The existence of a naked mole rat implies the existence of a fully dressed mole rat. I sincerely hope that the dressed mole rat is dapper. Bonus points for spats and a topper.
I tidied up the sewing room again this weekend, and it was easier than I expected. Once I started folding the fabric in the mound on the floor and putting stuff away, it all became a lot easier. It took some time, but I feel pretty good about the feeling in there now.
I've spent a lot of time this year cleaning and organizing, and I've learned a few universal truths from it.
1. Stuff that isn't put away takes up twice as much space as stuff that is put away. Example: When we get lazy about putting away the towels after the laundry is done, the stack lives in a laundry basket on our bedroom floor. The shelf in the linen closet for towels stands empty, since we're not putting something else there, as the towels are totally going back there at any moment. Hence, the towels are not only taking up the space where they belong, but also the space where they are being temporarily stored. When we put them away, the temporary storage is freed up.
2. You could make that into a cool craft/put it into a scrapbook/sell it on Ebay/etc, but will you? When? Our lives are overstuffed with possibilities, and we only have so much time on this planet. Edit the projects and release the excess. The fifteen jelly rolls (sets of strip cuts for quilt piecing) that I found on sale last year are still around, but I did get rid of a lot of "maybe-someday" stuff. I haven't missed any of it yet.
3. It's only "worth big bucks!" if you can find the right audience at the right moment. Our house is little, so we have to be careful about what we hold onto for resale. I have no doubt that there are people in our lives who sniff about how foolish we are to let potentially valuable stuff go, but I know my limitations. I have no problem letting someone else do the research and prepare the item for sale and list it in the right place at the right time. I also have no problem letting them profit from it, because they, after all, did the work. In some cases, it has been pure Kismet, too, like the 1960s sheath dress pattern I found ordinary and not too difficult to recreate using flat patterning techniques that I sent off to a friend who specializes in vintage sewing patterns. She was over the moon, because it turned out that the pattern was from a designer who would do special painted panels to go with the pattern for a unique design. Guess who had the panel pictured on the pattern. Kismet. The pattern would otherwise have sat in an overflowing file cabinet for a decade or so, or it would have been donated to an overwhelmed thrift store, which would probably have trashed it. It's not your duty to glean maximum profits from everything you own, and the resale value of an item is a weak argument for its continued presence in your home.
4. It's okay to be a different person than you used to be, and to shed the trappings of the old you. The stroller that was just perfect for Kiddo is way too big for my trunk, and, due to current conditions, we are not taking Tiny for long walks through the mall to get some exercise in climate controlled surroundings. It was a trooper, and we are grateful to it, and it has been sent out to find its next adventure. Meanwhile, the stroller we bought from a friend who was moving out of town fits our current needs and takes up less space in the garage. Win-win.
5. Be honest about the tenure of an item, and make your purchases accordingly. If we only want to see something once, we usually borrow it from the library. If it's on a killer sale, or we just can't wait, we'll recognize that the DVD is close in price to what it would have cost to see the movie in theatres and pick it up. Sometimes the movie stays in the collection to be viewed over and over, and sometimes it gets loaned out to all of our friends, and sometimes it goes into the box to be sold at the used bookstore. No answer is always right, and being honest about how long books, movies, music, toys, and magazines get to stay in our home has offered us a lot of freedom. Through the years, we've developed a system of watching a trailer and deciding if the movie is a see-in-theatres, a DVD buy, a rental, a borrow-from-the-library, or a wait-for-streaming. Feeling a craving for some random show or movie? Hit JustWatch.com to see if it's on any of your streaming services, then check the library website for a free borrow there. Less stuff is less stuff.
6. Every piece of furniture you own looks nicer after you've removed the random pile of stuff from the top and dusted it. All that furniture you scored from your parents' basement and garage sales can look amazing after a minute with a dust cloth, and even better with another couple minutes with some scrubbing around the handles.
7. If you don't recall buying candy that is in holiday packaging for a recent holiday, it will not be a pleasant snacking experience. Let it go. It's clearly over a year old, and you forgot you had it--that should tell you all you need to know. Don't ask me how I know, because I think you can guess. It was not a rewarding moment in my life.
8. If you have a stock situation (like my fabric stash, or costume storage, or a book case, or a clothes closet), make it a pleasant shopping experience. As my professor in grad school pointed out, if you cannot locate an item, you might as well just throw it out, as it is not useful to you and therefore is not earning its rent. If you can't shop the stuff you already own, you will go shopping for new stuff. I can attest to picking up fabric and supplies I know I already have, simply because it will take too long to find it. You can save yourself a fortune by knowing what you have and storing it in a way that makes it easy to locate and to remove from storage (Ever had to throw your body weight against a rack of clothes to fish out one piece, breaking a few hangers in the process? Just get rid of something already!).
My house is far from perfect, but I'm getting to the point that I have legitimate floor space and a running clue where individual items are located. It doesn't seem like a huge step, but for this mother of two with a crafting passion that is only rivaled by her adoration of free stuff, it's amazing progress.
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