It could be the change of the season, but sometimes you look around your home and discover things that you haven’t noticed before and decide; it’s time for a change. Ever since the loss of my husband I have not really been paying attention to the house. I traveled. I ran away to do other stuff and stay distracted. But even though I am a widow and living alone right now, I still like things to be nice. In fact there is no reason my home shouldn’t be nice for me now.
It started with my utensil drawer. I hadn’t noticed that I had run out of large forks and that there were probably 4 different odd sets of utensils plus a mish mash of rarely used tools layered on top of each other in that space. It looked like a sad section of a Good Will store. I also noticed that my sharp steak knives were beginning to rust and I had about 60 plates, bowls and cups with assorted patterns stuffed into my cabinets. What a mess!
Luckily Bed Bath and Beyond had sent me a 20% off your ENTIRE purchase coupon so I started to make a list. The list got very long but I had not really paid much attention to anything in my kitchen for a long time.
I felt like a new bride as I waltzed around the store selecting my new dish pattern, utensils and steak knives. As I crossed off the items on my list I piled the basket high. I picked up a few necessities like replacements for my no longer working smoke alarms and a spontaneous purchase, a toy for my dog.
It took a few trips to get everything into my house from the car. I emptied the shelves and said goodbye and thank you to all the old mismatched dishes. I haven’t yet decided whether to save them for my kids or just have the truck take them next time I have clothes to donate.
Once the new plates, bowls and cups took up residence on my shelves I was overcome with a feeling of peace and joy. It looked so nice not to have all the clutter falling off the shelves. After scrubbing the utensil drawer, I only put back the items that I would really use. The shiny forks and spoons are stacked so neatly on top of each other waiting patiently to be used. Homemade chili looks so tasty in my new bowls and drinking coffee from the solid light blue mugs starts my day with a smile.
Adventures can be anything out of the ordinary that brings you joy. I never expected buying new kitchen dishes to bring such a smile to my face. Eliminating the unwelcome clutter in your life and feeling that sense of order and harmony goes a long way.
7 Responses
I am with you sista! I can truly understand your joy in purging and buying new matching stuff!! As I endure the tedium of packing up the house, my joy comes with the purging of all the stuff I won’t use or need. I thought my kids would also want some stuff and they ended up only wanting about 10%. It is great how we can find joy in the little things!! XO
“The life-changing magic of tidying up” really does work!
I recently sifted/sorted up to move – and it has been enlightening what went elsewhere, what things I still need to get because of the ditching!
It does feel so good to organize, sort and then purge all that stuff. That is my next goal. I think doing one area at a time is my strategy. Thanks for commenting
I took that strategy, I started some months before the proposed move – and concentrated fully on one area of my life at a time. When I got basically to personal stuff and what I classed loose ends, (not sure or won’t fit in a box of similar elk to the theme area) I began looking for a new rental property. I wasn’t in a hurry but didn’t think it would all come together early… my idea of on what size the next would be, had to change when I realised a number of issues – but it has all worked relatively well. I don’t think we really “get” what we want but this place will “do” for me 🙂