So, we've apparently sold the house. The initial "Yea!" has now morphed into "AHHHH!!!"
Where is ALL this STUFF going to go?
We really aren't super cluttery folks. And I do a pretty thorough "cleansing" every year. Still, by sheer square-footage calculations, when we make the move from this house to the mobile home next month, we need to be moving less than 1/3 of the house contents. There simply won't be room for anything more.
The thing that is stressing me the most is the storage space. This house has SO MUCH STORAGE. In contrast, the mobile home has two closets -- one in each bedroom. Pantry? Nope. Entry closet? Nope. Linen closet? Nope. Cleaning supply closet? Nope. Amazing hook and storage bin wall that houses all our shoes/backpacks/lunchboxes/etc.? Nope.
Clearly, I've been very spoiled.
Where will I keep the vacuum, my soap-curing rack, our medicines, all those jars of preserved food, my 50-lb. drum of coconut oil, etc.?
Cleaning/medicine/storage closet
I'm trying not to work myself into too much of a tizzy about it all. Instead, I'll just tackle each area, one at a time, being sure to stick as closely as I can to the "1/3 rule."
We don't really know how long we'll be living in the mobile home. My guess would be 2 years at the most. So, that is the time frame I'm using as I make decisions regarding what we need to keep and what we can live without. There may be a few furniture items that we put into long-term storage, but really most useful things aren't really that necessary if we could do without them for 2 years and not miss them. Those items may as well be donated or sold.
Entry closet. In the winter, those drawers house our hats, scarves, gloves. In the summer--our swimwear.
I plan on posting large items on the online yard sale (be looking for our stuff!) and having an actual yard sale in the coming weeks. While I may donate a lot of things, the only motivator I've been able to find for getting the kids to part with some of their toys has been reminding them that they'll get the cash from the sale of their own items. They're pretty excited about being able to buy some new stuff to outfit their new playhouse at the farm.
My filing cabinet/computer/sewing/soap-packaging desk, next to my soap-curing rack. Ummm. Yes, those are bananas. Don't ask.
While the task ahead is indeed daunting. I am also pretty excited. Sure, we may have to all kind of suck in our guts and shimmy through parts of the mobile home once we've crammed in everything we "can't live without," but the whole point of our move over there is what's outside. We may be sleeping in pretty tight quarters, but all we have to do to have more space than we could ever want or need is step out the door. That reminds me, I've got to be sure to include the dinner bell on the back porch in the 1/3 of stuff we keep. That way, when the kids have wandered beyond view to "discover" some new corner of the farm, I'll be able to summon them home for dinner! :)