THE URGE TO PURGE

Most people I know talk about "spring cleaning", but for me it's the time right after the holidays when all the clutter starts to drive me insane, and I suddenly get an unstoppable urge to purge. In fact, if you went back through my blog, you'd probably find a similar post about this very topic most every January. My only problem this year is knowing just where to start, as there are so very many areas that are driving me bonkers just now. There are piles of wind-destroyed pots and yard art outside, that are a bit too bulky to just toss in the trash. There is a small closet in my bedroom that was meant to be a linen closet, and it is. But it also holds beach towels, a sewing machine and fabric, yarn and knitting supplies, luggage, extra throw pillows, quilts, tote bags, craft supplies, and, well, who knows what else? For, to tell you the truth, it's so jam-packed right now, it's almost impossible to tell! There's the hutch in my kitchen that, for a while, became my wee little studio, and then there are the bookshelves in my bedroom that eventually took it's place, when my supplies outgrew the space.

Remember when all my supplies fit nicely on these two little shelves? As you can see, the baskets are already full to overflowing.

Plus, I've started tucking bags of foam brushes, hand-wipes, thrifted books that I tear paper out of for collage, and binders filled with ephemera, down on the shelves below.

I've got a bunch of art-journals-in-process, sketch books, and a few finished projects that have spilled over onto these two shelves.

And then there are all the new books and supplies I got for Christmas!

I just can't bear to part with anything from these two shelves of favorites...

and I've already pared my gardening books down to the bare minimum. However, there are a couple of shelves down on the bottom left, which you have to crawl under my worktable to reach. If I purged those, and moved the "old favorites" down there (since I almost never take them off the shelves anyway), I just might make this work. At least until next January.