What the he-- is all this stuff?

We began the process of packing up the back of our house to have floors redone and walls painted. Since we have rebuilt this old 1910 house from the foundation up I know what the "little" job entails. And do not tell me plastic keeps the dust out. I will pack up the 5 bookcases of books and treasures and the bottles in the bar and the glasses - oh, the art needs to come down too. Sure I'll get it done.

it is never easy to declutter discard, or gift-

BUT...

As I packed the rooms up, took down all the art from the walls and stashed it in our bedroom up a flight or the basement down a flight of stairs I sorted. Are we really going to play all these 33 1/3 vinyl again? We do have the turn table but when was the last time you ( get the YOU) used it? Are we rereading all these novels? Histories? Do we want every cookbook?

It was easier as the days went on. Reality set in that our children, wonderful children, offered anything in tHe boxes and on the tables took 3 books. TOTAL.

We found homes for a few others.

donated the remaining boxes of stories in another life we escaped into. Those days are gone. So are the books as of 4PM today.

Yesterday began the "return to normal". Unpacking. What a treat to cook and eat in our kitchen, not the basement. As I restocked shelves there were open spaces.

We are able to showcase some items we got on our travels. It all seemed lighter, fresh.

And we felt good at having made life easier for us to live.

A task complete at least for this round of updating.

And the hanging of pictures still awaits!

What can you do to make this process easier for you? Any tricks you would like to share? We all have experiences in rearranging, repainting, redoing spaces.

How do you survive the chaos and work?

Please let me know.

Cheers. Enjoy the last bit of summer and the taste of fall as you look around and think about what you could live without.