To go where no man has gone before…

No, no…not that “space”.  But, “space”:

Inviting, comfortable and usable space.  That used to be my front porch, when I first got my patio set.  I loved that space.  Now it looks like this:

And that, my friends, pretty much is my life in a front porch picture.  I get things cleaned up, looking nice, feeling welcoming and comfortable and usable and then life happens and it is all the same mess again.  And I realize that life is messy at times and I don’t live in a magazine photo shoot, but I do know that others with more kids, less time and more chaos are able to keep their houses at least picked up, without random stray items laying all over the place.  That is all I really want.

So, I’ve realized that a lot of the reason we don’t have that is we have way. too. much. stuff.  I mean, WAY too much stuff.  So, I’ve been trying to downsize.  But, it isn’t easy (as my porch can attest to).  So, I’m trying out some new ideas in helping me clear out…I’ll let you know how it goes.  In the meantime, I’ll be trying to find some space!