My uncle has just sold his house and the people buying it like the whole place so much that they offered to buy all the furniture as well as the building. My uncle said yes.
I have been pondering this a lot, and am not sure what I would say...I may not have the nicest furniture in the world but I mean, it took me 6+ months to find the 'perfect bed' and then I waited 3 more months until it went in the sale. Most of my items were charity shop, thrift shop, car boot, street or ebay finds, that I could never find again.. these items were each a moment of excitement, a bargain or freebee or an item that I worked hard to save for.
... am i just being a typical Taurean and putting too much weight into material items?
Would you sell everything and start again? Would it be a wonderful liberating experience or your your worst nightmare?
for me the jury is still out..
29 comments:
I guess I'm at the age where that sounds particularly attractive but not sure how to broach the subject with my family.
honestly.... i'm not sure! I like the idea, and i think it would be incredibly liberating. But not sure I could do it.... when we moved a few years ago, we had a job getting all our furniture onto the truck... my FIL said maybe we should leave the wicker chair behind and I had a mini-tantrum LOL no way! so..yeah, maybe not!
I contemplate this exact thing frequently. With the exception of just a few items (books being high on the list, and a few items left to me by my mother), I'd be okay with the whole kit and kaboodle being sold off. Lighten the load!!!
Yes! I have done so several times and to me it's just stuff. Not having stuff enables me to travel and when I temporarily settle down I always come across some cheap but pretty second hand stuff along the way. Not having much while traveling also taught me that I don't really need that much. If you've got stuff that holds a lot of sentimental value I can imagine it won't be that easy.
I'm pretty much ready to do that! Would love an offer!
It would be cool to start fresh. But I'm pretty attached to some of my furniture pieces which were fun second hand finds.
Hmm good question. Having built up my personal style over 40 years, I like everything in my house for exactly the reasons you mentioned and would have a job to replace my stuff with the same stuff, if you know what I mean!
Right now the vast majority of our furniture is hand-me-downs so... yes, probably, I would, if it meant I could invest in furniture that actually speaks to me instead of making do with what we've managed to gather up cheap or free. We do have a few things that were my husband's grandmother's that we'd probably need to keep though.
Great question...I am constantly cleaning out things in my home but I do have a few pieces like you said that I have found in flea markets, Ebay or family treasures ,especially ...Maybe not all of my things but a good portion could go....great food for thought... :D
Yes, I could absolutely do that: just gave away a truckload of "stuff" to charity last week. I have lost everything before, & it taught me a deep & serious life-lesson: things don't matter because they can be replaced, & one shouldn't invest emotion into inanimate objects.
Possessions bring responsibility & literally feel like a heavy weight... I don't want my things to own *me.* Freedom & beauty can't be owned anyway. To me those two qualities are seen & interpreted from the inside out. My memories are my most precious possession :)
I have to agree, and say I'm not sure if I could or not. I know I'm a total pack rat & I'm trying to work on that..a lot of my things are unique from thrift stores, so not easy to replace.
In 2007 I sold my 5 bedroom, 3 story house and bought an 1100 sq ft. bungalow. Needless to say most of my "stuff" couldn't come with me. I had a HUGE yard sale and sold all my furniture except my bed, a dresser and my antique kitchen table and chairs. Like you said, all my stuff was thrift shop, good deals etc and I worried that i'd never replace it but then I realized that the thrill(for me) is not in "owning" the stuff, it's in getting the deals. So, I had some adventures and found EVEN BETTER furniture - stuff that suits my new little house. SOOOO glad I did it and yes, I'd do it again no problem.
I could do it, but I wouldn't want too. I don't buy things lightly. Every piece I have with an exception of some essential kitchen items I took lots of time and energy to find. I look at a lot of my stuff as pieces of art from stained glass hangings, little carved statue, handmade bags and jewelry the list goes on and on. I love them all because i feel like in a way they are reflection of me. For me personally I need to have a retreat from the outside world, whether its a home or just a single room. I need my own space and want to be surrounded by things that inspire me.I don't necessarily think that means I'm materialistic either. When I was a kid and my neighbor got a new car which shortly after got ruined. She told my mom that she didn't care because she wasn't materialistic she could simply get a new one. I remember it very clearly because it didn't make sense to me. I think taking care and holding on to your things is the opposite of materialistic because when you have what you need you don't have to buy anything new.I don't think there is anything wrong with loving your stuff. Beautiful things can be a source of inspiration for your non material side.
Sometimes, I long to shed the shackles of "possessions". Though, much of what I have collected over the years wouldn't be easily replaced, like character-full op-shop finds and handmade furniture from grandparents.
And, as I look around the house, it would look very empty indeed without everything in it. They are what gives it heart.
But, I do long to pare-down these days. Is that symptomatic of getting older? Perhaps it is for me.
I think if I would, I'd have to sell up and fit whatever little I have left into a tiny, tiny cottage or better still, I dream of a richly hued gypsy vardo :)
As a fellow Taurean I had a hard time letting go of all my precious posessions when I moved country. I managed to get down to one box of keepsakes and sold the rest. But the whole experience was rather liberating, and I had the chance to start collecting new pieces
Something I'd definitely be open to experiencing....sometimes even if we think we could do a thing, it's not as easy as we might think : )
If I could keep a maximum of maybe 10 items to keep I think I could go without the rest but this is such a tough question!
after our first major move (out of a house instead of small apt), i kidded my husband that the next time we moved, we should sell the house and all its contents instead of suffering through the task of sorting, packing, and moving an entire household. now a few years later [with yet more stuff], it is more of a dream than a joke. with my heart set on relocating in the near future, i have been setting about simplifying. it is interesting and somehow gratifying to approach the design of your household considering what you actually love enough to drag somewhere [potentially far away and/or into a much smaller living space]. even though we have not set a date to move, making changes to the way we live now feels liberating--and adventure-ready when the time comes :)
I did it and moved to Thailand. Best thing I ever did. :) Stuff can weigh you down. Your memories attached to the stuff are in you, not the thing. Take a picture of the thing instead of keeping it.
Such a good question!!! I think I probably could. Like you I have an attachment to so many things that have been found, gifted or saved up for. But on the other hand I love change (not in a materialistic way but in a growth way) if I could up and move home every 2 years I would. I love that fresh start feel.
Zoe xx
Being military, we face this burden with each move, but not to this extreme. However with each move and new home, you never know what you will have to get rid of because of space or size of the new home. When moving overseas, all of our furniture went into storage for 3 years, needless to say when we received it to unpack, many pieces were broken or missing.
No, I couldn't. Although there is quite a lot of things in my home I could/would sell there is a lot I would rather not. As many other people have mentioned: there are memories attached, they are unique pieces or just things that I like very much and know I will continue to like. As I get older (ugh, can't believe I just said that) and can spend more on furniture and art I do, meaning I am slowly building a collection of nice stuff that I will never want or have to replace.
Yes! I have been selling off my possessions for the last year and it has been extremely liberating.
I once had a house full of Victorian antiques. I loved it all and it was what I needed at the time, but now I'm working on a home that is more artistic, eclectic, comfortable, and easier to care for. I no longer want to live in a "museum". Now, I would rather have something from the 1960s or 70s than from the 1860 or 70s. There is so much great vintage out there that I don't worry about finding the replacement items I need.
I also no longer consider myself a collector and have sold off nearly all my collections. What items remain in my home are not necessarily some of my most valuable things. I can honestly say that I am no longer sentimental about possessions and no longer attached to material things.
Perhaps this is all a result of growing older. I am experiencing a huge since of freedom and clarity as a result of going through this process. I've also learned a lot about myself, both past and present, by letting go.
I did this 3 years ago when I moved from the US to Europe. I took very little from the US and basically started from scratch when I got here.
It was very liberating to start over because I'd been living on my own since I was 18 and changed so much since then, yet I still has so many of my old things that didn't suit who I was anymore.
Now I have the perfect eclectic girl nest, complete with secondhand vintage velvet sofas & chairs, pink & purple walls, vintage lamps, a crystal chandelier, tons of plants, etc. It's the home I'd always dreamed of, but would never have gotten if I hadn't started over on a different continent.
Such a difficult question to answer.....I strive towards this type of 'zen' attitude towards Life ~ to not cling to objects too much, but I do so anyway. I always feel as if objects are imbued with the souls of their owners, if they are cherished and held long enough so I think I'd have a difficult time getting rid of everything. Having said that, I think I could say goodbye to *a lot* quite easily.
LOVE your blog :)
Heidi
I have pondered this very topic. I live a minimalist life so I would have to go with I most definitely would sell everything. I'm in the process of selling most of it. Though I don't plan to replace all or most of it. I very much like having few things. :)
Walking away from everything I own might not be a horrible idea at this point. It's a great way to start over. I've always clung to things, and I really need less than some of the things I have. Thanks for sharing the articles.
Heidi’s Wanderings
I think it's great that you borrow an image from me. But I saw that the link to my site did not work; http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/b8/72/e3/b872e381914ea5b1398fec5a5d0a9ce8.jpg
or: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/2885187234412651/
I'm thinking about it :)
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