I have joined a group of bloggers who will be detailing our efforts to finally get organized over the coming year. Our group began in January, but being a little disorganized (ok, a LOT disorganized) I wrote my first post today.

Hopefully, my mother is still speaking to me.

Full article reposted below:

A Novel Approach
I am on the phone with my mother. She casually mentions that she is renting a storage space to hold some of her books. My Mom owns enough books to fill a small public library.

“Mom! You can’t be serious. It doesn’t make sense to pay money for a storage space. You have a house.”

“The house is too full. There’s no room. That is why I am renting the storage space.”

“But, Mom. That’s crazy. What about the basement?”

“Full.”

“The garage?”

“Full. And, before you ask, the barn is full, too.”

“It is a big barn, Mom.”

She is right, of course. The barn is filled floor to ceiling with treasures that haven’t seen the light of day in years and couldn’t be located if her life depended on it, yet she can’t part with any of them. How did her life get filled with so much stuff that there isn’t room for the things she really loves, like her books?

As I wonder how my Mom will even be able to read her books now that they reside in a storage unit, my thoughts turn to my own stash of books. Eight oversized cardboard boxes filled with books that I haven’t seen since the movers placed them on our sleeping porch (a.k.a. my junk room) when we moved into our house over six years ago. I feel profound sadness. What good are those books doing sitting in boxes where no one can read them?

“Wait a minute,” my best friend sighed into the phone. “You are giving all of your books away because you don’t want to be like your Mom?”

“This isn’t about my Mom.”

“Really? Your Mom rents a storage unit to house her books and the very next day you decide to donate all of your books to charity. You don’t see any connection?”

“Maybe this is a little bit about my Mom, but it is mostly about me. I need to find a better way to live.”

The boxes easily weigh over 50 lbs. and are too heavy for me to move. I go through each one and stack the books into piles on my office floor. I look at the mountains of books and tell myself over and over again that I can’t keep everything. I decide to keep only the books I will read again. Except nothing is ever that easy.

Eight weeks later I remind myself of the vow to streamline my life. I look at all the books still sitting on my office floor and question my commitment. Donating the books to the Downtown Women’s Center is the right thing to do. It will give someone else the opportunity to enjoy them much more than I have these past six years. I whisper, “I can’t keep everything!” one last time and load my books into the car.

See the contest winners!

A big thank-you to Schoolhouse Electric Co. for their generous support. Thank you for all the amazing entries and to everyone who voted!

Thank-you to Houseblogs.net, Charles & Hudson, Bungalow Insanity, and anyone else who linked to our contest.

I wish everyone a very Happy Holidays!

As our contest is coming to a close, it is becoming a very close race for the second and third place prizes. Take a moment to vote for your favorite house.

Donelle, 75 votes

Lee Ann, 72 votes

Bungalowgirl, 71 votes

View all the beautiful homes entered in our contest!

Make The Season Bright Contest generously sponsored by Schoolhouse Electric Co. First prize is a Schoolhouse Electric Co. Otis light fixture in satin nickel with a Modern Aqua shade; valued at $137. Second prize is a $75 Home Depot gift card. Third prize is a $50 Home Depot gift card.

Take a moment to look at all the great entries we have received and vote for your favorite. There is still time to enter your house! Winners announced December 24th.

Submitted by Keeley House. Currently in 1st place with 125 votes {at the time of this writing}

Submitted by Donelle. Currently in 2nd place with 60 votes {at the time of this writing}

Submitted by Bungalowgirl. Currently in 3rd place with 40 votes {at the time of this writing}

Contest generously sponsored by Schoolhouse Electric Co. First prize is a Schoolhouse Electric Co. Otis light fixture in satin nickel with a Modern Aqua shade. Second prize is a $75 Home Depot gift card. Third prize is a $50 Home Depot gift card.

Charles & Hudson features our tips for “Buying a Fixer”. Charles & Hudson is a wonderful blog. If you haven’t already, please be sure to check them out. They will quickly become one of your favorite sites.

Don’t forget to enter our Make The Season Bright Contest for a chance to win a Schoolhouse Electric Co. light fixture, $75 Home Depot gift card or a $50 Home Depot gift card.

It is not too late to enter! Submit a photo of your house decorated for the holidays for a chance to win a light fixture from Schoolhouse Electric Co., $75 Home Depot gift card or a $50 Home Depot gift card. Enter to win!

It has taken us a while to get here, but welcome to our new site design. This site started in 2003 as a way for us to share all the work we were doing to restore our Craftsman bungalow with friends and family. The site now gives me the opportunity to share all the things and people who inspire me.

I am very excited to announce our Make The Season Bright Contest. We want to see interior or exterior photos of your house decorated for the holidays! Schoolhouse Electric Co. is generously giving a light fixture and shade to the winner. Second prize is a $75 Home Depot gift card and third prize is a $50 Home Depot gift card. Just submit a photo of your house decked out for the holidays to enter to win. Voting starts December 15th. The winners will be announced December 24th. The house with the highest number of votes wins. Enter today!