Hey guys!
So back to this. Slowly but surely…
You know. That series I’ve started where you get to see all the dirty places of my closet and wonder where on earth I keep my shoes because they’re lost under piles of laundry and Easter eggs circa 2008. Said Easter eggs probably still have Easter candy in them and are positioned right beside those barbells I stole inherited from my mom in college and haven’t hoisted in a good year. I’m the slightly emotional artist who tends to hold on to things because of their (insert self imposed random) significance here … The ‘old’ me, the one riddled with guilt and fear would, anyway.
This process of simplifying, it’s not an easy journey. If any of you have been with us on this, you totally know that. We’ve tried to stay consistent while purging our home slowly bulldozing a path to a simpler lifestyle… It’s easy to start. You only think that’s the hard part. The hardest part is when life starts to take over again. It’s maintaining those habits and the pursuit of the lifestyle. Because there’s school projects to be done and children to care for and that whole thing about being social where at some point you have to stop writing about projects all the time and leave your house wearing something other than yoga pants. I’ve said it here before, but you can’t very well freeze time so you can clean out your closets. It’s a great idea, really. {What would I do with frozen time just so I could stop feeling like my head was just above the proverbial water?}
Digression. I’m pretty sure I don’t really need more hours in my day unless I’m guaranteed a good two additional hours of sleep. Because it would never feel like enough. Maybe I would also use it to shower. But keeping it real, it does help to set a goal.
We’re back today to tell you about a little something we’re super excited about! It’s a fun announcement (for us, anyway). A milestone kind of celebration, if you will, in our progress.
We’ve donated all of the smaller things… but we’re left with a good bit of fun furniture, accessories, and art that need to find better homes.
Better homes like… yours, perhaps?
And like our little graphic says… there will be fun and merriment. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to miss that. I have no idea where the word merriment came from. I made it sound like we’ll be wearing flower wreaths in our hair and dancing around a maypole. Eating cupcakes.
Mmmm. Cupcakes.
If you show up, I’ll make sure Jamin wears a flower wreath. That would be not super creepy and totally normal.
We’ve established a (realistic) deadline for ourselves so we can keep working towards our goal. And we will be celebrating (or pulling our hair out). if I’m honest, it’s probably a delicate combination of both… perhaps I shall wear a flower wreath to cover the bald spots.
There will be a little bit of this (see: red bookshelf)
And this…
And I’m even getting rid of our left over barn wood from this project…
We will be posting more goodies as we get closer.
I’m kind of excited.
We hope we’re fortunate enough to meet a few of you awesome lovely people, and simplify in the process. The best part? We’re working out the details, but as I mentioned before, we will be giving a portion of our profits to a really good cause right here in Montgomery, Alabama.
So… need I say…. stay tuned!
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Total side note: if you missed our post yesterday, and you’ve been purging your homes as well, we’d love to see your progress. Be sure to upload some progress or projects in our our lazy gal’s gallery…we’re still in the process of fine-tuning a few of the little things around here.
And some things are already up in our reader’s gallery! Y’all are so beyond talented. We’re always wowed, to say the least.
We hope to see you there…
Diane@InMyOwnStyle says
Hi Ashley – I wish I lived closer – I wanna come to your yard sale. 🙁 I hope you sell everything.
Love you new look!
Anna says
Yesssssss!
Jenna says
Oh Em GEE. I want some of that wood! And that blue dresser! And the red shelf! Yes please!!!
Layla K says
This is amazing. I am so there! 😉
Hayley says
Well, I guess I may just have to stop by. (And it’s taking all my strength to not include hashtags in this post. 🙂
Emily says
Oh I’m excited. I will definitely be making a special trip from Birmingham that weekend. Any chance we’re allowed to call dibs ahead of time? 😉
Stacy P says
Awww…would LOVE to come to your yard sale! Your post at the beginning of the year spurred me to clean out my whole house! I had a yard sale in mid-March and made a bit of $$ and the rest went THAT DAY to Good Will. Thank you for the encouragement along the way. 🙂
Laura says
You’re torturing us, you know! That will be an awesome day of shopping and merriment!
I heard one of our pastor’s say that his freedom from something didn’t happen immediately. He said, “It took more than 5 minutes to get into it, and it took more than 5 minutes to get out!” I think that applies to the new mindset some of us are developing about our homes as well. You are doing a great job, and you can be proud of how far you’ve come!
Shauna@Satori Design for Living says
Sounds like fun (love the new blog design, by the way). Enjoy your weekend!
Linda says
I wish I could be there as your dressing table would fit right into my new home!
Instead I’ll wish you luck with simplifying, and continue to unpack after our latest international move. No doubt I’ll wonder why I bothered to pack the great majority of our stuff, and end up donating it to the nearest charity shop.
Aubrey says
First of all, I adore this series and your honesty. I have read every post in this series MANY times. MANY! I have talked about it to anyone who will listen.
Second of all, I need help. I cannot seem to do it. I look around my house and all I see if clutter and chaos. We moved into a bigger house thinking we needed it with three kids – and boy were we wrong. More house, more stuff. This house causes me a lot of stress. To the point I feel like I am not appreciating anything lately. I NEED HELP! Where do I start? How do I overcome the crappy fact that when I do get a room in order it is NOT within HOURS?!
I need simplicity. I needed it yesterday. Any honest advice?
Simplicity seems like an unattainable goal right now. Yet I know what I could actually accomplish and what a happier person I would be.
I am off to read this series – again! I hope to hear back from you!
Aubrey
Angela - My Personal Accent says
I recently moved in with my dad as he is getting older and have been going through years of dusty treasures (junk) doing a ton of purging. It is amazing the things you will find and the memories that are uncovered.
Stephanie says
Wish I didn’t live in CO! I love a good garage sale & yours would be the best I’ve ever been to!
Kat says
Hello! Just popping in to say that we’re in the middle of a grand purge of our own. (Actually, the first of two purges.) I’m finally dragging all the crafty scraps, unnecessary furniture, and all things pack-ratty and cluttered out of the basement so that we can make a fun office and TV room. We’re having a crazily eclectic sale, probably on May 25, and watching your progress helps me focus and keep up my strength.
Why the purge? I’ve wanted to do it for years, in an abstract way, but now it’s kind of being forced on us — we need to make room for my elderly parents to move in with us. Our old office/TV room on the main floor will become theirs. Purging their house, with its 80-years’ accumulation, has also strengthened my determination to rid myself of my anchor-around-the-neck, goddawful stuff. I want to set a good example for my kids (who are purging their stuffed toys in the most awesome fashion possible!) so that they don’t think it’s normal to have a dozen Sterilite tubs full of stuff that “might sell on eBay some day.”
Good luck!