what's gone?

 What's gone?

Well, in addition to the odds and ends on the table above

(and a few more I hauled out when I flipped the sign to say "free"),

 this piece that we remodeled to serve as a kitchen island or work space,

 the half-round sofa table my husband fashioned from a free furniture piece,

and four of these chairs with plenty of life left in them!

The furniture pieces were sold via local facebook sales sites.

I'm making progress.

Slowly,

but surely!

new favorite

 A quick look around our house may explain why

The French Tangerine is a new favorite blog of mine.
Click on it to go check it out for yourself!

 I couldn't begin to match its sophisticated content,

 but that doesn't keep me from admiring what I see there.

Meanwhile I continue to enjoy the tangerine (and turquoise)

I've gathered from my favorite thrift stores in the past.

(Yes, you read that right - "the past"!

I've radically curtailed my excursions until I can edit 

my current collections...)

with admiration

...with admiration for all who are downsizing so successfully!

As I said on my facebook page:

Too many pillows here! All of them "speak" of another time and place...

Living well in the present means letting go of MANY things!

My challenge is compounded by the fact that I'm too lazy to have a garage sale

AND too lazy to gather it all together to give away.

It's not so much the larger, furniture pieces as the little miscellaneous stuff

I've accumulated since moving the last time over 12 years ago.

I'm open to suggestions.

simple, thrifty and refreshing - a great combination

Not all Thrifty Style here involves thrifted "treasures".  Thrifty Style includes simplicity at many levels--including food.

Now sometimes it is simpler to go out to eat, but that's not exactly thrifty.  However, our evening snack tonight is both Simple AND Thrifty.  It's one of my favorite combinations - pineapple, oranges and bananas.

When I shop, I notice what's on sale in the produce department and try to incorporate it into meals.  This week, it was fresh pineapple!  Soon I hope to be enjoying another favorite combination - green grapes, cantaloupe and pineapple.

Do you have a favorite fruit combination?

lilac-love

 

When art imitates life....

Both the painting and the white box were thrifted.

The lilacs grow beautifully free
outside our kitchen window

a little blue

 In the process of not simply de-cluttering but de-owning,

 I emptied (and sold) two small hanging spice racks (with doors, etc.).

 Inside one were these miniature bottles.

 They are awaiting my decision about whether to de-clutter or de-own them.

This is HARD!

more miscellany

 Sorting through more miscellany

 than any one woman

 should be allowed to accumulate!

Sigh.
(Do YOU have a favorite piece of quilted "miscellany"?) 

an outdoor kind of day

 An outdoor-kind-of-day today.

In addition to a LOT of weed-pulling, there was some dividing and transplanting....

and general enjoyment of bunches of yard furniture and decorations

that found their way to our house via garage sales,

thrift store shopping, and roadside treasure-hunting.

no regrets

I've never regretted the color we selected for our bedroom wall years ago.

This thought struck me when I woke up this morning

and turned on the lamp--

something else I don't regret....purchasing the lamp, I mean.

At a thrift store, I'm sure.

Also years ago.

 “Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky.”  (Dr. Seuss)
 ***
“Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.”  (Lao Tzu)

vanity, vanity

This one was found curbside.

My man stripped it of the varnish that remained.

It sat in the garage waiting a decision to sell "as is" or paint.

Today we sold - "as is".

Before it sold, it was turned down 

by someone who was looking for one for a client.

"Just too large," was the verdict.

I remembered I had THIS one (above) in our spare bedroom.

Its top was cluttered with "stuff".

Since we're downsizing, I asked the "someone" 

if she'd be interested in THIS one.

She was -- and plans to pick it up tomorrow.

I just remembered I have one MORE 

out in the spare-bedroom-back-yard-cabin.

I wonder how much longer I'll hold onto it?

(I can't remember the last time - or ANY time, for that matter - that I actually sat in front of a vanity.)

 How many vanities have you ever had in YOUR house at one time?!?

timeless

 Stepping out of the shower this morning,

 I realized how little the decor in our upstairs bathroom
 had changed in the past five or six years.

My collection of pink florals still bring me pleasure.

Gathered over a period of years, these pictures were purchased

at thrift stores or garage sales

I am in no hurry to replace them.

For me, they have timeless appeal.

***

What items in YOUR home are timeless in their appeal to you?

dilemna

I find myself with  little time and no real outlet in which to sell items

I've acquired over the years.

 I still consider them treasures

and they represent good memories to me,

but they are taking up space that needs to be emptied.

Whatever shall I do?

shelves

In a corner of our living room

behind a vintage rocking chair,

sit a couple of stacked shelves.

Treasures fill them....

Of course, everything is second- or third- or fourth-hand.
Except for a rare dusting and an occasional addition of a thrifted child's Golden Book,
very little has changed over the past couple of years.
It's comforting somehow...