I am someone who loves to decorate. Who loves peeking in windows at night to see what the owner has done with her home. When I lived in Philadelphia and Boston (cities where I could walk for hours) I loved nothing more than getting a glimpse inside someone’s home in the evening. When my favorite decorating magazines were still being published, I looked forward to sitting down and looking at every story, every detail. Blogs have taken the place of magazines and windows for me. I get to travel the globe, peeking inside people’s homes…with their permission!
I love the all white and cream look, but it isn’t practical for me. Both my husband and I have a tendency to spill things. I have two big dogs with lots of hair. I never tire of seeing it, though. I love those bloggers’ homes that are spare, with hardly any excess stuff around. I admire them. I wonder how they do it. Do they continually purge? Do they have lots of storage space so they can rotate things in and out of rooms? Do they collect just one thing? Do they read and collect books? If so, where are the books, the magazines, the “things?”
Friends, I am not that sort of person, though I wish I could be. Yes, we live in a tiny cottage with no attic or usable basement. But I suspect I would still be dealing with the same issues even if I had tons of space. I love my collections. I love books. I have piles of things.
This pile is on the old wicker ottoman that is just to the left of my chair. Very typical, I might add. I’m reading the paperback on top, there is a book by Kelly Rae Roberts about the creative process just below it, the new Country Gardens is just below that. Then we come to the book from my giveaway which I have to send out to Tracie this week. Below that are books to read and review in the upcoming months. And on and on it goes. If I dared to show you, you would see a stack of books and papers just to the left of this under the table. Oh, and my Nook is on top of the table along with a sampler pattern I have yet to start embroidering.
This cabinet is jammed full of china and pottery, plus a few wedding cake toppers. I have one other cabinet in the den – and that is full. And I need even more display space.
A somewhat grainy photo because it is so dark and stormy today – but it will do. All table tops are crowded around here. This table has become, through no plan on my part, all things sea. There is seaglass, a boat assemblage from Linda Crispell, and a Roseville dish loaded with seashells from my recent trip. I just added the dish the other day. There is a shelf beneath that holds some favorite CDs.
I seem to spend a great deal of my time making stacks of things to sort through. What do I get rid of and what do I keep? If I keep it, where do I put it? I’m not a hoarder. I’m pretty good at purging when the need arises. I can be ruthless. But….not with the things I love. Not with my books or my china or my pottery or my paintings or my music or my little treasures.
So here is my question: Do you suffer from the same problem? Am I the only one in a mass of spare decorators out there who has stuff? Are there kindred spirits out there in blogland?
Hi Claudia! Oh yes! I’m just like you. I could have written this post! I do love the all white and the more sparse look, but I am who I am and I adore color and I love to collect vintage goodies and I don’t think that will ever change. Maybe I could do just one room in all whites, but it would probably still have lots of “stuff” in it. I grew up in a house with lots of pretty things and to me it feels homey, not cluttered. :)
Michelle
Michelle
You were just at my house and you know I have lots of “stuff”. My problem is that I love my “stuff”, but I can’t stand other peoples. That is clutter to me, but my “stuff” should never be messed with.
XO, Mere
I have lots of stuff including that book you are reading, which I just finished.
Can’t have white things – dogs, cats, humans would make a mess of them in minutes around here. I too love to look at all the beautiful decorating ideas, but I’m not particularily good at it, but I try to the best of my abilities.
My theory on the “sparse” look is that somewhere in those houses is a room that is packed to the roof with stuff that gets tossed in there for photo shoots or when company is around. But then again, perhaps these people are just super disciplined and clean.
Oh! You are not alone. Every tabletop seems to accumulate “stuff”. I look at the pictures in magazines and wonder…do they not read? I have books on the nightstand and books on the floor. Books in the bathrooms. And paperwork…where do they keep it? Just questions I’ve been dying to ask.
Grin, we blogsters are all peeping Tom’s at heart, that’s why we love blogging so much, it is the looking in other people’s houses. And I don’t think they are many decorating women who don’t have piles of stuff everywhere. If it looks bare in the pictures it is just because they shoved everything out of the camera’s view.
Claudia, I just bought the latest issue of Cottages and Bungalows this morning….Lots of white. Then I started noticing that almost all of the rooms in it were sparse. No interesting things laying around on tables and shelves. I don’t think that real people live in these rooms, or if they do, they pushed all of the good stuff in the hall closet and have wedged a chair under the doorknob to keep it in. I like our way much better. Cozy.
When you run out of room, put up shelves… decorate UP. Up the walls. Or, have some lovely giveaways on your blog. Just keep the cream of the crop items and give the rest away or sell it. We all have way too much ‘stuff’. I have a large house and STILL have too much stuff with a few piles here and there. It’s a sickness… I’m sure of it… LOL
DI
Oh Claudia… I could have written this EXACT post…tiny cottage….no basement or attic……..LOTS of stuff and I am constantly sorting paper. In fact, that’s what I have on the schedule today, but here I am… I could SOOOO live among your lovlies. Everything is perfect to me. I am so envious of the all white/cream look too….but I simply adore color and I know it would only be a few minutes and I’d be adding some back in. I’m one crazy girlie…in love with VINTAGE.
Huggies,
Spencer
You are definitely not alone, your post pretty much describes me. I have collections everywhere here at the Cottage. Sometimes I think my collections have collections. Getting rid of things would never work for me, I’d just start building new collections. I’ve always been like this, even as a kid I amassed collections & decorated my room with them. Though I enjoy looking at sparse rooms & white rooms I’d never be comfortable living in those environments. I like the coziness of the organized clutter & the stacks of books too much!
I think when certain bloggers post pics of their pristine, magazine worthy homes, they are letting you see exactly what they want you to see.
Real life is not a photo shoot, so I suspect that their “stuff” is just outside the scope of the camera lens.
And yes, I have a lot of stuff, too!
Have a wonderful week!
Hugs,
Anne
I sorted and sorted before moving to our tiny house. From a 4 bdrm 2&1/2 bath w/ full basement & dbl garage to 375 sq. feet. But I don’t feel that I gave anything precious away. I still have 3 sets of dishes, I rotate decorative items and paintings with the seasons, borrow books and DVDs from the library, read blogs instead of magazines, and store plenty of art materials in the armoire. So it’s not that I don’t have stuff – it’s just not all sitting out in view. :)
Hi Claudia,
You are not alone, especially here in Blogland. I cannot live nor would I want to live, without my “stuff.” I have stacks of books and magazines. I cannot throw out a magazine…it physically hurts! LOL!
I usually have to clean up the area of my home that I show on my blog, so it isn’t always neat. But, we are who we are and I think it’s wonderful!
hugs
Sissie
Oh dear Claudia, I am ashamed to say that now we have two houses full of stuff. We are culling stuff at the old house and the upstairs has no furniture but still it is a sad state of affairs. In a few years I hope to have it in control but I am always surrounded by books and they make me feel welcome and comfy. That will never change. In total agreement with Sissie above it is wonderful to have this life with lovely collections. hugs♥olive
hi claudia,
well you know where i am on the spectrum of things. my house is tiny with only one interior closet, a teeny-tiny basement with a couple of shelves for extra things and not even a garage. i have no extra room to stuff things in. so when we moved here we purged and i mean purged. it was painful but necessary to get to my dream of downsizing. i love my white china and so i now use it everyday and it’s displayed out in the open in my kitchen. i love books and kept the ones i read and re-read and now visit the library once a week. my clothes were the hardest to part with and now i am very particular about what gets to hang in my closet. the result is a smaller but better wardrobe. after 30 years of raising sons and cleaning a huge house, i had had enough. sorry, this is more like a post than a comment!
~janet
Oh Claudia~ I’m right there with you… we even picked our sofa color to match the dogs LOL!
Claudia:
…like sisters separated at birth. You should see my studio on a daily basis. Then, there are the photos I put up for the tour. Same with my house. You’ve seen photos. I love my stuff, and have a hard time editing. I put things away for a while, but before you know it…it’s all right back out again! I don’t know how it happens. Really, I don’t!
xoxo
Donna
No, you are not alone! My aunt came to visit not long before we moved from the old house and she told me I had a lot of ‘stuff’. I didn’t really think so – until we moved! You can collect a lot of ‘stuff’ when you live in the same place for 24 years. (and raise 3 kids there) I knew where everything was though – here I spend more than half my time looking for stuff! (bigger house, less storage – nothing organized)
I have been trying to purge magazines but it is so hard – especially when so many of the good ones are no longer around.
hahaha. you are so cute with your stories…ditto claudia…how many posts have i gone on and on about my collection disorders???? scary thing…i have a basement and don’t use it for storage. i’m too afraid i’ll fill it up and get overwhelmed. i’m afraid to commit to clutter, but i have it ALL around me. i have so many little things here and there….and the kids just add to it all…and moving, don’t get me started on moving!!! even though we move every 2 years, i still blog, junk, decorate, sell, collect, and move stuff around from place to place… i’m totally with you. it would be easy to downsize and stay minimal, but it’s not me at all. i’m too excited about the next thing i can find and the next thing i can create. it’s okay to be like this. it’s not far from normal….i’m convinced…or we wouldn’t all be in the same situation.
you house is adorable and i can’t wait from day to day to see what you will show next!!!! i’m a cottage voyeur too. i love to look in windows and peek at yards….it’s fun.
glad to see i’m not alone. from one collector to the next…..have fun and enjoy the madness.
sue
Amazing, I’m plowing my way through the same book. I can’t wait to get to book three. I adore these series. Not as much as Anne of Green Gables, but it’s up there on the list. What a sweet posting today, my little peeker window friend.
Kate
Hi Claudia you have lots of siblings in blogland. I’m like the others… a tiny flat, no garage, no attic, no basement and a love for THINGS! From time to time I compell myself to a decluttering day otherwise we’d live outside the door.But it’s hard! onestly I do not love much those white pristine houses in mags, they do not look homes to me if you can understand me.
BTW I love your home and your collections, minihugs Rosanna
I had to laugh because I could have written much of this post! I am glad I am not the only decorating “peeper”! In my opinion a home is not a home without books. ( I may have to do a post on that!) Your home is lovely and filled with things you love. All is as it should be.
YES! YES! YES! I HAVE THE SAME STUFF, MAGAZINES, CROCHETING,
CRAFT STUFF…TONS OF IT. I MOVED FROM A TWO BEDROOM RANCH TO MY DAUGHTERS HOUSE, AND HAVE A BEDROOM, AND AN EXTRA CLOSET.
I LIVE IN THE WHOLE HOUSE, AND LOVE IT, BUT I AM STILL GOING THROUGHJ BOXES, AND GETTING RID OF THINGS. IT IS SO HARD TO DO. GOOD LUCK. :) RIZZI
Oh, Claudia, we are kindred spirigs. A couple of years ago I was asked to write a six word “meme” and share it on my blog. Mine was “natural packrat, wannabe minimalist, forever conflicted.” Sound familiar?
But as bad as I am with my “stuff,” we are in the process of helping Amanda move and I don’t hold a candle to her! Thank God she is just moving from a small bedroom to a larger bedroom within the same apartment! haha… Donna
Oh honey — I think that my stuff could beat up your stuff, any day. My method when we moved here two years ago was not to unpack some of our boxes. Well, quite a few of our boxes. They are in the attic languishing — full of STuff, including books, artwork, china, fabric, yarn, embroidery, and … more books.
I keep swearing that I’ll run thru all the bookshelves and pull off the stuff we really don’t want, and donate it all — but the thing is, we pretty much want ALL of the books. Yeah, we’re nuts.
Our last house had enough bookshelves!
I am going to have to adopt your method of PILES of books. that works. In fact, once I used a big dictionary as a substitute for a sofa leg. It was the perfect size!
Just think how EMPTY it would be without your stuff!
Cass
By the way – oh, it’ me again — I have a dear friend whose husband is a NUTTER about cleanliness and no clutter.
She has to HIDE her magazines or he tosses them as soon as they arrive, before she’s even read them. He cleans all the time — we love to invite them for dinner, b/c he jumps up from the table and starts doing the dishes!
Anyway — she says that it is much harder to live with someone who insists on the house always looking “not lived in” than with someone who doesn’t mind a pile of stuff here and there and there again.
Just had to add that!
Cass
Hi Claudia,
{Hand raised :0)} Oh yes, we are kindred.♥ I have more space then I’ve ever had in this home BUT I collect books…well, let’s just narrow it down to PAPER! I have stacks of stuff to sort and put away on the big ottomans in the sitting area. I put it away so it will look clear and so organized and the energy flows and well…..I can’t stand it..LOL I go get some patterns, some books, some of this and that to look at.
Now I’ve broke out my crochet hooks, ribbons and some yarns to bring down to my comfortable chair in the sitting area. I really should take a photo of it right now..it looks like a ribbon explosion..LOL
I’ve tried so hard with this home to be “uncluttered”. Now I’m looking at some cabinets that are meant for collectibles to hold my crochet and or hand sewing supplies that I bring to the sitting area so they have a home. Wish me luck. :0)
My lower level has a really large room that Thomas uses for his woodcarving studio but it’s huge so it also holds all the nicky-nacks that I no longer have a place to put. I choose installing tons of windows for our views over and above furniture on the walls to hold all this stuff. Am I getting rid of it..oh NO! It’s all neatly arranged on this big metal rolling racks.
I’m an incurable collector that tries to stay organized…LOL This year I’ve shifted in a major way to old dictionaries and sheet music…what’s next? I don’t know but I’m having fun!
You are probably thinking..”she has that big studio”..yes, it’s lovely but for crocheting it just seems to all wind up around my feet in the sitting area no matter where I’ve lived.
Oh, and I love the creamy white..we’ve painted just about everything that color. It looks great with the wood walls and really brightens the space. But for white furniture covers I have to draw the line…between me, Thomas and Miss Morgan we can be a bit messy at times and I don’t want to work myself to death keeping white slipcovers clean!
Thanks for visiting me and for your kind comments.
Happy Day,
Stephanie ♥
hi
Love your blog..
And after reading this post I realize how same we are when it comes to collecting books or any other thing.
Here in India space is always a great problem, we stay in small apartments but I cannot stop myself from buying books and magazines . I have exhausted every space to store my books so, now I try to find innovative spots (I keep books behind my clothes in the drawer where they can stand straight).
Claudia…I think most of us are just like you! There is a blogger I follow named Note Songs. She is constantly posting beautiful tablescapes and she could do that for months! I wondered where she kept all of those dishes and candle holders and so on until one day she showed all of us. She stores everything in cupboards, closets, bureau drawers and so on. You really DO have to have a lot of space to be able to change things out so often. My home is little…it’s a Cape Cod home with very little closet space. My sister in law uses a spare bedroom in the upstairs of her home to store everything. You have such a lovely home! I like a home that looks lived in….not sterile. Yours is so beautiful.~~.
I love to be surrounded by my “stuff.” Just love it, it makes me feel warm and cozy. My house is definitely cluttered by some standards but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve definitely tried to do a minimal home but found it doesn’t work for me. I like to display things instead of hiding them away. I have an attic and a basement but most everything I collect is in the living areas.
It can be hard to keep up with dusting but worth it to me. :)
~Michelle
Oh, I so relate!! I feel somewhat organized if I have certain piles of related items to go thru! My sitting room has 7 baskets of yarn, current projects and a few piles of mags to go thru!! Penny
Yes, I in there with you. I do love all of my things, and I love being able to see them. But, I admit to being a neatnik. I have a place for everything, and put things back in there place as I finish with them.
And, I always have my stack of things to read by my chair.
I’m cyclical with my stuff….it piles up and collects for several months, then I go crazy and purge everything. It’s kinda embarrassing to admit, but I just furnished my daughter’s 2 bedroom apartment with furniture I had stashed everywhere. Eeek.
Generally, though, every surface of my house is covered in stuff. Having the boys homeschooling is adding to the tid bits of stuff here and there too….my collections are having to compete with lego creations, paper airplanes, Percy Jackson books, Pokeman cards, magic tricks, crayons, etc. It’s gonna be a cluttered winter!
Hi Claudia,
Oh yes! I’m a decorating Sister! me too, I have so much stuff. I say to myself I will not buy another thing…. Ha Ha Ha, I just bought two new teacups for my collection…
You just keep buying what makes you happy and just keep smiling….
Have a sweet day, Big hugs~Elizabeth
You betcha! I love the glass handles on that cabinet, by the way. I have no basement and no usable attic. I like stuff. I don’t want it to look absolutely chaotic. But somehow I kind of don’t trust people without “stuff.” Are they women from The Stepford Wives?
Brenda
I LOVE, LOVE… L O V E to take walks at night~ sometimes getting a glimpse of beautiful homes! Like you, it is much more polite to peek here :) … if they don’t pull the curtains or roll the shades closed— they must WANT to share their pretty homes, right? (tee hee)
Great post!
Hope your week is perfect~
Michelle
Hi Claudia! Thank you for your visit and comment on the Mourning Dove babes! I really can identify with your “piles” of books, etc. I love books so much and they are all around me in the house! I love the vintage finds and I can rearrange a whole room around one small find! Hope your day was super. Hugs, Kerrie
Oh, I have STUFF. I LOVE stuff! I was just telling my husband, I even have saved certain twist-ties that have meaning to me. Though I respect, marvel, and even admire those who have hardly any *stuff,* I can usually relate more with people with lots of *stuff*. I think it shows a sentimentality and recognition of details that I like in people. You’re my kind of gal, Claudia.
And now, I simply must have that dog of yours — he’s so cute, it squeezes my heart when I see him!
Hi Claudia: You are not alone. I am always worried that I am going to go too far. My daughter’s and son keep me in check, thank God. I want to let you know you are always welcomed in my home. I have a guess room with your name on it! Have a wonderful week trying to find a place to put this and that! Blessings, Martha
Oh, yes… you and I are kindred spirits, Claudia. I love my “stuff”. I love it a lot. I definitely have the “book thing”. (I love Kelly Rae’s book. I have it too, and read her blog regularly– is she the cutest preggie ever?!)
I also have the the “vintage linen” thing, “vintage pottery” thing (not as fab as your collection, though!), the “crafty supply thing”, and well- you get the idea. As I tell my friends, “Yes, I have a lot of stuff– but it’s GOOD stuff!”
Oh I’ve got suff! But I’m going to have a garage sale next month and get rid of some stuff. But that probably means I’m just making room for more stuff LOL!
Manuela
Hi Claudia,
I have lots of stuff! Design books and magazines galore! Love them!
Thanks for your visit and your comment on my bathroom remodel. To answer your question about the huge mirror above the tub- you would not believe the crust, dirt, cobwebs and yuk I rummaged through where I found that mirror! It was a condemned abandoned antique store sale with a ‘enter at your own risk’ sign out front! Of course I had to go in! Soooo many great finds in there and that mirror was one of them! I just cleaned it up! :)
Oh I have stuff….for sure, too much stuff! And now it seems I am collecting tea cups daily! My art room is full to the brim with stuff and I too collect books. I wistfully gaze at those lovely homes with everything in its perfect place, all tidy and clean. But what would I do without my stuff? I love it all!
I am thank Full for my stuff.
Hugs to you dear girl,
Terri
Guilty. I have stuff. I have piles. I am not a hoarder…although my basement storeroom and craft room (aka as my “studio”) look like it!!! The think that drives me nuts is how QUICKLY the piles and stacks form on my table and island in the kitchen! It seems I have them cleared and sparkling one minute and the next..bam….there are swaying piles going again! I guess it’s because I just have tooooo many interests and loves…..plus a tad bit of laziness for not immediately putting something where it should go. Oh well, I’m old and I’ve done it for years. I guess I’m not gonna change! L, dana
I have 4 generations of stuff….and I am trying to go thru things and let go of some. I love old stuff….and most of it is OLD STUFF !! Treasures to me..(my family doesn’t share the same feelings)