Goal #35

Goal #35: prepare for the hutch.

One piece of furniture I'm getting from Mom is an old hutch.  I think I know where I'm going to put it, but maneuvering it into place is going to take a fair amount of rearranging of other furniture.  If the hutch doesn't arrive this coming week, it should be here the following week, so I might as well be ready.

Recap of goal #34: I considered.  I read a bunch of articles.  These are some of the ones I think will be most useful to me as I tackle this beast:

I Don't Want Stuff Anymore, Only Things
101 Physical Things That Can Be Reduced in Your Home (and the rest of the Becoming Minimalist blog)
More Experiences and Fewer Possessions
52 Weeks to an Organized Home

I think one of my biggest challenges in trying to clear out stuff is that I'm a tactile person.  For example, lots of sites say "digitize your pictures and get rid of albums." But I sometimes look at my albums.  I never look at the pictures stored on my computer unless I'm looking for something in particular. Same with books.  I like to read actual books.  I've never been a good e-book reader, or much of a reader of articles online (this post notwithstanding).  The last time I moved I pared down my books pretty drastically.  But of course, I'll try it again.

I guess it's important to remember that what works for some of these pundits won't work for me, and vice versa.  I read one post written by a British woman.  She said she got rid of her hot pot and just heats water on her stove.  That might work well for her, but when my stupid electric cooktop is so slow that I have to heat water in the hot pot and then pour it into a pot just to get it to boil in less than 30 minutes, well -- we're in different worlds!  (And besides, how can you honestly call yourself British if you don't have a hot pot for making tea?!)

Regardless, I will give it my best shot.  Wish me luck!