I wish I could say the same. You must have pared down when you moved too. We didn't and I am playing "shuffle the excess" right now so we can fit 2 more people in beds for a few days.

Marti8a
Here's a website you might find interesting. I really find it helpful to search out others trying to reduce the clutter.
The way I handle it is I buy only used furniture, then if I want to donate it I don't feel as bad as I would have if I had paid retail at Thomasville...
Of course I do have a bad mix : a small 500 sq/ft apt. and a love of old kitchen equipment(bowls, sifters, gadgets) and old furniture. I made the mistake of buying a dining room table and misc wooden chairs and a china cabinet in the middle of gutting the apt. Of course I blamed my husband and told him he should have stopped me(at least until we were done with the reno)but he's very kind and sweet and also likes used furniture...everytime he had to move it though it was not pleasant :(

Here is a link that might be useful: here's link

I have been paring down for years. SERIOUSLY YEARS. We went from 1800SQ FT to 1140SQ FT. Back to 1850ST FT down to 1200SQFT. Now we are in I think 1375SQ FT and it feels just right. Knowing we will not be moving again I keep paring down adding then paring down. Mostly it is the clutter stuff that is going away.

TOTALLY love the White Friday take on on the season. We gave up doing anything at Christmas years ago. Took some friends getting used to it. Finally I got through. I want nothing coming into my house unless I bring it in. I do not mean the darling little stitched gifts a friend does for me or birthday cards. I love and cherish them. I mean gifts bought for me just because the calendar dictates a gift must be bought. Like wise I do not gift to friends. We call on the phone or go out to lunch.

I know lots of people enjoy the holidays and all the decorating. I used to. Now I do not so I do not do it. I really like the idea of White Friday and think I will work on a deep clean. I just did the kitchen a few days ago so I already have a head start.

Looking at the link from EAT, the "20 Questions to ask of your clutter" (that miss minimalist poses for 'Clearing Clutter')are terrific! They appear after the 'White Friday' and 'Carol' posting. While amusing, they provide a true vetting for asking just why we keep some of the stuff we have. I have spent periods during the past year clearing out, and will continue this winter. Funny, when asking my kids if they want some of my long-held treasures, they decline. I think the best question was #20... 'do you make me smile?'. That qualifies as a true keeper.

Check out the categories on the right hand side, there are photos there also. Under the category "home", the blogger posts on pinterest.

The White Friday idea is great, the Miss Minimalist site is great, and I like the idea of the ONE LESS GIFT certificate.

Also, if you wish to be motivated to rid yourself of clutter, then A & E channel is again offering THE HOARDERS program this coming Monday night. Check your local TV schedules.
I noticed it advertised over the Thanksgiving holiday, and if they show the episode featured in the ad, I'll have to find a GAS MASK. PILES of soiled diapers fill the house. She says, "I didn't just wake up one morning and plan to trash the house." What kind of mental health problem causes this to happen? It is frightening. Not that I think anyone would INTENTIONALLY do such a thing......but what happens to a mind that puts it into such denial!!!!

We bought an 1100 sq ft. house on a little river to remodel and retire (someday) to. I hope to have it done before I retire in 7 years, lol. I am looking forward to smaller and less stuff. I used to sell on Ebay from my rummaging and thrifting and lordy, can you ever accumulate lots of cool stuff that buries you alive after awhile! Hoarder without the health hazard factor. But, I've also been divesting myself of stuff since getting married 9 years ago and STILL I have a garage attic half full of things in addition to a houseful. It's nuts. We'll be moving from 2400 sq ft, 5 bedroom 2 bath to a 2 bedroom, one bath and I'm really excited! I hope I can get some good hints from you all about creative storage and creating useful space! One thing I will miss: all my wall space for pictures. I won't have much there and I have so many neat vintage pictures that I love. Oh, well.

My 1400 SQ house is the largest I've ever lived in so I'm not in the same downsizing frame of mind as many. I have, however, cleared out relatives houses and ended up with treasures from those. It's hard to get rid of those things that are full of memories, even though you didn't even think about them until they came into your own house, but over time they become less important and you can let them go. Keep the things that make you really happy and let the rest go.

I also pared down from 2800 sq ft to 1800 sq ft. We took too much stuff with us, and now my kids love the hand outs. We should be living with a lot less by next year. We moved 1/2 of what we had, but we are in a different state (from Va to FL) so we needed different 'stuff'. We will get there, and then Oh so much easier without all the 'stuff' to dust!

Deedles, you will have a good time in your new 2br house. One thing though. I'd lived alone for 32 years before I remarried my college sweetheart. We are both retired. And, while you might not need two FULL baths, at least two toilets are a MUST. Think about ways you can add a half bath or make a Jack and Jill bath with a his/hers half, and the sinks and shower/tub shared. It helps keep a bit of personal privacy.

The wall space for pictures is an issue with me too. I love artwork on the walls. If you have a hallway, think about making it your "gallery." I think Pottery Barn has many good ideas for hanging things in groups, and then HOUZZ and Pinterest are also good places to check out the subject.

RosesStink, (love that name!) I went through that with my mother's things, then with my DH's things from his deceased first wife. That was a ticklish issue, and over the last 6 years I've tried to keep everyone happy....except his daughter who thinks I am satan personified....and now we are just about totally done with moving personal treasures around. To his son, we gave their mom's everyday china, and to the other daughter we gave her good china and silver and Christmas ornament collection. And, of course, the gifts they gave to her over the years. Of the old old stuff, my DH wanted to keep HIS mother's china...which I was pleased to do.

We will be doing a remodel of the kitchen here, knocking out a wall to join the dining and kitchen, as well as the back porch. We had to add a second bath and walkin closet in a bumpout to the original house, because the one bathroom original to this 1950s house was about to fall through the floor, and it had mold, no floor under the tub, etc. Now it is a nice quiet little house with an enclosed sun porch, a separate garden shed 12 x 16, a 20 x 25 Teahouse which was a garage, and we are very happy here.

We are both getting too old to do heavy projects much longer, so it is good to have a contractor we can trust. He's done two of our remodel projects so far, and will be doing the last one. Probably next winter, unless we can get him this spring and summer. It will have to be at a time we can move everything in the house out into the Teahouse.
A kitchen job messes with the power, the plumbing, and the exterior walls as well as roofing and flooring.

mocassinlanding--Funny that you mentioned Hoarders...
I watched Hoarders on the computer and I threw out bags of papers while watching it. I need to buy a new shredder and spend a few days eliminating statements etc. I refuse however to get rid of my cookbook collection or other books as I re-read them during rainy/snowy days. I opted out (forever) from junk mail but you still receive so much misc mail...Also need to buy LARGE filing cabinet for bills, tax returns etc..:)

DH and I have one file box each. The kind with handle on top. We are able to keep all needed paper items in this one box each. They are about 12 inches across and maybe 9 inches front to back. Hold a file folder on edge.

We keep all household appliance booklets in large three ring binder in those plastic sleeves. We leave behind all books from last house for next owners in a small binder when we have moved.

I have one small drawer about the size of a small file drawer in my studio for office paper office supplies. It is a drawer in an end table I set the printer on. I used to have two file four drawer cabinets. NO MORE. I used to be a clean hoarder. I am so over that.

Moccasin: yes the bathroom or rather toilet issue has now occurred to us, now that everything is purchased and waiting in boxes in the garage to be installed. Our solution is to have a basement toilet room with sink. We both use one bathroom downstairs now (teen girl lives in upstairs bathroom) and it's about once a week or less that one of us either has to wait or climbs the stairs...but enough to make us realize that another john is necessary. Funny you should mention the hallway.. that's exactly what I'm going to do... we have a short (8 ft. long) hallway and I'm going to have 'between the studs' shallow boxes built in for hanging and setting pictures... kind of an art gallery. I check out Houzz... have to also check out pinterest, too.. thanks!

I love the idea of a shredder. When Staples had theirs on sale, I got one which will cut up to 18 pages, and I also got the "shredder sheets" to pass through the cutting blades so they stay lubricated.

Not that I have a lot of documents, but I do have a lot of junk mail. And I do not like putting into the trash any sort of statement or receipt, or junking up the trash with something that can be shredded.....and then, guess what I do with all that STUFF? I put it in the compost pile. The only thing which does not compost would be things like credit cards (yeah, this shredder does those too), but they are in pieces so tiny they work like rocks in a flower pot. So a shredder is a good recycling tool. Over on the gardening forums, they also take thick layers of newspaper and lay them down as the basis of a new flower bed created from "Lazagna Gardening" with layers of organic stuff which then decompose for the lazy man's flower bed.

Oh dear, I've gone off subject here. So sorry, this thread is one which sparks my thoughts.

Ditto on the 1/2 bath. We have a full bathroom in the garage and dd's fiance commented the other day that he would like to have a big garage but without the bathroom because he'd never use it. But that bathroom comes in sooooo handy. I still think we don't need a tub in there, but even it was handy when dog bathing time came around. The cat though? He can stay dirty. I've bathed a cat before and never again.

Deedles, love the shallow stud hanging alcoves. Every little bit helps. The years I spent living on a boat taught me a lot about using "found" space....like making a stair step into a lid and stowing things in them. Sort of reminds me of the Japanese tonsu chest, shaped like stair steps but with drawers instead of lids. I think they also used them as stairs though.