Project 7: Possessions

Oh, how easy it is to accumulate stuff. We keep childhood toys, clothes, concert tickets, birthday cards, all the artwork we've ever done, every book we've read, all the gifts we've received, and enough other stuff to crowd all of that out. In fact, it is pretty difficult to not find yourself holding on to at least some of those things as time goes by.

But I want to live differently, despite the pull to just go with the flow. I have no real need for many of the things that try to claim space in my life and my home. I have limited space, as I'm sure you do as well, and I want to fill it with things that I actually like and use. If something is just going to sit in a box on a shelf, it's wasting valuable space and needs to go to someone who will get better use out of it.

My cousin is holding a garage sale later this month, so I thought it was the perfect time to turn my attention to my possessions. Living in a small apartment for the last several months has been a good motivator for getting rid of unwanted possessions, but I know I've still been running on autopilot in sorting through things (read: actually not sorting through them very thoroughly).

In pursuit of ridding my life of excess, I'm striving to be more intentional in how I pare down my possessions. I want to be happy when I look around my apartment, not stressed about having to clean around everything or figure out where to put everything.

I bought a new bed this weekend, and it ignited a little fire in me to try to transform my living spaces into a more polished home. Fitting that goal in with a limited budget is definitely challenging (and a big reason why I haven't pursued it before), but as I get older, I feel the pull to have a more put-together, "adult" home of well-made things instead of just a random collection of hand-me-downs and sale items that I don't really love.

This doesn't mean going on a ridiculous shopping spree or completely overhauling the apartment my sister and I share.It means looking for creative solutions and ways to repurpose things and likely realizing I don't need some of the things that I think I do after all.

I plan to carefully survey what I have, keeping everything that is beautiful or useful, getting rid of excess, and beginning to carefully curate a more pulled-together, lovely space, a little bit at a time, as the need arises and the budget allows. Yes, it means being willing to invest in quality pieces, but it doesn't have to happen all at once.

Along with decluttering, it also means organizing what's left. Especially with such a small space, putting thought into how and where things are stored is crucial. Once I take the time to decide what to get rid of and what to keep, I plan to rethink my storage plans to maximize the space I have.

I plan to focus on different areas each week, putting greater time and thought into choosing what things really deserve a place in my home and which things will be given the chance for a new start with someone else.

Will you join me this month in my spring cleaning fever and take a good look at the things that fill your space?