Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Simple Living


One of my 2010 goals this year is to get back to basics. Now this can mean many things to many people but for me its about living simply with the minimum amount of "stuff" that I can get away with.

As a reformed shopaholic this creates a bit of a dilemma - how to offload all the "stuff" I already possess. Luckily some bright spark invented Ebay for people just like me.

So this year I intend to tackle the house room by room, decluttering all the possesions that are simply taking up room and not contributing in any meaningful ways to our life.

A by-product of this decluttering will be that each room will have a specific purpose and items that do not contribute to that purpose can no longer live there.

For example the lounge room is a place to relax, watch movies, read books or listen to music so only items that relate to those pursuits may live in the loungeroom. So all toys, craft items, computer bits and pieces etc must be removed at the end of business each day.

The first room on the agenda is the dining room (see pic).

I cheated a little bit in starting with this room as it was pretty easy. This room has a table and chairs. It has a small pantry that is only filled with food, so everything good there. It has a small cupboard with my appliances in it.

The only thing I have removed was a candle centrpiece from the middle of the table. Firstly, we never actually lit the candles and secondly I was always having to move it when I wanted to use the table for craft or sewing. So not only was it not useful it was actually an annoyance on occassion so off it has to go.

Next, the office.

8 comments:

Example123 said...

Great Blog!

Vanessa said...

Thank you Broc.

Melissa Goodsell said...

Thanks for leaving such a lovely comment on my blog. I love de-cluttering and have been slowly working my way through our cupboards, I find it's sometimes hard to decide what to keep and what to part with though.

Jane said...

Great blog, Vanessa. Your dining room looks gorgeous - simple and functional!
I love your craft ideas too - gorgeous stuff. I'm trying to move away from buying stuff for birthdays this year too.

Vanessa said...

Thanks Jane and Melissa.
Melissa, I too have a ahard time deciding what to keep and what to toss but this year is the year of being ruthless.
Jane, we haven't had a birthday party to attend yet but I am looking forward to the first one to try out some of my ideas.
Vanessa

Vintage Rose said...

Dear Vanessa,
I wish you luck with your decluttering. Your blog is great.
What a lovely idea with your daughters clothes made into a quilt. I'm sure she will treasure it for a long time.
Blessings,
Melissa

Vanessa said...

Thanks Melissa

libby said...

Hi Vanessa,

Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I wondered why I hadn't come across yours before since we seem to have a lot in common but then I discovered you've only just gotten started with your blog. Lookin' good so far. I can't wait to get to know you better.

Libby