When we bought our farmhouse 6 years ago, the initial idea was to build out the attic in the main house as a wonderful oasis for adults in the form of a rockin’ master suite. Believe me, I can still totally see that finished room up there in the space. And we were even talking about starting this project later this year (until we decided about a month ago to move to Berlin). At the very least, we were going to put up some insulation and hang drywall, something that I’m sure our wallets would have appreciated in both summer and winter. But thanks to the genius construction of our house, we never did feel like we were losing a lot of heat during the winter. I guess one of the only ways to know for sure would have been to compare electricity prices after the task was done. But now someone else will get to experience that fun instead.

In the meantime, the space became our in-house storage for the last 6 years for all the things that shouldn’t be exposed to too much moisture or other changing conditions while in our barn or elsewhere. So for the most part, we moved boxes in here that we didn’t necessarily know what to do with when we first moved in, and there they sat. Untouched and unopened for the majority of the time.

I know some people are just wondering why in the world we kept this stuff when we clearly must not need it. But there were so many other projects on our to do list that this was the least of our worries. We weren’t going anywhere, so the stuff really wasn’t much concern. And we’ve always upgraded from one house to the next — so there was never a shortage of space. Of course now, with the likelihood that we’ll be downgrading to an apartment without a ton of side buildings, we definitely can’t take it all with us. And we also don’t want to move more stuff than we have to — especially if we’re not going to touch it again for years.

So we ordered a trash container (oh how we love them) and we got down to business. We are still fully involved in getting rid of a lot of stuff via Freecycle, but there are some other things here that are just trash. So there’s been a lot of sorting and debating. And we’ve gotten rid of an amazing amount of stuff so far while trying to keep as little as possible.

At this point, we’re even thinking about going through for a second round of purging because it still seems like a lot of stuff. Light and tight is our current motto.

I definitely want to thank Jules for hosting William Morris each week, which I found at just the right time in our lives. Letting go of things was kinda tough for me for a long while. But thinking about only having things around us which we love and use just really altered my perspective. And being able to talk about all that with others every week who are doing the same sort of things to make their lives more wonderful is an incredible opportunity.

Anyway, before I get all weepy… 😉

Now for some reason, I only thought it was important to take photos of one side of the attic. But trust me, the whole place was chaotic like this. Stuff here, there and everywhere, mostly because we’d been in there at some point to find something. Or add something to the pile. And then things just kept spreading out further and further.

So we went through each and every box, repacked boxes that were only half full, got rid of a ton of old electric stuff and cables (we could seriously have opened a cable store with all of those things) and trashed a bunch of other stuff. Some stuff was also set aside to put on ebay or Freecycle…which is basically everything in this picture below. All of Mack’s old clothes, some of her toys and other random stuff that we should have started getting rid of ages ago, but never got around to doing will finally be sorted and sold or given away, too. They take up that whole pile of boxes and bags over by the window…

Now the space which was chaos looks like this. Yes, there are more boxes here now, but this stuff was spread out all over the attic before. So we’ve definitely condensed it…and will possibly go through a few of the boxes again to make sure we’re really in love with the stuff.

We also went through our DVD collection and purged well over 200 DVD’s that we never watch (which we sold online for a rather sad sum but better than trashing them). For some reason, we felt the need to keep movies even if we hated them. Somewhere in there was logic. But I don’t see it anymore. The DVD purging was actually spawned by me realizing that life would be even easier if we had our TV series on DVD in our 5 huge movie folders too. So I first thought I would need to buy a new one. But as it turned out, we had plenty of space for them since I was left with one entirely empty folder (which holds about 250 DVDs). Love it! We are getting rid of a bunch of empty cases but still keeping the special ones for now. I think we might do another purge at some point, so perhaps after that, we’ll just toss the rest of the cases as well.

And on the other side of the attic (which would have been the bathroom and closet) there is hardly anything left to purge. One old sewing machine, an old clothes rack, some empty boxes (which I will very likely fill up in the coming weeks as I pack stuff which we are keeping but that isn’t vital to our survival right now), an old mattress, and the wicker lounge chairs which will also likely be finding a few home either via ebay or Freecycle (depending on what they are selling for these days).

Although it still looks a bit rough in the photos, it is a major difference to us when we walk up there. And once we start finally selling the baby stuff and otherwise purging the other junk, there will be very little left to deal with. Which is awesome!

Some might also be asking why we’re just giving away so much instead of trying to sell it. Well, let me tell you about a strange phenomenon about Germans. If they buy something used, they seem to think it’s going to be as if it’s brand new. Don’t ask me why. But time after time we’ve sold stuff on ebay and people have gotten all crazy when the stuff they received wasn’t 100% like new. It’s not like we didn’t say used in the ad and there are always pictures. But it seems to happen with everything.

So instead of going through all the hassle with ebay and paying them high fees, we’re just racking up the karma points by giving the stuff away — and up to this point, they people who have taken the things are completely in love with them. I mean to the point that they write a few weeks later to thank us again and say how much they love whatever they picked up from us. So while it can be a bit crazy some days with all the pickups being scheduled, in the end I think we’re going to be well rewarded.

What are of your home are you putting off decluttering? Is there a project that you really need to do which you’ve been dreading?