Hubby and I have been binge watching Tiny House Hunters on the HGTV channel for the past couple months. It’s pretty much thanks to Jessica from Cape of Dreams – she posted in November about cleaning her basement and mentioned the show was part of her inspiration for paring down and decluttering. I said to hubby “hey, maybe we should watch that!” and he said “Duh! I’ve been suggesting it for months!” to which I replied “Oh…”. So, after watching a gazillion episodes, it has inspired me/us to do the same!
Hubby started the bedroom decluttering last week by moving the 36″ TV down to the basement – I think we’ve watched it 3 times in 3 years. I started on Saturday by boxing up 3 stacks of books to donate to Goodwill, which left the white bookcase across from my side of the bed nearly empty [see above picture for a “before” shot]. I moved the books I wanted to keep* to the black bookcase next to the bed, and hubby helped me carry the white bookcase downstairs and outside to the curb with a “FREE” sign on it. It was gone within 5 minutes! Sweet. It was cheaply made and starting to sag, so no loss there. Then I moved the green bureau from the corner near the bathroom over to where the white bookcase used to be, and covered it in plants:
Then I moved the cat tree over to where the green bureau used to be, and added a small rack beside it for my surplus sweaters:
Next I moved the black t-shirt chest from it’s awkward position between the 2 bedroom doors [one leads to the hall, the other to the bathroom] over to the window where the cat tree used to be, and covered it in plants:
So basically, all I did was get rid of the white bookcase and re-arrange the remaining furniture to create a much more open space. But it makes a huge difference! Here are 2 more “after” shots [compare the left one to the one directly above it for more wow factor]:
I will be posting soon about the decluttering efforts in the girl cave and living room.
As a side note, hubby and I are actually discussing going tiny for our next house. Tiny = anything 500 square feet and under. The Tiny House movement is pretty inspiring, and really makes you realize you don’t need so much stuff. I told him as long as he lets me construct a 500 square foot workshop next to our 500 square foot house, I’m in *nods*.
* I should mention that I LOVE BOOKS and LOVE READING. I read probably a book a week. But after getting my first Kindle I decided I was done with paper books, and have since re-purchased many of my favorites in digital format and donated the paper copy to Goodwill. I have always been irritated by how much space actual books take up. However, I know many people feel the opposite and prefer bookcases full of books!
It’s so fun to rearrange furniture you already own. When I was younger it was one of my favorite pastimes. Now furniture seems much heavier. And you can’t go wrong with decluttering. You inspired me to try again. Jo @ let’s Face the Music
Furniture does seem much heavier! Ha ha ha! 🙂 I’m still working on decluttering other rooms in the house. It’s exhausting!
Isn’t that a fun show! I watch them all: Tiny House Nation, Tiny House World, Tiny House Hunting, Tiny House Hunter. I wish I had started watching before I bought my house, but they probably weren’t on then. Doesn’t it feel great to let things go?
It feels really good!!! Especially when you can donate stuff that other people can use 🙂 I like that part. I think we watch them all, too. We like the house hunter ones better than the house builder ones, but they’re all fascinating and so clever!
I love how the light floods your bedroom, and how pretty the greenery looks against the teal walls! Obviously the boys like it, too.
Thanks, D’Arcy! Yes, the boys [especially Bonkers] LOVE the bedroom 🙂
Much better!
Agreed!