The house is currently in a state of organized chaos. There is order to the madness, but after packing most of the decor yesterday, I feel like I live in a strange hotel. Everything so simple and clean; very minimalism which is the opposite of my aesthetic.
We are continuing to jump through hoops as far as the housing application goes, meaning we still do not have a move-in date, but our time done in Florida will not change. I figured that if everything is packed and ready to go, then we can leave within a week of notice.
One thing I love about packing is the purging. I know I said above that minimalism is my opposite, but it is about having the right kind of things everywhere that add to the feeling of home in a house. I would say my style is that of the Knives Out house (if you have not seen the movie, 10/10 would recommend). I like the eclectic shit that can still fall in the realm of classy. Like a well procured antique store.
It is however, the rest of the stuff that my husband and I hold on to that we just do not need. Things no body needs.
For example, I was packing up our board games, save one, and I was looking at our game of Clue. We have the super new one with cartoon artwork, not my favorite. I grew up playing one of the originally produced sets, thus it takes a lot to live up to that standard. So, hating the game box, and wanting to fit everything in the same packing box together, I took out the pieces and board, putting them in a ziplock, and tossed the box. I thought my husband was going to have an aneurysm. I did this with a few of the game, especially if they could self-contain, like our folding mancala board. I asked him why it was so important and he said that they look ‘lame’ out of the box. Once determining that it was not the lack of box itself, but the look of the ziplock that bothered him, I asked him how often he looked at the box that lived in a drawer under the other games. Never.
It’s ok to let things go. Though it is something I struggled with a lot over the years (and still do), this is our third cross-country move and the less shit the better. Maybe the unattractive box to a board game is a small, strange thing to get rid of, but it help fit all the games in one box, they are all going in a cabinet in the new place anyway, and it felt good to assert authority on the stress of feeling like I have to hold on to everything.
This same theory applies to holding on to something for the ‘just in case’ times. I am very guilty of this myself and have put off organizing my art studio/office space because of it. If sorting through and donating/throwing away stuff is stressful for you, especially when dealing with a big move, then start early with just organizing. If you can sort through one room, or even one section of a room at a time, by getting it organized and ridding of what you don’t need, then when you go to pack, it will be a breeze. In doing this, all like items are together, ideally things are labeled, and you do not have to worry about determining what to keep and what to toss while trying to pack.
What are your moving and packing hacks?
*Photos taken at the Milwaukee Domes during our trip earlier this year.
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