The Bare Essentials

(A few little details from around our apartment)

We sold our couch on Wednesday.  We decided a few days ago that we are going to stay in Utah a little longer than just the summer (although we are not quite sure how long, yet), and rather than storing our furniture, we are pretty sure we are going to move to Utah in our two smallish cars, and sell/giveaway everything that won't fit (I was totally sure that is what we were going to do until I had a mini melt-down yesterday and have started second guessing everything that we have talked about and decided. Clearly I am handling this move with grace and poise...)

We did this when we moved here (we only had one car then), but this is quite a bit more challenging, because we have a lot more furniture, and stuff generally than we had then, plus a baby.

Part of me is relieved to have sold at least one piece of furniture, but there is a little bit of a lump in my throat, too. 

That is the couch I used to nurse Fox on during the night, and the couch where Adam and I have snuggled during countless movies, and had long, deep conversations about life and our family.  That is where I took a nap a few days ago, while Fox was napping, and where Fox loves to play, and pretends to 'relax.'  I keep thinking, "It's just a couch! Who cares!"

But somehow, losing it feels like a little bit of myself has gone with it.  Which is pretty ridiculous, because this is not the dream couch of my life.  It was a nice neutral color, was decently comfortable and looked nice with pillows on it, but it was featured on Emily Henderson's round up of "Design Mistake: The Generic Sofa."  Obviously not an heirloom piece.  

I guess this sadness over our couch has brought me back to my current reality, which is, for all my minimalist talk, I still struggle with wanting stuff, and wanting to keep stuff, even when I don't love it (bleh... what a sad confession).  I am constantly having to remind myself that I don't like a cluttered or messy space, and that cutting back on stuff makes a clean space much easier to maintain.  Plus, the goal of only owning stuff I love is what I hope for my future!

To confirm my love of clean, uncluttered spaces, as I have been going through our apartment, I have been realizing that the parts that are getting emptied of so much excess seem so free and open!  I am now wishing I had done some of this months ago, so I could have enjoyed it for longer!  I am also determined that in our next place, I will do a much better job about keeping it emptier from the beginning, rather than having to purge it after!

More isn't always better, sometimes it's just more (a gold star if you can name that movie!). It is still hard when buying stuff is legitimately fun, and new things always seem prettier and fresher than old things; but I am coming to appreciate the stuff I already have, especially when I don't have tons of it lying everywhere.

Any of you facing this same struggle?  I think it is a pretty common problem, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Happy Friday!  Hopefully you don't spend yours weeping over sold furniture and unused toilet paper rolls that will probably get given away.  Not that anyone I know will be doing this, of course...

Other places I have been on the web this week: 

In celebration of Mother's Day:  10 Life Lessons I Learned from My Mother

For those who own a cast iron skillet:  How to Clean and Season Your Cast Iron Skillet