When I learned I’d be moving to a smaller house it was the impetus I needed to part with stuff. I gave myself a goal of downsizing ten items from every room. After I got in the swing of this, I learned ten items easily stretched into 15, 20 even up to 40 items. I was amazed by the liberation I felt with each trip to Goodwill to drop off my treasures. I was surprised by the thrilling and energizing emotions I experienced and found each drop off at Goodwill increased my desire to eliminate more.
Like everyone else I know, I had more stuff than I needed and more stuff than I could ever tastefully fit into my new smaller digs. There were a few furniture pieces that I couldn’t bear to part with permanently. I opted to put them in Ottawa storage till I could figure out what to do with them. As it turned out I ended up selling them. Once I got a taste of the simpler, downsized life, I was hooked on it and parting with those “special” items in storage turned out not to be so hard after all.
To decide what to part with I asked myself three questions: Do I love this item? Do I use this? (If I hadn’t used it in a year it was most likely headed to Goodwill.) Does this item give me joy? These questions helped me decide what to eliminate and what to keep.
I kept sentimental items like artwork from the kids and love letters and cards from my husband, but I found more space efficient ways of storing them. I bought a used trunk that doubles as a chic coffee table.
Moving to a smaller place was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It forced me to eliminate clutter from my life and interestingly it seemed to reduce clutter in my inner life. Now I look around my small little house and everything in it is something that is useful or something that I really love. That’s a good space to be in.
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