Unstuff Your Life...It Feels Great!

Al and I had a lot of stuff. I must say it was mostly his because he was a borderline (maybe more than borderline) pack rat. He kept things for years and never could remember what were in all those boxes in our garage. I liked to live with no clutter on countertops and always cleaned closets, especially mine at least every 6 months. We were so different in the things we considered important to keep. I agreed we needed to keep income tax returns, but didn't agree with him that we needed to keep every golf ball he ever hit.

The house we were living in when Al got sick was a little under 4,000 square feet. That means that we had 4,000 sq ft of furnishings and personal items. The condo that I moved into is 1,000 sq ft. I guess I don't have to tell you that a problem arose quickly after I sold the house. What to do? Well, timing is everything. Jessica and Javier bought a house that they are remodeling. They are going to "borrow" my furniture until I need it. When I moved, I basically moved my clothes and personal belongings.

When packing up the house, I knew I couldn't take much and I didn't want to store it. I have never rented a storage facility due to the fact that I felt that if it was boxed and stored I wouldn't miss it, so why keep it? This was my opportunity to get rid of things that had been in boxes for 10 years and were moved from house to house. My rules were:

1. If I hadn't used it in 6 months, it was out.
2. If I didn't love it, it was out.
3. If it didn't fit in my condo, it was out.

"Unstuffing" my life has been the most liberating experience I have ever been through. You should try it. There is something to be said about having all your belongings in one compact place. Javier told me he could build shelves for me in the garage. I said I didn't want them because I would just put "stuff" on them. I can honestly say that I know everything that I have and where it is.

There was one problem moving into the condo...It had no closet. When we originally remodeled, we had a small open area (like a hotel closet) to put things, since this was just a getaway home. That was not going to work for my clothes/things that made the cut. I stressed out about this closet/storage more than anything after I moved in. I thought that if people in NYC can live in 500 sq ft or less, then I could make this work. I thought about getting a storage cabinet from IKEA, but freaked out over the "assembly required" part. I also called a well-known closet design company from San Antonio. Their ideas were great, but were very $$$$. My wonderful son-in-love came to my rescue again and built me the most amazing closet space. It was completely finished today and is now home to clothes, shoes, luggage, accessories or anything I want to store behind the beautiful doors. My final rule for my new unstuffed life....when this closet gets full, it's time to unstuff again!