Do you love your things?
Do you LOVE everything you have? Take your house, for example. Do you love your house? Do you love everything you have in your house? Does it give you energy or is it an energy zapper?
As an architect living in my own design, a very spectacular house, actually, I have things in it that are cluttering it up. I have things in it that I or my husband don't actually love.
I was realizing I've been living that way for awhile now, thinking I couldn't afford to buy the things I really wanted, so I just put up with what we had.
I had a friend that had made some videos about purging, purging the things in your house that aren't serving you, like excess books, or cleaning out your bathroom cabinets, etc.
I started doing some of that and I realized that there were things in my house, furniture, that I wanted to change.
I had wanted to get some new “modern” barstools ever since we had moved into our very cool modern style home, but our timing was a little bad, we should have scaled the house back, but by the time we realized that it was too late, and the economy did not help us. Anyway, I had told myself when things start to turn around I would get some new stools.
I forgot how good of a shopper I am. How good I am at finding bargains and finding cool stuff. Somehow I got on Craigslist and started looking for bar stools. I looked every day. And I eventually had a price range and started looking for new ones since mostly on Craigslist they were too short, ugly, or only coming in pairs. I eventually found some at a great price, a style I loved, color, height, etc. and ordered them.
I realized that every time I looked at them, they gave me energy. They made me smile. I think they are beautiful and so I appreciate them, and, wow! How interesting!
I quickly realized that I had other things in my house I didn't like. I started looking for cool patio table and chairs set. For cool entryway bench. For cool sofa beds to replace our futon couch that's embarrassingly falling apart and ugly and ripped. Or something interesting for the green chair we all loved but it was literally shredding on every surface.
Today I got a chocolate brown chaise, very elegant, to replace the battered chair. And I got it for $45 via Craigslist! People price things all over the place on Craigslist, depending on how attached they are to it and how fast they want to get rid of it. You can even find cool free stuff on CL.
So I've been having fun. I've got a list of things I'm shopping for. I've got a number of things posted. (Just sold three black parson's chairs taking up space in our dining room, 2 classic oak bar stools we'd had for 25 years (the least comfortable seats ever!), and the king box spring (2 XL twins) we got with the new tempurpedic king size bed !
So by selling the stuff that I don't want, and by buying amazing bargains, I'm hardly spending much at all! It's very cool!
Last night I ordered a chocolate faux leather modern storage bench to replace our mission style entry storage bench that I'm not sure if we got at Target or Pottery Barn.
I looked and looked on craigslist for that, a modern bench – really hardly anything, then I though maybe a large rectangular ottoman would work! Most of what I was finding was shorter than what I wanted, though I was almost ready to compromise, then I thought I'd just look at new stuff and I found a perfect one on Overstock.com. Yeay! Extremely reasonable pricing, free shipping, and the size, color, and condition I desire! I can't wait until it gets here!
And now I can sell the entry bench I don't really like. The one that worked better with our 1906 Denver Square rather than our funky modern minimalist house.
It's super fun for me to get rid of the stuff I don't really love, and to replace it with new (at least to us) things that I do love. It gives our living space a new vibrancy, a new energy. And, room by room, I'm determined to get the house decluttered and only full of things that give us energy! Things we love!
It's amazing to me how much I've let “slide by.”
Are you doing that in your life? Is it time to de-clutter and release all the things, stuff, and junk that isn't serving you? That you don't really like? And even that you don't really LOVE?
What would feel good for you and your body and your house?
Take one thing at a time. Don't let it overwhelm you if you have lots. Just take one room or area at a time, and weed out. What serves you, what doesn't. What would be more fun for you? Do you need an interior designer, organizer, or architect to help? A Room makeover artist?
Eileen Koenigsberg is a licensed architect, interior designer, and personal empowerment coach. She can help you see where your home might not be supporting you and help you to change it and to change your life so that what you focus on does empower you at all times!.