Knick Knacks & Tchotchkees

Does your house look like a knick knack attack? I have 2 rules about these.

#1. Get rid of 80% of your knick knacks or tchotchkes!

Do it. All they really do is take up space, collect dust and its a real eyesore to look at all that stuff all the time. I have wooden valance toppers in my living room.....shelves over windows basically. Oh they looked so nice all merchandised with mini books, music boxes, pictures, silk vines etc etc etc. A lovely array of home interiors goodness. I stood in my living room one day and said this is enough, I know they are dusty and I need to clean them. I removed all of it, threw the silks into the tub, boxed up the rest to send on down the road. There all clean!! and my eyes literally got a break from the visual stimulation of all that stuff.

I put the silk ivy back up with a few deer sheds and thats it.

Terra's Story.....
My friend with 4 gorgeous kids, cute and clean house and all around kick ass woman. Her hubby is a cool cat too! She was having an issue with a certain blue lady in her bedroom a few years ago and I told her "honey dont feel guilty about sending her down the road"......so blue lady sat on top of her dresser for quite some time, she just couldnt bear to do it and live with the guilt. So I called her today to see if blue lady is still there.

"hello, terra?"

"HI!!! whatcha doing?"

"I have a question for you, I am writing a blog about simplifying your life and I am on knick knacks and I was wondering, do you still have that blue lady in your bedroom?"

"Nope, I finally did it, she is gone.....in fact I got rid of alot of crap lying around here, still working on the kids's stuff"

"Terra...... I am so proud of you!!!!"
and then the what not of the holiday chatter and we said our good byes....I really am proud of her!!

The key is she thought about the words I told her, "if you dont love it, each time you look at it will conjure a negative thought in you, albeit subtle, those negative responses will build up and eventually you will get angry upon looking at it." Nuts! to get angry at an object that sits there on a shelf....get rid of it. It was the thought that counted when someone gave you a gift! There is no law that says you have to keep it!

#2. Never buy a random tchotchke as a gift to anyone! I said "random"......if someone specifically told you they love_____or it was on a gift registry, then it is okay. Otherwise you are wasting your money, if its ugly then you are causing your friend some distress about "what am I gonna do with this!" The last tchotchke I bought for a gift was 3 years ago, a fifty dollar scented oil lamp candle thingy for my mom......it is no where to be seen in her house.
I still get "house decorations" that are just not me, so I just give them away almost immedietly. No sense in keeping it, I am touched they thought of me enough to get me a gift and that is good enough.

Go attack your knick knacks!!
Smash em out back and throw them away if ya wanna, really that can be liberating.


Over and out,
S.C.