When you have an entire house and business to pack up, you have to celebrate the little victories. As I’ve been working through the house, I realize that I’ve done so much and there is so much to do that I keep going back to the same cabinets, drawers and closets, not remembering that I already emptied them. I decided I needed a system that didn’t involve keeping all of my cabinet doors perpetually open; a Sixth Sense moment in my kitchen.  So, I came up with a solution, using what was handy in the house.  When I finished packing up a cabinet and it’s empty, I stick a piece of green Frog Tape on it. It’s already been such a great visual cue for me to see what is done and what still needs to be done. And each time Jeff or I stick on a piece of green tape, we high five.

In this series, I was going to head in a lighter direction, since we talked about stuff with strings last time, but I decided to continue to wade in deep waters and write to those who are the “keeper of the stuff”. This is the person who ends up with all of the family stuff that “needs” to be preserved for future generation.  It’s not cut and dry, though.  There are different categories of keepers… 1.) Those who are willingly, perhaps even enthusiastically, stewards of family items. This is the easiest category to deal with, because they want the stuff and don’t mind giving up living or storage space to preserve some family history.  I would consider myself in this category. We have some boxes of family photos, genealogy books, papers to prove we’re descendants of those who fought in the Revolutionary war, my Opa’s WWII letters to his mom, mini-balls

I loved reading all of your comments in response to my “Purpose of Stuff” post, the first installment of The Stuff Series.  It really is interesting what an engaging topic “stuff” is. So, now that we’ve talked about the purpose of stuff, let’s go right to one of the most sensitive stuff categories… “stuff with strings” When I started typing this post, I thought it would be pretty straightforward, but once I got into the thick of it, I realized this is a tricky one and I don’t have all of the answers!  So, take this post or leave it.  It’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution to a dicey dilemma.  And, if you have some wisdom or experience to offer, just leave it in the comments below! So, if you have stuff with strings in your house, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Usually it’s stuff you’ve been

Guess what I did today? Yeah, more packing.  I thought I might actually be able to take a break from it today, but before I know it, the day was filled with sorting through items and putting them in boxes, a trash bag, or the yard sale/donate pile. And all of this packing has made me think a lot about stuff.  What we keep, why we keep it, why certain things are harder to get rid of then others.  It really is a fascinating thing. So, let’s talk about stuff!  A whole series on stuff!!  Seriously. Welcome to “The Stuff Series“. Sooo…as I have been thinking about where to start this series and, as I’ve been making decisions about everything that goes into a box the past two weeks, I kept coming back to the same question… What is the purpose of stuff? Have you ever really thought about the purpose of the stuff

It’s that time of year again when I get the itch to purge and organize.  I worked through my cabinets, closets, drawers, and storage spaces the past couple of years and have gotten rid of a ton of stuff, but there is always the accumulation of new stuff that needs to be dealt with.  The fact that I have done some thorough decluttering already is making the process easier this time around, but I find more stuff with each pass that I can let go.  I do find the more I get rid of, the more I can get rid of.  And I’ve come to really like empty or sparsely filled storage space. I also notice that through the year, some of my open shelving gets a little cluttered.  Between using the pieces, adding some, and taking away others, what was once a tidy cabinet starts to look a little haphazard.