Does your home no longer have you saying “I love you”? Is the lack of space making you feel torn in two? Then, take heart…Here are 4 things in your home to finally break up with before Valentine’s Day:
1. Knickknacks
If you’re anything like me, you’ve gone blind to all the knickknacks lying around your home. You see, I have kids, which means I somehow collect these things. They end up being shuffled from one place to another, because I keep saying to myself, “I’ll do it later”, “I may need this,” or “I don’t want an argument.” But the truth is – and I’m working on conditioning my habits to align better with this – you’re making yourself unhappy a little bit at a time by letting them take up space.
Just think of all the times you’ve grumbled at the knickknacks after you’ve had to push them aside to find whatever you’re really looking for. I do it when I walk across my living room and step on a fast food toy that’s barely been played with (family loves to give these to us), or when I’m searching through my office supplies drawer trying to find a working pen. I always think, “later.” But there won’t be a “later” unless I make time to do it, and the kids probably won’t even notice the toys are gone, because they’re into something else. Why keep grumbling? That’s a little bit of negativity you inflict on your mood every day and that can build up.
So, stop pushing the knickknacks aside, and make time to get rid of them now. You’ll thank yourself next time you go searching for a must-have item.
2. Guilt Keepers
Have your family members given you things – furniture, art, dishes, etc. – that you just aren’t very fond of? Have you kept them for the sheer fact that you’d feel guilty if they ever saw you got rid of them? I know, I’ve faced this issue. I call them Guilt Keepers and they create sticky, sticky situations.
Over the years, there have been some family “heirlooms” that I’ve loved and others that I knew I’d never be happy using. When I bought my first house and started decorating, I kept everything, which makes sense, because young first-time buyers often don’t have much in the way of household items. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that my environment directly affects my happiness and all these extra things that were not my style were muddling my Zen. So, I started giving them to people who really wanted or needed them. And you know what I found? No one really cared, because they were basically loading their stuff off on me and the one person who panicked at first when they heard I was getting rid of certain things (*cough* my sister *cough*), ended up giving away all the same stuff later on.
Of course, I’ll never get rid of the really special things, like my grandfather’s pocket watch or my mother’s paintings, but I won’t ever feel tied down by the Guilt Keepers again. You shouldn’t either, because these things are just taking up space and muddling your Zen, as well.
3. Extra Appliances
It’s time we talk about that ice cream maker you bought. Sounded like fun, right? You used it twice and now it’s just taking up space in your pantry. Oh, it wasn’t an ice cream maker? It was a _insert countertop appliance_?
Juicer, blender, food processor, rice cooker, fryer, waffle maker, George Foreman grill…Let’s face it, most people go through a stage where they want to get busy in the kitchen and but a countertop appliance that seems like a great idea for cutting cooking time or making more creative recipes. Some people stick with it. Most don’t. So then they end up with a practically brand new contraption hogging storage space somewhere in the kitchen. Sound familiar?
You don’t have to throw out extra appliances. There are multiple options for getting rid of them. Sell them online, give them to a family member with an itching for the kitchen, or find a poor college student without many options. Nothing need go to waste. Just don’t sacrifice your storage for daydreams of what may be.
4. Old Electronics and Cables
This is an argument I have with my significant other every time I start deep cleaning the house. He loves to keep old electronics, you know, just in case. Just in case of what exactly, I’m not so sure. But it isn’t just electronics. About 80% of it is cables and cords. Bags and bags of cables. It doesn’t matter that we’ve upgraded to the newest and best, he still wants to keep that A/V system from the ‘90s that has the malfunctioning speakers, even if we’ve already planned to go wireless or built-in when we finally buy a new house. Just…don’t.
Unless you’re planning on using the electronics and cables within the year, donate them to a school, library, or church. They need them much more than you do and chances are that the technology will change twice over by the time you get around to using them…or, as we have found, we can buy something better for cheaper than what it cost to originally buy the outdated electronics. Something to keep in mind!
Have you done all this and still not willing to say, “Be Mine”? Let us help you find the home with the key to your heart. Give us a call at (910) 202-2546 or send us a message through our Contact page. We’ll come up with a great plan for selling your current home, and we guarantee it will leave you with the warm fuzzies of a 1980’s Rom-Com. And if we leave you quoting John Cusack in Say Anything…:
“She’s gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen.”
You can fire us any time before an offer is received.
Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
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