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This weekend marked the first time Liz and I had actually STARTED preparing the baby nursery. For being 5 and a half months pregnant, Liz did very well at carting things up and down the steps (don’t worry, I took care of the heavy stuff). We had recently gone through our stuff and purged much of it, but the rest went into this room in question. So it was our job to clear out that room and then find new places for its contents. But an amazing thing happened…
Most of it either made a trip to Good Will or was set out for trash day. We were blown away! We had JUST gone through these items only a few months prior. THIS was what was left. THIS was supposed to be a room full of ‘keep’ items. And yet when we went through it once more, we managed to find much of its contents to be nothing more than a waste of space. It was as if our ‘junk filters’ became even more sensitive compared to the last go round.
If it hasn’t moved in 6 months, you have to ask yourself, “WHY?”
Other than maybe a seasonal item, most things we own that sit in one of these so called ‘keep item’ rooms are just space wasters that serve no valuable purpose, other than the art of dust collection. I find that it’s our GOOD INTENTIONS that keep many of these items hanging around. You know, those, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to do _______ what that.” We have this vision of what could be and this keeps us from freeing ourselves from the grips of clutter.
A perfect example of this was a pile of blue foam I had purchased from the local hardware store a few years ago. I fly Radio Control airplanes and you can use this foam to build electric airplanes. I did this once and it turned out pretty well, but ever since we’ve been stuck with the remaining foam. I’ve refused to part with it because I kept envisioning my next airplane project being cut from this vary material. But the fact is, I dont’ have any time for this kind of long winded project. And with a baby on the way it’s going to be a LONG time before it would ever be even the slightest possibility. So I finally parted with it (it’s out front waiting for the trash pickup as I type these words), but even now it took some effort to break free from this impractical idea. Can anyone relate?
Stop letting your stuff OWN you!
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “You don’t own things; things own YOU.” Well, I’m here to say that this couldn’t be a truer statement. I’m not saying that nothing useful or worth owning (I’m FAR from that camp!), but that only about 20% (or less) of what we own is actually benefiting our lives. That this ‘keep’ room is nothing more than a place to store our good intentions and ‘some day’s’ and that by keeping this JUNK around we are allowing our lives to be owned by a thing and not ourselves.
I encourage you on this day (or when you can make the time, of course 
) to go to any of these ‘keep’ rooms and be RUTHLESS. Clear out this useful space and rid yourselves of the good intentions that will never become reality. Make a day of it. Use it as an opportunity to spend time with the family and KNOCK IT OUT! I’m sure you’ve done this before, but I’m here to remind you that maybe NOW is the time to give it another go.
If it helps, this coming weekend we’re going at it one more time. By the time we’re done we’ll own a table, chair and the shirt on our backs. OK, I might keep my MacBook, but that’s it! 
We have an entire preschool we’re trying to sift through. I know exactly where you’re coming from. We’re the same way. We started going through the stuff six months ago, setting aside stuff that today we wish to discard. There’s that invisible guilt attached when getting rid of junk – you feel guilty if you keep it and guilty if you don’t. If you’re going to feel guilty no matter what, you may as well go with the option that gives you extra space.
Writer Dad’s last blog post..Father Daughter Dance
Two of our daughters share a room, which means there’s LOTS of stuff crammed into one space. We just emptied the whole room out to paint it — a lot of work, but a really good opportunity to think about everything before it goes back in, and a great chance to have a conversation with them about “stuff.” Congrats on being ruthless with your stuff (and, more importantly, on the baby that’s on the way!).
Kristin T. (@kt_writes)’s last blog post..Making do: less money and a bit of paint
We have a “keep” room that is mainly filled with all the stuff we couldn’t find room for after we moved into a smaller house.
Here’s a common scenario at my house—I’ll say, “We’re having a party; where’s the punch bowl?” Hubby will reply that it’s in storage because we decided to store the things that we only use once a year. Randi goes on the three hour hunt for the punch bowl. Randi never finds the punch bowl. Randi goes to Walmart to buy a new punch bowl. After using it and putting the new punch bowl into storage, Randi remembers that she loaned the first punch bowl to a friend for her baby shower six months ago. See? Eric is right. No point in keeping stuff because you just have to buy it over again anyway.
Randi’s last blog post..Cool Things we did in 2008
We finally got rid of our junk room when we moved into a smaller home. Without a basement or attic we have no room for stuff we don’t need so there’s no buying anything unless we start storing stuff in our garage and parking in our drive way. No way!
I love our simple life!
Tess The Bold Life’s last blog post..Begin Your Week With A Love Filled Monday
Good for you! And you have to keep your Macbook; it’s a Mac, if it’s running, it stays.
I’ve been meaning to go through our “keep” closet for a couple weeks now, I keep thinking of better uses for the space and it’s driving me crazy that I only know about 1/4th of what’s in there. We kind of just stuffed stuff in there after we got married because we wanted the room to be clear, now I’m ready to *attack* it. The hard part is… at least 1/3 if not 1/2 is my hubby’s and he’s not so much in declutter mode. Oh well, I can at least go through my junk, right?
@Sean: I can imagine you ‘feel’ me on this one, Sean.
@Kristin: Thanks! We’re not cramming kids in a room just yet, but we’re right behind you.
@Randi: Great scenario! How many times to we end up wasting time searching through the items we never use to find the one we do?
@Tess: That’s one thing about our living situation. We’re in a townhouse that is fairly spacious, but has zero storage space. Like you pointed out, this forces you to keep only those things you need and nothing else. A MUCH better way to live.
@V: I know, don’t you hate that. Here we are storing this stuff that we somehow NEED, and yet we don’t know half of what we own.
And don’t worry, the Mac stays with ME.
Eric
Hi Eric,
There are always time we refrain from throwing away things because we thought that it will come handy in the future and this goes on for years and the particular item will still be staying in the same place and we have not use it yet. I had experiment with throwing away stuff that I thought would be important, but all I need is a few days to forget about it.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Vincent’s last blog post..30 Budget Ideas For Valentine’s Day
@Vincent: “I had experiment with throwing away stuff that I thought would be important, but all I need is a few days to forget about it.”
That sums it up right there. Well said. Eric