Love your post and I can relate. I've absorbed so much stuff that my biggest challenge is finding places to hide what I don't have space for. It was so much fun to go to house sales, etc, when we were young and could buy just about anything because we always had a space for it. I'm still obsessing but now it's about which thing goes where; almost everything I have is here to stay.

Now I really obsess about anything new because I realize the opportunities for new pieces are few and far between, and I want to get it right the first time.

Kind of a nice problem to have, if you think about it :)

I think it's time to move! ;-)

Well there is always the garden...

and clothes.

:O)

Garden, new clothes, move--now my husband will be very sad!

I'd better just continue to haunt this forum and live vicariously because yes jjam, I agree, it really is a good problem to have.

Ha ha, Paint chips...
Lucky you, Pamela! :)
Yes, stay and help the rest of us who aren't finished yet!

travel

Can I ever relate! I had a lot of vintage things, and was an avid collector of several things(crystal/glassware/copper pots/silver/cups & saucers/floral plates/china/teapots/dolls/rabbits)over the last 15 years. When I moved to TX, my new home would not have been appropriate for many of my cottage-y floral things. I decided to take a space at a local antique mall since I knew I wouldn't be changing my decor anytime soon, and none of my kids wanted my collections. It's helped satisfy my decorating/creating 'fixation', too. ;o)

LOL...that is hysterical. Who knew your cat would help you with your obsession. I don't think I will ever finish my home projects...sigh.

Yes, there is ALWAYS the approach of buying (to replace) or just to resell. And pattycakes as you know, I also have a space in a local antique mall x2...a 10x10 and 6.5 x 6.5 foot space. funny though, my garage is still jammed full. DH recently asked when he might get his garage back, I snorted outloud. Later that day I was on the phone with my mom (6 car garage) who told me when I mentioned to her DH request, "I think I told your dad the same thing 12 years ago" I think it's a genetic.

Please don't take this wrong, because I am guilty of this very thing. But, maybe you need more than things.

This comes from a person who has ten sets of dishes and enough furniture to decorate another house. And for some reason it makes me sad this morning.

Oh Pamela! I could have written your post myself so I totally know how you feel.

We moved into our home almost 3 years ago and have been working on the house since day one. All along I kept on saying how I could not wait to be finished everything but now that we are almost done it sorta freaks me out (strange to say)...but the house has been a big focus for me for years and when I had my last daughter I decided to stay home with her till she was in school so the house was something fun I could focus on that was NOT kid related.

Every morning I go on CL but honestly I don't have any space for new furniture as we purchased all we need. So right now I am tweaking some painting jobs but that is about it...I am now trying to think if there are any walls I should knock down! lol...I too looking for my next 'obsession'.. I will start a garden this summer...seems like a lifetime away right now though.

Anyways all that to say I totally know how you feel :)

Haley

I just love these forums and the people on them.

Maybe I should try gardening, but so far it holds no interest for me. We have a small urban lot. My husband is in charge of all the gardening--my role is to give suggestions from the porch, which he cheerfully ignores. He really seems to enjoy it.

But I have no patience, that is the problem. Why wait to see if the petunias will come up when you can paint (and repaint) a room in a couple of days and know just how everything is going to look right away? But truly I will need a substitute. Probably have a touch of cabin fever too.

You guys are great!

Read a book, join a gym? I'm with you! I love getting new things to position and sort into the house. :0) I'm still replacing worn out things and haven't painted a thing.....so I could draw it out. :0)

Cleaning out my parents house gave me a new incentive to clear out our place. What a nightmare that was-1000 sq. ft attic space plus the basement, garage, all the bedrooms, den, family room, etc., etc. filled with "stuff"-some very good, some junk, some in-between. I have never been one to hoard or collect or acquire lots of stuff (except for books and art), but now I am even more determined to pare down before our son has to clean out our home. I fear it is hopeless, though. Every time I start, I end up re-reading, looking through photos, etc. Oh well.

NewDawn, I totally empathize. I have two storage lockers in addition to the house. A lot of it does make me happy to have it. But however much my house serves as the excuse for buying stuff, I do know that my reasons for buying often involve needs that the stuff itself can't fill, even though it does a pretty good imitation for a while. I am working on those other needs, but it's a much slower process than acquiring something new.

Pamela's shopping sounds more purpose-oriented, which must be nice!

I've been thinking ahead to the point of being done (because I have to believe it will happen someday!) and have been thinking that one regret about reducing the shopping is that it is something I've gotten really good at. Almost anything else you do, you get admired or paid for it. But you know where to find almost anything for the best price, you have a highly evolved ability to recognize the perfect find even before you need it, and you can wade through a morass of uncertainty and make complex interrelated decisions, and does anyone even pay you a compliment? Not likely. Instead you find yourself hiding your best achievements until they're actually needed, and feeling bad about every penny that you so expertly spend.

The need is not just to find another way to spend your time, but to find something else that you do with such mastery!

KarinL

one regret about reducing the shopping is that it is something I've gotten really good at. Almost anything else you do, you get admired or paid for it. But you know where to find almost anything for the best price, you have a highly evolved ability to recognize the perfect find even before you need it, and you can wade through a morass of uncertainty and make complex interrelated decisions, and does anyone even pay you a compliment? Not likely.

Become a personal shopper! There are always people who want such-and-such but don't have the time or interest to go shop for it themselves.

I'm with Amy...buy a new and bigger house heh heh. I personally will never be done LOL because I know something in this big box will fall apart as soon as I proclaim myself DONE.

Wait...anyone who's "Done" please come by! I'll lock you in a spare room and let you come out when you're DONE again LOL

Isn't it so interesting to see the many levels our home decorating instincts reveal. To create a lovely space, yes, but also for intellectual stimulation and subject mastery (like karinl) and artistic expression (like rjinga and patty_cakes, who needed to expand beyond their homes) to those who feel the family and historic pull of things, like cyn427 and I suspect igloochic. I feel most like haley_comet (and newdawn I bet), we love lovely things and need a way to express ourselves, but the things have an end and then we must find a new outlet. And then there are artists like amy who keep it fresh.

Don't know what I'm exactly trying to say, but this is a meeting ground for all of us who are drawn to creating something beautiful around us for so many varied reasons, and here is our intersection.

I'm elated I don't need any more things, home decor wise; all my art has velcro corners to keep them from moving, none of it gets rotated ever.

I enjoy the calmness of knowing all is in place and will stay that way-
I do play more with fashion and clothes and organizing/purging closets,
that's never done completely.

And I still enjoy reading what people here are up to.

Wow, each of us does really bring a different perspective.

I read the title expecting to find someone mirroring my current feeling: I'm so sad, I don't need any more things because I have too much already. I was surprised to see it was more about the thrill of the hunt, the disappointment that the hunt has been curtailed, the fun of expanding a collection, the ability to express creativity, etc.

It struck me funny that my mindset was totally different than the OPs. Neither is right or wrong. Same sentence, totally different meanings.

I'm purging closets and shelves and nooks & crannies to pull stuff to give to the thrift store. I'm sick of stuff. I'm sick of storing stuff I may someday find a way to use or display. I want it gone. Yesterday.

I wonder how long it will be until I get bored with the lack of stuff and start buying again?

Yes, I think it can be all over. It is for me, and our home is by no means perfect, but we've redone all but one project (new kitchen floor), which we'll hire out.

Maybe it's an age thing, at least for me. I have all the "stuff" I want and/or need, and since I spend far less time at home than I did when the children were here, it's lower on my priority list. Working full-time takes me out of the house for 60 hours/week.

My free time is now devoted to travel, or trip planning! Along with that goes the gym routine so I can keep up with my very fit DH on all our romps to new places. Now when I shop, it's for clothes, rather than home goods. Fun stuff!

We also give more to charities at this point in our lives, feeling very blessed to be where we are. How much do most of us "need" really?

I find it very liberating to be older (mid-fifties) and to have more interests "outside" the home. Also, as has been mentioned, cleaning out the family homestead was a reminder to not hoard. Our kids won't want our stuff and I know it (too traditional!)

It's an interesting thread and I have enjoyed reading the various responses.

I'll add that I also found this thread interesting; a nice reflection on different age groups and times of our life.

Pamala...that was deep :oP And in my case quite correct :) I actully feel a connection with the things I add to my home. A lovely little cordial glass can give me as much or more pleasure as an antique piece of jewelry. I love that the things were held in someone's hand a hundred years ago :) and now I get to enjoy them. I've always been this way, from a canning jar to a yellow ware bowl, I just love the joy of old stuff :oP

And now I have an excuse to need more...so the hunt continues. And I will say, it's the hunt and kill aspect that makes it so much more fun than if I just walked into a store and said "I'll take that and that and that" to fill spaces verses searching for the perfect silly little thing...which normally I don't find, it finds me :o)

I will say, I also have really gotten into the hunt to give away as well! I just gave habitat for humanity enough stuff from this house to fill three truck loads. I love losing the clutter and love that losing it meant it went to help someone else have a home some day or fill a home someday (our habitat store is a nice thrift store and it's a wonderful place to shop). I did the same thing in alaska when we moved into our finished house. It was great to donate a huge heap of very usable stuff that no longer apealed to me or I didn't have a need for anymore.

Maybe I have house focused bulemia? Binge and purge syndrome...only instead of food I binge on silly things like antique canning jars LOL

Tee hee igloo, yes I am very deep on the even numbered glasses of wine, but shallow on the odd ones.

I do think all the takes are so interesting.

I **sold** something on craigslist yesterday, perhaps the the start of a new, downsizing trend?

I have been helping my brother decorate recently and it is so satisfying and has made me realize why all these years I have shopped so much. I thought it was because of a deep materialistic grain in my soul (and that is probably there a bit) but it truly is as hhireno said:
the thrill of the hunt, the disappointment that the hunt has been curtailed, the fun of expanding a collection, the ability to express creativity, etc.
So maybe you could find someone who needs some help.