The process is called Swedish Death Cleaning, who knew?

I finally have both the time and energy to stop by and send out a hello.   January and February are usually slow months for us but they have been just the opposite this year. When I have been home, I have been working on projects as well as the usual cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.  I'm still behind on correspondence and such!

One thing that is normal from past years is that I like to use these post-Holiday winter months to "fluff the nest".  I often declutter, although this year it is taking on an entire new emphasis.  I also use this time to change some things around in the house like relocating some artwork to make it fresh, changing around some plants to other areas, moving photos from one room to another, etc.

Last year, I switched the larger vertical print of a woman in prayer to the opposite side of the dining area from where it had been since we moved into this house.  I hung it where there had been a large horizontal artwork and then hung that piece where the vertical print had been.  It has been a year and I'm still looking at how much I like the switch.  The vertical print is one of my favorites and it was in a place where I rarely saw it before the move.  It was a refreshed look for less than five minutes of work.

I have continued the files project, although it is on hold for a couple of weeks as a couple other projects call out to be completed.  As I write today, the Study is full of boxes and I have just enough room to walk to the desk and work on the computer.  We have a walk in shower being installed on Monday, replacing the very old 1960s era shower/tub in the bathroom.  After nearly falling a few times, it became a priority for safety reasons. 

I want to write more about world events and the pantry lifestyle soon.  That will have to wait until the installation is finished and the boxes are out of the Study.  They also have to replace the flooring as it will be scuffed up and they are going to paint the bathroom while they are here.

The files in the Study are pretty much sorted, kept or tossed, and are now easy to maintain.  I was able to get a good start on the "homeschooling drawer" in our small office but it is a slower process.  That project will be taken up again after the bathroom project is finished.  It takes time because more thought is needed about what to keep and what to toss.

My decluttering and getting rid of stuff project that I have been doing the past few years has a name and I didn't even know it.  You may remember that it is inspired when we realized what a burden it would be for our kids someday to 1) go through our stuff, and 2) sell the house with the much needed updates still undone.

So, we have budgeted every extra dollar to fixing and updating the house.  It is a good, solid, and even attractive small house but it was built in the 1960s so... and I can relate personally... it needs some work.    Our goal is that when we need to sell the house, there will be no surprise expenditures for our family.

As for the organizational part of the fluffing, I found out there is a name for what I have been doing for years (and getting really serious about it this past year).  There is even a book about the process called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.  

Now, I know it sounds morbid but it isn't at all.  It's basically that the questions we ask ourselves about what to keep or give away change as we grow older. The recommendation is that once people arrive at retirement age (approx. 65 years old), they change the way they look at keeping and getting rid of stuff based on if they will still be using the objects and/or if anyone would want it after they are gone (or just retiring to a small place).

I haven't read the book, yet, although I plan to soon.  It is small and it is supposed to be an enjoyable read about how the author went through this process in her own home.  However, there are really good YouTube videos about the process that I have watched in the past couple of months.  It was enjoyable to find out there is actually a name already for what I have been wanting to accomplish.  

Now, I have been doing this a little at a time for many years now but I'm just taking it to another level.  For instance, I inherited a complete set of Victorian era china from my mother-in-law, I collect brown transferware china, I still have the Everyday Lenox I used when both kids were home, and I have the inexpensive dishes I use everyday since there are just the two of us at home.

I did have a set of Noritake wedding china but after having a discussion with my daughter and daughter-in-law a couple years ago, I knew to keep all the china except the Noritake.  It seems no one in the family was interested in 1970s wedding china except me.  So, off it went to Goodwill where someone will find it and love it.  

That is what this process is about, let go of what no one would want when we are no longer here... then... keep what means a lot to you or you know someone will want it and yes, I still collect brown transferware because it makes my heart sing! Otherwise, I rarely purchase thrifted china.  Well, there were those two teacups that were part of the Queen Mother collection... but I digress.

One way of managing "stuff" that I have done for a few years now, too, is that when I purchase something new (to me) for the house, something goes to Goodwill or another charity.  The above photo shows the vintage scale I bought at the antique mall.  

I have wanted such a scale for that spot for at least three or four years.  I had seen them in magazine photos and homemaking videos. I finally found one that I loved and was a price I could afford.  There had been a few cookbooks at that spot so I went through my cookbooks and got rid of a few I knew I would not use, anymore.  That made room on the shelves for the cookbooks that had been in that place.

I will never be a minimalist!  There will be plenty of stuff to go to family or thrift stores when I go to my Heavenly Home... which will be perfect!  Part of the process is having those things around me that makes my heart sing without it looking cluttered.  Of course, what I think does not looked cluttered may not be what another person thinks but I am the one who lives here.

My home is my personal Goshen where I feel comfortable, where my relationship with God can grow, where what surrounds me is what I find beautiful. I'm old enough now that it doesn't matter what other people think about my decorating style or what stuff I display.  Each of our homes should be a reflection of us and not a place where we display stuff we think would impress other people.

Of course, I do share this home and mostly I take into account what my husband likes.  Mostly.  Except when he is absolutely wrong.  ;)  He does not like the vintage yellow kitchen scale.  As a former engineer, he doesn't get having anything in the kitchen that you do not plan to use for its' original purpose.

However, he is on board with the process of getting rid of stuff we do not need and the kids will not want.  Which is on the level of a miracle as he is a bit of a hoarder with paper stuff and garage stuff. He keeps what he thinks he may need someday but I reminded him that we do not need a dozen (or two) Amazon boxes.

I plan to be back in probably a little over a week or so.  Hopefully!

Mentioned in this Blog Post

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning book... here.

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Image:  The camera takes very blurry photos at times!