Country Life Experiment

Simple Country Living

The Spare Room Cupboard

When we first arrived here on the farm, we weren’t sure if we would be staying, so we did only the bare minimum to make the house liveable. Fresh curtains (bought from an Op shop), and a new fire to make sure that we were warm in the cold months. We made do with our furniture from our previous home, even though it didn’t fit too well, and was made for a different kind of life.

Two years on, and we have worked out what is useful for our new life, what we need, and of course, what we don’t need. It turns out that despite my constant urge to purge, we still had a heap of strange things that we had shoved into cupboards when we moved here, and had not seen the light of day since.

One thing I was determined to do these holidays was to tackle the cupboard in the guest room. It was a hideous mess. Jam packed with memorabilia, teaching resources, and all those things which we had no idea what to do with when we moved in.

Prepare to be shocked….

See – embarrassing right??
Anyhow, I had planned a trip to Ikea to sort out a few other house issues so I bought up big on storage boxes (I pre measured the shelves, and worked out what I wanted on-line first).
The amount and variety of junk was incredible. Notable items include a VHS video camera (we don’t own anything for it to connect to any more), the first film camera we bought with film still in it, a broken remote control helicopter, and a box of stuffed toys left over from my childhood. 
I culled. Seriously. About half my teaching resources went. They were for subjects I am not likely to teach every again. It’s hard to get rid of them because of all the work that went into them, but I was a ruthless culling machine. 
And then I sorted. One of those big boxes is entirely full of negatives, because we are enthusiastic photographers from way back (our first SLR was a film one). Both Country Boy and I have a big box full of memorabilia, and then there are boxes with craft supplies, and sheet music.
Luckily, despite the mess, my teaching resources are pretty well organised. I keep each topic in a separate folder with a program and sample assessment tasks at the front, and resources behind them. But now all the folders fit on a shelf nicely.
Looking good!

The best part? Getting rid of all that unwanted stuff. It was sooo freeing. I’m a big fan of getting rid of anything that we don’t love, use, or need. Every time I go to the cupboard now, I don’t dread things falling out, and I know that I can find what I want quickly. I’m loving myself sick!

Do you have embarrassing cupboards? Do you love chucking out unwanted stuff too???

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrea says

    ….um we have a garage…and it makes your cupboard look like the height of minimalism. We are starting to attack it now…but it's a little scary

    Reply

  2. Annaleis Topham says

    I should show you my cupboard with teaching resources and junk – I have a plan to fix this one over term 1 when the kids are at school! Your cupboard looks fantastic in the after pic!

    Reply

  3. Katie says

    Nice work, Jo! I'm on a Spring cleaning binge too – you know, clean and rearrange as though you're moving house, but without the trouble of moving house. Wishing there was an Ikea nearby!

    Reply

  4. Elisha Ross says

    Nice work. Love the green. Ikea is awesome. I hear you on the teacher front. Soooooooo much paperwork and resources. I find it hard to depart with all my hard work to. Mine is safely stored in the shed.

    Reply

  8. Anonymous says

    We have just finished the same thing. My husband likes to keep (hoard!!!) things that 'might come in handy one day', but he actually got into the culling process for once. We had boxes of stuff that we hadn't unpacked from when we moved in 7 years ago. It's a very good feeling going to a cupboard and not being scared of what will hit you as it all falls out. Louise

    Reply

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