Rv Decor; I may have a pillow problem

hi my name is joy and I have a pillow problem.

There are currently 14 pillows in my 24ft home. I think I have a very real issue. Granted two of those pillows have been replaced, I just haven’t gotten rid of them. 

Decluttering.

Spring Cleaning. 

Sparking “Joy”

We all know it, we all experience the need to clean and start fresh every year. What do we do with the “things” we no longer need?

I grew up helping my grandmother with garage sales. Each year, my grandparents were known for their multiple garage sales throughout the year and as kids, we would go down and help price items, organize, sell and maintain the neatness. People would line up; outside the garage at 7am, waiting for it to open.

My grandparents garage was not used to hold cars, it was an extra room. It was my grandfather's workshop, the laundry room, the game closet, the kids dining room, the poker room, the canning room and the semi-permanent garage sale staging area.

There was an entire corner of the garage dedicated to keeping and maintaining all the items collected and donated by everyone in our family. The clothes we outgrew, the knick knacks we no longer wanted, the books read multiple times, the albums, shoes, dishes, everything we no longer had a need.

Their garage was one of my favorite places, so many small things to discover. The closet had the hula hoops, baseballs, frisbees, flexible sound tubes (not really sure why these existed), and the game of ALL games; Careful. The Original Jenga type game from 1967.

Their garage was the cool attic you would see in movies, like Goonies but less creepy, better lighting and a freezer that contained the “desserts” which was usually popsicles.

Are garage sales dead?

I would love to plan on this spring, not only cleaning out my stuff but helping my parents declutter, and have a multi-family garage sale. There are a few things that need to happen so this can go off without a hitch. 

1. Convincing my dad, it’s a brilliant idea. :)

2. Finding the items that we are selling.

3. Pricing everything.

4. Organizing everything.

5. Spending a weekend getting the garage ready.

6. Advertising it.

7. Hoping that garage sales are not dead.

I worry about #7, there are other alternatives; Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or multiple apps. Items can also be donated to Goodwill Salvation Army, or the Veterans association. There is however something to be said about finding that ultimate deal at a garage sale.

Finding that “find”, the hey look I got this for only .10 cents, kind of proud moment. Getting a really good book for $1. 

A solo traveler does not need 12 spoons

I grew up with two sets of dishes in the house. The everyday dishware and the fancy dishes that were only brought out during certain events, usually Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not sure where this tradition originated from, but it was wedding china passed down to each generation. we have dishes from our family dating back to the 1900s.

I was given my great grandmother's wedding dishes that were handed down to me when I was in my 20’s. I have never used any of it. I kept it. It currently sits in the attic at my parents house, along with a few other items from my grandparents that will someday find a home when I stop traveling and buy a cabin on some land somewhere, they will probably become my everyday dishes. Why? Not only is it one less thing I need to purchase, I no longer live by the idea that “the fancy” dishes should only be used during specific times in our lives. Life is meant to be lived.

Since I am not yet traveling outside of Ohio, waiting until I can get the vaccine, waiting until I’m done with physical therapy for my knee replacement, waiting until I am really earning a living. I’m beginning to spring clean. 

What does that mean? It means going through each area of my small RV and eliminating the items I am not using. Since moving into this small space, I am amazed at what I don’t use, what has stayed in the same place and unused for a year. Granted I’m not traveling but there are items I haven’t used since I moved into the RV. When you live in a tiny space, each area serves a purpose. There is no junk drawer, there is no closest that can be used to hide the things you are no longer using. EVERY space matters. 

For example, the kitchen. It’s just me. When I paired down my previous utensils I had in my apartment, I thought I did a pretty good job. Turns out I don’t need 6 butter knives, 7 various forks, 12 spoons. And 5 steak knives. Why I had 12 spoons I have no clue. I spent about an hour clearing out the two drawers

I’m down to 2 long handled spoons, 2 soup spoons, two small spoons and two regular spoons. It’s still too many spoons, but like my pillows, I can’t seem to part with them just yet.

Steps to Decluttering

What have you done to pair down items, to clean house to rid yourself of items you no longer use or need?

My Process to decluttering

1. Tackle one area at a time

2. Separate the items into groups; keep, might use, what was I thinking?

3. Then I confirm each stack

4. Put away the items I’m keeping

5. Place the “what was I thinking items” in a box

6. re-sort “might use” (i’m pretty hard on myself here, most of the time it has to do with my camera gear) I have items I do not use but may need and items I’m slowly selling on Facebook marketplace.

7. Once everything has found a home, it’s put away and the next area is gone through.

8. I repeat this until I’ve hit every area

   1. kitchen

   2. camera gear

   3. t-shirts

   4. closet

   5. bathroom cabinets

   6. overhead bunk

   7. office cabinets

   8. pants

   9. closet storage

   10. front cab

Then I reorganize. Granted I have a small RV and I love this layout, but I will probably change rigs in the future. I could go smaller or shift to a towable, at this point, I just daydream about having a vintage airstream.

Doesn’t everyone? No, just me?

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#declutter #tinyhome #smallspace #garagesales #springcleaning #sparkjoy #reorganize