Operation Minimalize Progress #1

Okay, we made some progress! Last night I took pictures and posted items on Craigslist of anything that immediately jumped out as something I could live with out. This is what I came up with (sorry for the bad pics, I did this in like 15 minutes):

1. The bed frame in our room. Its a nice, solid oak piece but MASSIVE. I bought it on CL last year with the plan to put it in the guestroom and move the headboard that is in there to our room. Except the lady that sold it told me it was for a full size bed and it is a queen. So, we got it home and were forced to put it in our room. But its huge. Also you can't push the bed all the way against the wall and Marshall sleeps with us so he has to always be in the middle and I stuff pillows between the bed and wall. Not ideal, out it goes!


2. My jewelry box. Someone gave this to me. I really don't need all the storage and I'm sick moving it to vacuum around the legs.


3. Little white table thing. This was in our bathroom with towels on the bottom, extra TP in the drawers, and lots of cute stuff on the top that I had to dust all the time. I bought this when I was 17 and working at Hallmark. Its been in 5 houses and almost every room. I'm going to replace it with a small storage bench that I can put towels in and also sit on when I'm giving Marshall a bath.



4. Living Room Rug. This I bought because we needed a rug, and it was on sale. The pattern is so busy it dominates the room and makes it hard to coordinate things. If this one doesn't sell, then we're going to move it to the back patio (it's an outdoor rug) and bbq in style. See ya!


5. (2) Chairs. I needed dining room chairs and bought some on Craigslist. I needed 2 but the lady would only sell all 4 so I took them. 2 had arms, 2 didnt. I don't like the ones with arms for inside. The plan was I would paint them the same red as our front door and put them on the porch. Lets be real, its never gonna happen. Out they go!


6. Glider and Ottoman. We bought a blue glider for the nursery and it was in our living room for a few weeks while we were finishing the room. We both loved sitting in it so we bought (from Craigslist) one that would match the living room too. We used it a lot, but now that Marshall doesn't want to be held 24/7 I'd like something a little more stylish. Plus the one in his room is much nicer if he does want to be rocked. See ya!


7. Dresser. This one was hard. This was mine when I was a kid, and my mom's before that. Its oak and antique. I wanted to put a changing pad on top and use it in the baby room, but Jerad thought the lines were too "girly." Also he hates it with a passion because the drawers are hard to open (they need to be waxed--it was made pre-drawer slides). I painted it white last year and was planning on distressing it, replacing the glass, replacing the drawer bottoms, and waxing the drawers so they'd slide. Clearly that didn't happen and there is really no place to put it. It doesn't hold enough clothes for us to use it in our room. I'll get over it.



8. Wooden stool. I took this out of my dad's shop, painted it, and used it as a side table when I first moved out after high school. I've repainted it to match every place I've lived in since and recently repainted it AGAIN to match our new living room decor. Its been a side table, nightstand, stool, and accent piece. I'm tired of moving it around.

I posted everything around 10pm last night, and by 9am this morning the jewelry box, white table, blue stool, glider and rug have all picked up and paid for, and someone is coming to see the bed tonight. If the guy doesn't take the bed, there are 4 other ppl in line already. I priced everything very low so that it would move. It was more important to us to get rid of things than to make a killing. I'm sticking to my guns about donating whatever doesn't sell, but at this rate everything will be gone today!

Our house is 1100 sq and built in the 50's so the layout is wonky. Just getting rid of this stuff will create a ton more room. I'll do another pass tonight and maybe venture into the basement.

One of my big issues is dealing with the "what if's." What if we buy a bigger house next year and need more stuff to make it homey? What if I painted it (soooo guilty of this one) and it looked really stylish? What if I change my mind and miss it? I am also guilty of getting things that I don't necessarily have a place for. Like the rug up above. It was a great deal and had some colors that matched our house. But it was just waaaaaay too busy.

Maybe one day when I don't work full time and Marshall is old enough to occupy himself I'll actually have the time to refinish and re-purpose pieces. If Jerad and I do buy another house next year, it will be fun picking out new things together that fit that space!

As we rework THIS house I am going to go room by room, and finish them one at a time instead of trying to do everything at once which stresses me out. I found this awesome website which should help me stay on budget: http://www.copycatchic.com/.

I also found this site which gives you the plans to build furniture featured places like Pier-One and World Market. http://ana-white.com/ Now, this is a slippery slope. Jerad LOVES doing stuff like this, but his free time is few and far between. I think as long as it was only one piece here and there and something that could be finished in a weekend it would be okay.