We've been here in Keene, in our beautifully small house, for almost two weeks. I am happy to say that I can sit on the couch and find the dishes without a lot of hassle.
The rest is a work in progress.
It turns out we have too many:
- coffee mugs,
- blankets,
and too much artwork to fit in this house.
Among many other things. (We've already collected 5 bags of stuff I just donated.)
The artwork we can store and rotate. The coffee mugs are just going to have to go. The blankets I'm not sure about.... If we have another winter of -25F we might need them!
By the way, for anyone downsizing or just streamlining belongings, find stackable coffee cups. Why in the world does anyone in their right mind make a set of coffee cups that do not stack nicely without tipping over, falling out of the cabinet onto your head and ending up as a pile of ugly mosaic tiles? And thank you, Ikea, for raising the bar!
I was discouraged at first. This is not the vision I have for our small house. This is not exactly what I've been working so hard for the past year to accomplish. I can't find my stuff, I'm tripping over boxes, and the house is pretty much a mess of stuff and nowhere to put it away. And these are the things I complain about most in my life - clutter, disorganization, and missing a goal.
So I remember process. Dialectic. The struggle between two opposing ideas: our last home, and this new one.
It looks like it's going to be a struggle for some time. Please, everyone (and especially those of you who come to visit!) be patient with us and our home and enjoy this crazy downsizing process with us. And some days you might have to help us enjoy it too!
Regardless of where we are in this continuum, we will always have good tea, a warm fire and our lives to share.
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| Real life in a small house |
