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Deby Lantz-Sorensen's avatar

Less is definitely more!

After living in a lovely home for 23 years (and both of us working from home) we sold everything to become extreme minimalists and move on a sailboat. You don't know 'togetherness' until you're living 24/7 in a tiny house afloat. We typically spend 7 - 10 months at sea. As I write this, were anchored next to Harrah's in Atlantic City.

I used to joke that I'd have to move to divest myself of all our stuff. Turns out I was right.

I read "Spark Joy" and a book on hoarding. Is there an HA (hoarders anonymous) group? Try as I might over the years, I seriously had trouble eliminating clutter and stuff. But we did it!

I donated so much - and tried to do it thoughtfully. All my office & craft supplies went to a local Montessori school. 1000+ Books (300 alone were my cookbook collection) were donated to churches and school libraries. And all of our Danish possessions; novels, cookbooks, board games, collected Royal Copenhagen pieces were donated to The Danish Home of Chicago.

Sad but true, our boys and their wives were not interested in my china which was handed down from hubby's grandmother. 😪

Now we have what we need and not a bit more. In fact, when we visit our land-lubber friends we bring things to be 'donated' to them. Oh, we don't tell them, we hide our things in plain sight amongst their own possessions. Mugs in the kitchen cabinets, towels (clean, of course) in the linen closet, etc.

It's fun when I get a call: "um, my husband just asked me when I purchased a wall hanging. I didn't. Did you abandon this at my house?"

Why yes, yes I did! Took you long enough to notice it.

So while I suggest a huge yard sale and/or straight up donation as a first choice... moving is what worked for me!

I love your home... don't move!

#2SunsetSailors

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Michael Foster's avatar

Make it a project. Take a few days off. Tackle it room by room, or prioritize your list. If this is what you do for 2 days with few distractions you will fly through it and wonder what the hell you were fretting over. Just Getter Dun. Sure, you can pay someone - but its stupid work and you will still need to make most of the decisions. Save the money for a splurging treat when you are done

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