HAPPIER In Our New Home, But Still Purging

We are finally getting settled into our new home (which as I say again and again should explain the relative silence around here). Things are good. We renovated this house, so picked out practically everything in it. It's tailored to our tastes... Our colors. Our tile. Our cabinets. We're happier in this house than we were in the last house. But there is so much we miss from our old house. The same way I still miss things from my old vintage apartment near Wrigley and our first shared apartment in Bucktown. You might be in a better space, but there is so much to miss at the same time. And sometimes all of your old things just don't fit in your new space.

When we decided to get our old house ready to put on the market a high school classmate of mine put up a Facebook post about a garage sale to support her family's fundraising efforts for cystic fibrosis. I emailed her to let her know I would happily bring stuff over that I thought was sell-able and filled the back of my SUV with clothes, kids toys, books, kitchen wares. It felt great to purge and know it would support a good cause.

We have a ton more room in the new house. More closets, more storage, more cabinet space. More of everything. But I'm trying as hard as I can to make sure we don't just fill the space with stuff. To make sure that everything has its place and is something useful. So, as unpacking started I found myself questioning why I should hang onto things. And then I started repacking boxes of stuff for the garage sale I plan to have this year. Now I'm determined to have the biggest and best garage sale known to suburbia.

A few years ago I made a deal with myself to always say YES when a donation truck was in the area... It helped me clean stuff out and keep the donate bag from overflowing and I donated a lot over the years. Looking forward to my new plan for purging and making a little money at the same time, so for the next six months I'm hanging onto it instead of leaving it by the front door. Win/Win - right?

Do you donate or sell stuff you no longer need? Any garage sale tips to share?

This post was inspired by Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin where she runs a nine month experiment to create happier surroundings. Join From Left to Write on January 6 we discuss Happier at Home. You can also chat live with Gretchen Rubin on January 7 on Facebook! As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.