Open spaces

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Sometimes I look to declutter, and sometimes decluttering finds me.

Last week Eric took time off from work to paint the hallway and living/dining/kitchen areas. We'll call this the Sort Of Remodel Project for future reference, okay? Because we're not tearing down walls or anything, just making some (much needed) cosmetic changes. Anyway, he had to take down all the knickknacks I'd put on top of the kitchen cupboards and this... well, shelf thing he created out of dead space when we built the house specifically for displaying items.

My first thought: Gross, this stuff is dusty.

My second thought: Huh. I really like all that open space.

So. There's been a lot of washing and sorting going on. There are items I've been displaying for lack of cupboard space because they're "too pretty" to get rid of. And they were wedding gifts. Um, but the days of keeping stuff just to keep it are over, so I'm being very practical about it. And it's not even that challenging. I've decided to keep a couple of our collections--some cool lanterns, a few crystal vases that look pretty in the light--and let the rest go.

I've also decided I really like our empty walls, but I don't think Eric is going to go for that. Well, not that I want them completely blank anyway--I love the girls' baby pictures, and we have some new family shots I'd like to display. When we moved into our house ten years ago, we hung pictures "for now," thinking we'd go back and arrange things differently later, when we had time. Ha! Like that ever happens. So this time around we'll do it right.

I'm excited about that.

I'm also excited about the church rummage sale in June because wow, the piles are getting kind of alarming. Maybe it's time to start up the classified ads again?

P.S. Happy 90th birthday, Gramps!