Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Going, Going, Gone . . .

Still haven't figured out Lightroom--maybe I'll have a little more time tomorrow. I just wish that I could still use Picasa in the meantime. Sigh. So here are more unedited pictures.

I'm sick of clutter. Today I took down most of my tchotchkes . . .

Shelves in kitchen and family room are mostly bare . . .
Funny thing, this emptiness . . .
 . . .side tables disappearing, photos missing . . .
. . .  a few lonely lamps and empty baskets . . .
 . . . notice the vacant mantel and table and ottoman (and Sue's quilt!) . . .

All that emptiness is filling me with joy.  I don't know if all that stuff will ever make it back into the house.


Brad's garage, however, is feeling a little bloated.  Craigslist?  Yard sale?  Or will I be sorry in a few weeks and wish it was all back?  We'll see.

Linking up to Jenny Malock's G for Alphabe-Thursday.
Jenny Matlock
Hope I have a few hours to dig into Lightroom. Kara?  When you free? 

32 comments:

  1. Looks good. Keep the stuff for a week or so to make sure you will be okay with it gone or if you could use it somewhere else in the house.

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  2. I'm still taking my stuff down - it's a slow process. I'm not quite sure if I like the bareness or not. In a way it makes me feel sad every year because it feels so empty but then again not having clutter is so nice too.

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  3. YOU HAVE A FAN IN THE CORNER!!!!!!!!!!

    Oh, ya I noticed the other stuff, but the fan really caught my eye.

    Anything you do seems to be adorable and perfect. I do love that tall dresser sitting in the garage, I think that needs to go back in somewhere.

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  4. Craigslist it baby! and your home is lovely. especially that pretty staircase and those striped curtains

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  5. That's the best part of dismantling Christmas - that clean, spare feeling the rooms have. I have to say though that some of the things in Brad's garage look really nice. Keep it for awhile and make sure that you're sure. I'm with you on the empty tables, etc. Dust collectors drive me crazy.

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  6. I want your stair hand rail! I'm thinking of replacing mine to resemble that. envy here!

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  7. I love decluttering!! Happy new year!!

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  8. I have been enjoying bare shelves in my house too! I'm thinking now might be a good time to switch out pictures and stuff. I would hand onto your things...unless you want to sell that gumball machine to me!

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  9. I was looking at the stuff in the garage. I say keep it. It's all beautiful and some of it looks like antiques (not the dumpy kind). Keep it. Maybe your daughter could use it.

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  10. I agree with Garde of Egan, the tall dresser is adorable!!

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  11. I agree with Garde of Egan, the tall dresser is adorable!!

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  12. I think you'll be wishing it back if you get rid of it now. Just store it a while, you may get the itch to rearrange or add back and you'll be wishing "if only..."

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  13. I'm with Karen and Jamie. Some of that stuff looks pretty cool, so I would hang onto it for awhile and be sure. (But I am probably not the right person to ask, given my own track record with de-cluttering...)

    ;)

    PS. I LOVE how the quilt looks. That is so much fun to see it there. And it seriously looks like it was made for the room. =D

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  14. I need to have a few pieces head out of my house. I am not sure we need to have any new brought in.

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  15. I am nowhere as pared down as you, but I've been on the same mission. I swear I can her echoes in my home now.

    I agree with many above: keep them for a bit; hold tight. Then sell 'em.

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  16. can i go shopping in ur garage? u can go shopping in mine! :o)

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  17. Love your stair railing! Of course you won't put that away, but your chest of drawers...if you would live close, I would put my ticket on that one!
    By the way, heard good things about Lightroom, and that it's less complicated than Photoshop:)

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  18. What happened to the locker baskets? Did they get decluttered, too? Sometimes it is liberating to get rid of things. When we moved to this house and got rid of so much STUFF, it was great. There are very few things I even think about now.

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  19. Hmmm, if you're like me, I declutter stuff I'm tired of looking at. Then start seeing new stuff and get all cluttered again:) And yes, before you sell everything, see if a family member wants it. My kids get mad cause they 'wanted that!'
    Thanks for following me on Jake, I'll be here too. I've missed ya:)

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  20. Wow...never realized how BIG your house was!!:) I feel like clearing out the clutter too...but then I seem to just replace it with something else!!:0
    have a happy night jen

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  21. Must be a great feeling. Simple is totally in right now...but dont sell it all yet. Give it a few weeks to be sure!

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  22. How about I come to your garage and peruse through your stuff!

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  23. Well Eldest if swooning over your aqua stand. I have been loving a minimalist approach. I am being very careful about each and every addition. It is a freeing feeling to have less surround us. This is the first time I've had a "tour" of your home Jen. It's beautiful.
    Dana

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  24. i'm your girl when it comes to getting the clutter out. the nesting hormones are in full force. our basement is bare as an empty dog bowl. we always feel like our house looks bare after christmas, but this year, it's really bare b/c i cleaned so much out during the month of december anyway!

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  25. That's got to be liberating! It sounds like I need to come shopping in your garage!! I'm available for a lightroom lesson whenever you are! Friday morning? Hunter has playgroup from 9-11:30 which means I'm only dragging Bennett along!

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  26. Ah, I envy all that space you have. I've been decluttering here in my tiny apartment (yes, I'm back in Tokyo!) and it's been so hard. I keep wishing we had a garage or a storage room where I can throw everything into. The stuff I want to give away ends up taking up room in a corner I already cleaned out so it's almost as if nothing has changed.

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  27. I wish I lived near you. I'd be happy to take those items off your hands. They're gorgeous! You have a beautiful home. I do think you need to return some of your mementos to make your home a bit more personal again!

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  28. i swooning over all your space! seriously, but with my marketing studies background, i'm a firm subscriber to the "white space sells" philosophy. not that that's what you should do. stay where you live (unless you're moving in next door to me!). what i mean is that space is something i love. space & white. my husband thinks i have a sick attraction to what seems institutional. but really i think this is how i combat claustrophobic feelings in my life. that's all. :)

    btw, i felt the same way by the end of the holiday season. i was absolutely ITCHING to get things down & boxed up. i just needed my "space" back. (which is a joke considering that i live inside a micro machine, in all honesty. but whatev's.) i did think that perhaps i'll just leave all the seasonal trappings in their respective places in our pump house next year, just so i don't feel my space is as overwhelmed. but of course all the extra decor will come out. i'll feel festive again by then. :)

    ....not that you asked. but apparently i offered. lol.

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  29. Hello Jen.
    You have a very nice-looking home...all that room! I wouldn't want to part with the stuff in the garage. It all looks great to me.
    Lovely photos.
    Thanks for sharing & visiting. I appreciate the comment too.

    Golden Footprints

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  30. I've been doing a lot of packing and I'm kind of liking the empty, too.

    Although it would be mighty tempting to go to that garage sale and buy some stuff to put back in! ha!

    Thanks for a great link for Alphabe-Thursday's letter "G".

    That quilt is so cool. I'm glad you won it!

    Hugs and A+

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