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Day 49: Our House

I loved our big yellow box of a house when we bought it. It has lots of redeeming qualities: a large open living area, big bedrooms with great closets, and the location is fantastic. We have all the square feet we need, including a huge playroom, which gets tons of use.

However, as time has gone by (9.5 years here!), I sort of started to hate it. I'm not willing to give up my guest room, because we have lots of guests. We have 3 kids and 3 bedrooms, which means all the little people and all their stuff sre shoved in one room. We had extra space for a lot of years, which means we accumulated lots of crap. 

We spent 2015 trying to get rid of said crap, and updating some things in case we decided to sell the house. As it turns out, it wasn't actually the house I hated; it was the stuff. I mean, I really did hate the stained up country blue countertops, but overall we have a great house. 

We have updated the counters, appliances, bathrooms, and made minor improvements all over. And all of those things are great! I love the updates! But the weight that is lifted from getting our unused stuff out of the house is making such a difference for me! 

I can't believe how much I let stuff control me! I spend so much time moving it from place to place, cleaning it, organizing it and storing it. I recently finished "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and it made me question my attachment to my stuff and why I avoid dealing with it. 

I don't think I can successfully KonMari my whole house, but I've started reevaluating all of our possessions and why we have them. I have reduced the stuff in my side of the closet by almost 50%, I think. I'm struggling with the next category, books. But I am making progress, and I feel so good about it. 

I don't hate our house! Or (some of) our stuff! I'm grateful I've been inspired by a number of things (potentially moving, the book) to get rid of what we don't need, use, or love. 


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