...buy buy buy! keep keep keep! bigger bigger bigger! I think that's why it feels so weird at first. It goes against what most of us were taught.

Do you all find that certain "hoarding" tendancies have been passed down from mother/father to daugther, etc? I can definitely see this in my mom. She keeps so much stuff and never declutters...just moves paper and other stuff around. From one room to the other. And I used to be this way! I could wallow in my clutter with the best of 'em. I feel like I've finally broken the destructive cycle!
post #74 of 319
10/7/06 at 11:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delight View Post
I could wallow in my clutter with the best of 'em. I feel like I've finally broken the destructive cycle!
Seriously? (Looks at the apartment pics again.) Really? (Looks again.) Nope, just don't see it. Which is just proof that your hard work and dedication has worked.
post #75 of 319
10/8/06 at 12:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sapphire_chan View Post
Seriously? (Looks at the apartment pics again.) Really? (Looks again.) Nope, just don't see it. Which is just proof that your hard work and dedication has worked.
Yes, seriously My big decluttering push came when we decided to sell our house about 6 months ago. I was never buried in clutter, but I had much more than I could ever need or use. I just finally came to the realization that I didn't need all the gadgets, all the extra shampoo bottles, all the extra jeans, etc.
I wish I would have taken before and after photos!
post #76 of 319
10/8/06 at 12:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delight View Post
I got the quilt from Pottery Barn (Providence Quilt) ... I think you can still find it on eBay. If you move your mouse over most of the photos in Flickr (as long as you're not in slide show view), you can see little sticky notes that say where I've found things. If there is something in particular...let me know. Most of it is totally random!
How cool! Thanks!
post #77 of 319
10/8/06 at 12:58am
Very inspiring! We live in a 2200 sq ft house, because we wanted four kids and it was a great deal. It feels so huge to me, and I daydream of downsizing like you did.

I had to laugh at the comments about people not giving you stuff when you live in such a small house; people seem to take our "big house" as an excuse to use us as their dumping ground. My mom and dad clean out their garage/closet and show up at my doorstep with half a dozen boxes "that I should go through." It's piling up, and I'm ready to get ruthless, but my dad expects me to keep all the stuff he saved--everything from my grade school cheerleading outfit to my 4-H ribbons to my kindergarten schoolwork. And my MIL buys way too much stuff for my DD and guilts my DH into keeping it. How do you deal with the people who get offended when you get rid of something they gave you?

I also wanted to ask how a Food Chopper differs from the miniature food processor?
post #78 of 319
10/8/06 at 1:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennisee View Post
How do you deal with the people who get offended when you get rid of something they gave you?
How do they know you got rid of it? Do you tell them? They don't need to know your dirty little decluttering secret! For all they know, it's gathering dust in a box in your basement/attic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennisee View Post
I also wanted to ask how a Food Chopper differs from the miniature food processor?
The Food Chopper is the Pampered Chef manual food chopper. Amazing little tool. Great for onions, nuts, veggies, herbs, ice, you name it. Quicker than getting out the food processor.

Mini-Food Processor is for small jobs that I don't want to get the big one out for. I've thought about getting rid of it...but we'll use it in the bus when we go camping and have electricity. I used it a lot when I was eating raw food and traveling. Easy to take with.
post #79 of 319
10/8/06 at 1:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delight View Post
And I used to be this way! I could wallow in my clutter with the best of 'em. I feel like I've finally broken the destructive cycle!
Our place in CA was over twice as big as this house, and hopelessly cluttered. It was depressing, all the STUFF everywhere. It made it really hard to keep the place clean, too. It's hard to clean around and behind piles of clutter! After I got divorced I vowed I would not live that way anymore. It wasn't easy to learn to let go of the "stuff" and it's been a journey for sure. Our house still isn't exactly how I'd like it (due to continuous experimenting and lack of funds) but it's coming close. I also seriously need to declutter our kitchen cabinets... our only non-open storage area so of course it's collected way too much junk. Yes, I'm talking to you, abandoned Britta pitcher.
post #80 of 319
10/8/06 at 2:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delight View Post
How do they know you got rid of it? Do you tell them? They don't need to know your dirty little decluttering secret! For all they know, it's gathering dust in a box in your basement/attic.
They ask! LOL. If they don't see it in our house, they ask where it is.

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
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10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › Simplify and Downsize...You can do it too!