Moving update ... after spending the summer getting the new house re-plastered it's back to packing and decluttering. So let's get this challenge under way again. The criteria is "Do I want to pay to move and store this?" If the answer is no, it goes. 13 boxes (Trader Joes wine boxes are wonderful for this) to the local charity book sale, 2 boxes of bookends to the same source. One antique, lovely, but rickety cupboard to a local charity boutique for display furniture. Chair to them too. Clothing purged (again) with more donations. One bathroom purged of outdated stuff and drawers and cabinets cleaned. I'm marking them with a tag of blue painter's tape as a signal that it's DONE and that I shouldn't use it. Kitchen blind cabinets emptied and unused appliances and cookware from them to charity. Quick pass through garage for a couple of tools we don't need. Still to go ... yet more books to purge/donate and pack.

In addition to Julie Morgenstern's book, I also like The Organizing Sourcebook by Kathy Waddill. She looks at why the clutter occurred and then gives advice on how to deal with it based on that. Lucille, since you live in a small space, as do I, the chief thing I would recommend is looking at altering the space to fit your needs. It's my belief that the smaller the living space, the more important it is to tailor it exactly to suit how you live. Think of a 350 square foot RV. There are couples who live in them for months on end, because every square inch of space has been utilized. If you want an airy and spacious living area, perhaps you can have "cozy and cluttered" in all but one room. Make one room airy and spacious, so that you aren't always wishing for something you really want. Built-ins are wonderful in small spaces. Customizing your closets and/or creating a wall of shelving and cabinets can allow you to store more in the same space, while taking up less room. And it can cost a lot less than you might think. I've been an apartment dweller for years. Early on, I would think, "Well, I might be moving in a few years, so it's silly to buy something just for this apartment." So I wouldn't get a microwave cart or an extra bookcase or whatever. And I did the "move three things to get to the cutting board" thing for *years*. Now, I realize that spending $100 or so to make day to day chores easier is an excellent investment.

I used to move every 8-12 months, for the first ten years of my life out of my parents' house. Sometimes just from apartment to apartment, but a couple of times overseas and back - where you're charged for every pound of "stuff" you move. We are currently getting our house ready to list, and I'm currently packing only the "stuff" I want to keep. I have a shoebox full of stuff from my bedroom - that's IT. (Clothes and shoes are not "stuff" IMHO, plus I've KonMari'd my clothing/shoes so there aren't that many to begin with). I cleaned out the guest room yesterday and sold three items of furniture on my local FB BST site (within 30 minutes!!!). One of the things I sold was a cabinet made by my great-grandfather, for my mother. She was an only child, I'm an only child, I have an only child - and NOBODY WANTS this stuff. NOBODY. I made a few bucks, and some woman in a nearby neighborhood is thrilled. We will be going from 2,000sf plus a 1,000sf basement into a 900sf apartment. If that's not incentive to get rid of crap, I don't know what is. As for all the "stored stuff" - what are you storing it for? Why doesn't it get used? I have my mother's china and her china cabinet and I don't want it - she rarely used it; I never have - she told me not to get rid of it while she was still alive, but why did she give it to me KNOWING that it wasn't wanted? One of the things addressed in Marie Kondo's book is sentimental value of "stuff." People don't get rid of Item A because it was given to them by Dead Person B or Living Person C. She says the person's love for you is not tied to that object. People have a hard time letting go of "things." I don't. Anybody want a full service for 8 of Flintridge Bell Mere Coupe china? Pristine condition. Nope. Nobody wants that stuff anymore. We, as a society, are suffering under the weight of the mid-80s consumerism phase. Buy more more more more MORE!

That is the law of gardening, isn't it! What a coincidence. I finally got outside and got to work. Sort of. Found rubble and tossed it. Pulled the sun dial and weathervane out and they are on the curb, come get them! Removed the concrete blocks from under the orange tree and put them in the stinker's current project, uprooting a 20' tall juniper. Finally got the loppers to the apple tree branches that keep hitting me in the face. Amazing how much better it looks having it clear under the orange tree. So now the sun dial's pedestal is just sitting there. I've got a good sized rock shot through with holes that reminds me of the Star Wars Death Star before it was finished. Or I could make a stone sphere, always liked that idea. The armillary sundial was in too much shade and didn't show up against the picket fence with a climbing rose. Something solid is better there. Something that will give the dog a concussion rather than spear him when he's chasing the ball. No nothing ever happened but sharp pointy and running dogs are scary combination. Front is looking better every day. So far my transplants and new plants are looking good. Strangely a plant I thought was never going to live after transplant is hanging in there. I have a lot of peppermint and nutmeg geranium layers I get to find new homes for. Love those two but both take advantage. I need to get the big grasses cut back soon. Yard looks much less cluttered when the ornamental grasses are in good shape. Been decluttering inside as well but since I worked so hard all last year haven't come up with much. There have been spots I hadn't done. Went through the aquarium bin and tossed some stuff and wiped it out good. Hope the problem closet is set now, emptied it and purged/sorted it for at least the 6th time. TOMORROW I WILL RETURN! I need to cut the old plastic trash can up and install in vegetable garden as raised containers so that unloved thing is put to use. I'll eyeball the rock to see if it is a good size for the pedestal. Sure am not rolling it over there unless I think it will work.