Ryan and I have been talking a lot lately about simplifying, uncluttering, and how to make our home fresh. I think part of that comes from it being summer. Everything about summer is light and carefree. Who wants to be burdened with STUFF during the summer?
We had a really interesting discussion about what furniture pieces we currently own that we each consider to be “must keeps”. Some of them were out of necessity (i.e. we would love to get a new bed, including mattress, but it’s not in the budget), but a few of them were for style or just because they’re pieces we like. But other than a handful of items, we discovered that we’re both not super attached to our furniture. For instance, if I found a killer deal on a chair or pair of chairs for the living room, we would be ok putting the bulky wingback chair on craigslist.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about decluttering – I know that here on the blog things look pretty streamlined and maybe even sparse. But we have a lot of stuff in closets and even on shelves that could go. Some stuff we never got rid of the “duplicates” when we moved in together – like our irons. We have two. We also have two toasters, and a coffee maker that we never use because we use the French Press. We use about 5 or 6 pans regularly but we probably own 10 (or more, yeesh!). Stuff like that.
My goal for our home is to one day have pieces that can evolve and mix and match and that we’ll have for 30+ years. Not that we won’t buy new things occasionally, but I love to see homes that have familiar looks even over decades. Timeless furniture that we love when we buy it and will move from home to home with us. I think a lot of us in our 20′s have “filler” pieces. You need shelves, so you buy some at Ikea or Target (that’s where our shelves are from!). Our sofa is a hand-me-down. And so on. So even as we simplify, I hope that we’ll be able to move forward by making smart purchases that will last a lifetime. The purchasing will just be a little slower, because even buying second-hand, quality = cost (not to be confused with cost = quality, which isn’t always true!).
How about you? Are you also seeing a shift in your purchasing habits? Are you still filling a starter apartment or are you looking to start upgrading your furniture to pieces you’ll love? And are you taking steps to vanquish clutter (or do you want to start?)?
Photo from Lonny.
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Simplification was my #1 new years resolution this year and i’ve been slowly plugging along on it. For example at the beginning of this year I was carrying 2 personal cell phones (long story), but ditched one of them and already feel so much more focused.
I’m with you on “forever items”. Our sofa is a craigslist gem as well and while its nice to be able to use and abuse it, I’m starting to think about what might look a little more long term. Its hard to get out of those college habits, though! Keep us posted on your progress.
I have always been a huge fan o simple, clean, and modern but I never seem to be able to pull it off. Too much stuff!
Ah, the two-iron dilemma…it took a year after Ted and I moved in together to fully merge our possessions! Luckily, we didn’t have many, so it could’ve been worse.
As for furniture, we’ve got stuff stolen from our parents’ houses that doesn’t mix-and-match very well stylistically. Our solution is to refinish most of the wood pieces using the same stain, and paint older pieces to freshen up the look/unify color schemes.
I am feeling the exact same way. There’s always a dilemma about furniture when you live in a rental apartment – do you buy furniture to work with the space you have? or the space you might have later in life? My husband and I just bought our first non-hand-me-down couch a month ago and it’s given me the bug to start gradually replacing all the other hand-me-down stuff we have with pieces that suit our tastes and long-term needs.
I’m from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada but I have family who live on Bainbridge Island. If you’re looking for inexpensive furniture, there are always great garage sales on the island when I’ve visited in the past. Maybe you could have some luck with them.
Thanks for your daily inspiration. Love the new blog layout!
I’m with you on buying better items for the long haul. We’re in the (slow) process of furnishing and decorating our house. We have a few hand-me-downs that work and I’d rather live with an empty house for a little while instead of buying a filler couch or table.
I’m totally on the same page with you here. We recently relocated from a large 2 bedroom apt in NC to a spacious 1 bedroom apt in NJ. The plan was to get our POD-full of stuff into our apt this summer, but a few things have come up that prevented us from moving forward on that.
So with a few borrowed furniture items from my parents and our basics (clothes, toiletries, a few pots and pans) we are living slim-style. But the thing is – i love it. It honestly feels like we are living in a beach house. We are along the river so having sparse wooden floors at the moment makes it feel cooler, breezier and we have less stuff to clean-up. A nice break after a stressful move.
But I totally agree with you statements as far as collecting great pieces that will last a life-time. Hopefully when we move our stuff in on the fall after living with less we will be more apt to get rid of the ‘okay’ pieces so we can start dreaming of the great pieces we will want down the road.
Great post! Love your site and you work
This post speaks to me in so many ways right now! I have been sososo inspired by design blogs (like yours!) and now that my husband and I moved into a new apartment I am determined to slowly but surely weed out the pieces we’re not in love with and replacing them with pieces that we adore and will last a lifetime. What I’m struggling with is the patience–I want everything to be done now and it’s somewhat frustrating when each week or month goes by and small pieces are replaced or added instead of an entire room/apartment makeover. But I think this is a great exercise in patience for other parts of my life too!
-Lisa