Resolving to simplify

I normally don't make New Years resolutions. They always seem to set people up for failure. Maybe it's because people make overly ambitious resolutions, like "lose 50 pounds!", and then when they don't see changes happening right away (like they do on infomercials), they give up. A better resolution would be "eat healthier food", you know, to ease into it, and then change will naturally come. This year, I've decided to make a resolution to simplify our lives. I speak mostly of our home here at Xanadu. We have too much stuff. Tooooo much. And as time goes on we only acquire more things. And having a toddler only makes it worse because toddlers come with a lot of accessories.

It does seem a little ambitious, but it's really not that hard when you break it down into smaller tasks. I got a head start last week, since I've been off work for the holidays. I've already accomplished 3 tasks that are each kind of small, but put them together and they add up. I have a 2-part plan.

Part 1 is to get rid of as much stuff as I can.

The first thing I did was finally clean out Zoey's toy baskets and get rid of all the infant toys. The things she no longer plays with like taggie blankets, rattles, teethers, etc. And stuffed animals. I was able to fill an extra large leftover gift bag from Christmas. Luckily I know someone who is pregnant and can use them. We still have a ton of toys around (pictured above is just 1 basket of keepers), but that's just the way it has to be for now. When Zoey gets older, we can put things upstairs in her room and she can go up and down the stairs, and in and out of her room as she pleases to fetch items. And then when she's done, she can put them away! But for now, she is little and her toys stay downstairs where we can watch her play.

The next task was a bit bigger and took a few hours. Back in October, my sister gave me a coupon for my birthday that was good for helping me organize my closet. So I invited her over and we got to work. I have been meaning to do this for so long. I still had the Pack 'N' Play that Zoey used to sleep in next to the bed, only it had become the place where I just toss clothes. So many clothes, it seemed like the pile would never end. But we went through them all, then moved on to the closet. Most of the clothes in my closet were from before I was pregnant and a lot of them don't fit me quite right. But even if they did magically one day fit me again, would I even want them anymore? They'd be outdated and from a different era of my life. So out they went, along with shoes and bags and belts and 5 (FIVE!) trash bags later, we were done. My sister took the bags with her and is donating them to a shelter. And besides the fact that my closet is now organized, I came across clothes I had forgotten about, so it's kind of like I got a whole new wardrobe in the process! I didn't include a photo here because I wouldn't call the closet organized just yet. It has been purged of all unnecessary items and is now ready to be organized.

Task number 3 was to start the process of decluttering our bookshelves. We have wall-to-wall bookshelves that are crammed with stuff. So last night, I pulled out 31 books that I just don't really care about. Mostly design books, some are from college, and a lot of them were just bargain section purchases that I probably bought just because they were cheap. These books will be donated to our local library. My goal for my book shelves is to keep it quality over quantity. The top photo has some of my favorite books that I am keeping, and the bottom photo is just a bunch of bargain book nonsense that can go.

Unfortunately half of the wall-to-wall bookshelves house Kyle's books and he is unwilling to part with any of them. I am hoping when he sees how nice things start looking he will be inspired to purge. This isn't even half of them. At least with me thinning my books out, he can spread his out a little more, because I hate the stacking of the books on top.

I think the thing I am least looking forward to is editing down my decorative items. I just love "tchotchkes" - vases, figures, and other random decorative items. Since these are things I actually care about, I will probably get rid of some and store the rest, that way I can change them out when I get bored.

Part 2 of my simplifying project is to upgrade - replacing worn out items with better versions. For example, instead of having 20 crappy Ikea plates with chips and cracks in them, replace them with 6-8 good quality plates that will last a long time. Do you ever find that you buy something cheap, and when it gets worn out you buy more of something cheap? Sometimes things are more expensive for a reason. Having a large amount of cheap stuff is not better than having a small amount of the slightly more expensive, better quality version. In fact, it probably all evens out in the end, so there is no point.

It will be a long road, but the few little things I've done already make me feel really good. It's very freeing.