{"id":2117,"date":"2014-09-18T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T17:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/?p=2117"},"modified":"2014-09-18T11:32:05","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T17:32:05","slug":"room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/","title":{"rendered":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2118 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\" alt=\"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most\" width=\"650\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg 650w, https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak-228x300.jpg 228w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I thought I would be happier with more. I didn&#8217;t care if I had to work harder, or spend more to get it. I thought it was worth it. I rewarded long work weeks\u00a0with shopping and after a bad day, medicated with spending. I didn&#8217;t know that&#8217;s what I was doing, but I can see my patterns quite clearly now that I&#8217;m not so busy and distracted.<\/p>\n<p>Only a few, short years ago I had &#8230;<\/p>\n<h3>The Big Stuff<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>house: 2000 sq. \u00a0ft. home with yard, garage, attic, shed, fence, deck<\/li>\n<li>two cars\u00a0with monthly payments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Furniture<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>dining table with eight chairs<\/li>\n<li>kitchen table with six chairs<\/li>\n<li>patio table with six chairs<\/li>\n<li>living room and family room furniture<\/li>\n<li>guest room furniture<\/li>\n<li>office furniture<\/li>\n<li>two more bedrooms full of furniture<\/li>\n<li>more furniture in the garage that didn\u2019t fit in the house<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(There were three of us living in the house and we had 20 dining chairs.)<\/p>\n<h3>Apparel<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>3 closets full of clothes: mine, husband\u2019s, daughter\u2019s<\/li>\n<li>guest room closet full of clothes (overflow)<\/li>\n<li>hall closet full of coats and other clothes (overflow)<\/li>\n<li>boxes (many, many, boxes full of clothes) in the garage<\/li>\n<li>shoes, accessories, jewelry &#8211; too much to count, or wear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(I wore 20% of my stuff 80% of the time.)<\/p>\n<h3>Stuff<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>books: in the office, family room, kitchen, living room and bedrooms<\/li>\n<li>dvds<\/li>\n<li>board games<\/li>\n<li>jam-packed kitchen cabinets full of Tupperware, glasses, dishes, silverware, candles \u2026<\/li>\n<li>office stuff &#8211; bulletin boards, printers, paper, shelves, in boxes, filing cabinets full of more paper<\/li>\n<li>art<\/li>\n<li>exercise equipment<\/li>\n<li>sporting gear<\/li>\n<li>boxes of stuff we rarely opened in a storage area in the garage<\/li>\n<li>stuff I don&#8217;t remember that filled the shed<\/li>\n<li>all the stuff we needed to take care of all the stuff<\/li>\n<li>miscellaneous: the most dangerous category of all<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(if you walked through my house, you wouldn&#8217;t have thought there was too much. It looked just like the typical 2000 sq. foot home full of stuff.)<\/p>\n<p>Everything I owned resulted in paycheck to paycheck living, expensive insurance policies to protect it all, decades of debt, weekends of care taking (mowing grass, replacing fences, shoveling snow, cleaning, organizing), exhaustion &#8230; and the desire for more. I was so caught up in the work-spend cycle that I couldn&#8217;t envision another way.<\/p>\n<p>When I started to declutter,\u00a0and get serious about simplifying my life, I thought I owned so much. But when I looked at my bills, and realized how much I owed everyone, I realized that I didn\u2019t own much at all. Banks owned my house, cars, and even my education. Credit card companies owned some of my furniture and even my shoes.<\/p>\n<p>I really was walking around in someone else\u2019s shoes. That realization was one of my many enough is enough moments.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I rent a 750 sq foot apartment in the city\u00a0and own a\u00a01999 vehicle with 215,000 miles. I share one closet with my husband and have one additional small container for seasonal clothing. My daughter has a tiny closet full of clothes and we have one hall closet where we keep our shoes,\u00a0winter\u00a0coats, broom and dustpan.<\/p>\n<p>We kept the things that contribute to doing what\u00a0we love, like cooking, hiking and skiing. We still have art on the wall, and even a few things in the miscellaneous category. We have 5 dining chairs instead of 20 and 2 of them are folded up and hanging in the closet. We still have photos to scan and some sentimental items stored under the bed, but we&#8217;ve let most of it go.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, I\u2019d estimate that we kept less than 75% of the things in our previous home when we moved 15 months ago. We have 75% less, but we own more. We also &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>appreciate more<\/li>\n<li>spend more time together<\/li>\n<li>have bigger dreams about smaller spaces<\/li>\n<li>are less attached to our stuff<\/li>\n<li>understand the <a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/the-myth-of-ownership\/\" target=\"_blank\">myth of ownership<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>I still want more<\/h3>\n<p>I want more joy, more hiking, more delicious, home cooked meals, more travel, <a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/clarity\/\" target=\"_blank\">more clarity<\/a>, more giving, and more love. And I know that <a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/less\/\" target=\"_blank\">the answer is less<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Through the decluttering and\u00a0downsizing process, I&#8217;ve realized that it&#8217;s so much more than organizing your stuff, emptying your closets, or living in a smaller space.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s about creating a life with room for what matters most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I thought I would be happier with more. I didn&#8217;t care if I had to work harder, or spend more to get it. I thought it was worth it. I rewarded long work weeks\u00a0with shopping and after&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-declutter","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v25.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most - Be More with Less<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I thought I would be happier with more. I didn&#8217;t care if I had to work harder, or spend more to get it. I thought it was worth it. I rewarded long work weeks\u00a0with shopping and after...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Be More with Less\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Courtney Carver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bemorewithless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bemorewithless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Courtney Carver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Courtney Carver\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2239981d8cb0a390981bb0355976c6f4\"},\"headline\":\"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\"},\"wordCount\":729,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Declutter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\",\"name\":\"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most - Be More with Less\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Declutter\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/category\/declutter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/\",\"name\":\"Be More with Less\",\"description\":\"Simplify your life. Declutter your mind. Connect with your heart.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Be More with Less\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/be-more-with-less-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/be-more-with-less-logo.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":120,\"caption\":\"Be More with Less\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/bemorewithless\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/bemorewithless\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2239981d8cb0a390981bb0355976c6f4\",\"name\":\"Courtney Carver\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/courtney-avatar.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/courtney-avatar.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Courtney Carver\"},\"description\":\"Oh hi! I'm Courtney and I've been simplifying my life since 2010. I remove the things that remove me from life. Things like clutter, debt, alcohol, busyness and drama. Now I have time for the good stuff like peace, ease, creativity, laughter and love. Let's simplify together, not so we can have a simple life, but so we can have the life we really want.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/about\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most - Be More with Less","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most","og_description":"I thought I would be happier with more. I didn&#8217;t care if I had to work harder, or spend more to get it. I thought it was worth it. I rewarded long work weeks\u00a0with shopping and after...","og_url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/","og_site_name":"Be More with Less","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Courtney Carver","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bemorewithless","twitter_site":"@bemorewithless","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Courtney Carver","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/"},"author":{"name":"Courtney Carver","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2239981d8cb0a390981bb0355976c6f4"},"headline":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most","datePublished":"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/"},"wordCount":729,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg","articleSection":["Declutter"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/","name":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most - Be More with Less","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg","datePublished":"2014-09-18T17:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-18T17:32:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/mayspeak.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/room\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Declutter","item":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/category\/declutter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Declutter and Downsize to Create a Life with Room for What Matters Most"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/","name":"Be More with Less","description":"Simplify your life. Declutter your mind. Connect with your heart.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization","name":"Be More with Less","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/be-more-with-less-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/be-more-with-less-logo.png","width":600,"height":120,"caption":"Be More with Less"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom","https:\/\/x.com\/bemorewithless","http:\/\/instagram.com\/bemorewithless"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2239981d8cb0a390981bb0355976c6f4","name":"Courtney Carver","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/courtney-avatar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/courtney-avatar.jpg","caption":"Courtney Carver"},"description":"Oh hi! I'm Courtney and I've been simplifying my life since 2010. I remove the things that remove me from life. Things like clutter, debt, alcohol, busyness and drama. Now I have time for the good stuff like peace, ease, creativity, laughter and love. Let's simplify together, not so we can have a simple life, but so we can have the life we really want.","sameAs":["https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/about\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\/"],"url":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sUXW7-room","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}