Here it is!

Do you see this lovely home? In one month, it will be our new home and we can’t be more excited! It will be so much fun to decorate, paint, and just make everything lovely for my precious husband and children. My Pinterest board is full of wonderful ideas for every room. And I have never been so excited about the enormous amount of paint colors in all my life. First up, however, is all the practical things- like a dishwasher. Apparently the previous owners did not need one. But, with five kids, a dishwasher is such a thing of beauty and a necessity. I am just so very excited and it is a funny thing as I have never even seen the house in person. It makes me feel a little like “Little House on the Prairie”. 🙂

You know how all those decluttering and cleaning articles talk about pretending like your moving to get rid of your junk. I am telling you it works! But, I have figured out an even better solution. Pretend that you are moving cross country. There is nothing like the prospect hauling your junk 2,100 miles to help you realize what you truly love and want to keep. Plus, the more you have the more it costs. As I am sorting through all of our stuff, I am keeping only what I truly love. And, I am continually surprised with myself for the things I have kept “just because” or someone gave them to me. I have found myself going “wait, why are you packing this? You don’t even really like it.” Even small things like kitchen knives for example. I have used my chef’s knife that I have for 11 years now. The other day I was packing it and realized I never liked it. Someone gave it to me at my wedding. The blade is 11 inches long and is too big and too heavy for my small hand. I had never thought about it before but I feel like a Viking when I am chopping it with it. I probably wouldn’t hate chopping so much if it wasn’t so big. So, I am not bringing it. My FIL will love it.

I am finding myself inspired by this quote from William Morris:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

but I am going to go even a little further with that in “make your most useful things your most beautiful things”. This was something that has inspired me and I have been slowly doing that. I am working towards having less things but the things I do have are of excellent quality and beauty. I have a beautiful broom that I saved for from Nessentials. Oh, it is such a joy to use! I have a lovely set of mixing bowls from King’s Creek Pottery. I keep them on my counter because they are like art they are so pretty. Now that we are moving, I am really excited about the opportunity to do this even more. So, this is what I think I will purchase next. These two will replace my whole block of knives that are lesser quality but have been well used.

What inspires you in your decluttering or homemaking?