Moving Forward: Downsizing Home Decor

Last weekend, I embarked on a cost-saving mission and moved about ten miles down the road to a quaint two-bedroom house. The guest house I was living in was one of my favorite dwellings in L.A. with its raised ceilings, skylights and a large open area for a combined living room/dining/office space. But alas, the rent was not in alignment with my budget.

Time to make a change!

Initially, when I viewed the new place, I thought I might have some challenges figuring out where to put the dining set, but was not concerned about much else--already well on the path of a new decorating adventure.

On moving day, we brought the couch in and placed it on the only wall it would fit. I was astounded that it took up the entire wall. In my haste to take care of business, I never measured it, instead trusting my keen decorator's eye. Oops! I gave a shout out to my hard-working, sweaty friends to leave the end tables and lamps on the patio--they weren't going to make the cut. Strangely, I felt no remorse: Bye-bye bargain-bin end-tables with the coolio tic-tac-toe base. You were fun, but I'm onto something new…

Next, we brought in the oversized chair for the office. It was indeed oversized in my previous open-spaced floor plan. In the new place, it resembled a tank. I took a moment to reminisce. I had found that chair at the Sears Bargain Basement fifteen years ago for a hundred bucks. I've covered it several times and it's still going strong. I searched my heart for regret, sadness: nothing. Sorry buddy, you gotta go. You're just too damn big and you have no business lurking around a new beginning! Get out!

At this point, my jolly, sweaty friends had turned sour and dank and everyone was in task mode en route to a beer break. My request to move the chair back outside was met with, "Aw, you gotta be kiddin' me!" in the faintest of New York accents, though none of us hail from there. "Fine, I'll do it myself," I snapped. I then proceeded to wedge the upholstered beast in the doorway, where we both remained until a snickering friend came to the rescue.

As I watched the pile of unusable items grow larger and larger on the patio, I had to laugh. What was I doing with all this "stuff" all these years? I had enough "extras" to start my own thrift store! Had I known that downsizing would save me over $400 a month and offer me the opportunity to purge the old and celebrate the new, I would have done it years ago!

The next few days proved interesting as I rearranged my choice pieces to fit the new space. At the end of the day, I only had one disappointment: I didn't want to part with my dinette set as I enjoy entertaining and I owed my "Moving Friends" a nice homemade dinner. Bribing friends with food is just good business! Something had to be done.

Well, what's a decorating adventure without a few new pieces?! Besides, this was a décor dilemma that only a budget-minded shopping trip could solve! I measured the spaces, made a list and in a few hours returned with…

...an outdoor 10' x 10' gazebo where all my extras would fit perfectly! It was like adding a third bedroom for under $200! I was so excited! I wrestled with items in and out of the gazebo, working up quite the sweat when it dawned on me: what about letting go? What about the "out with the old, in with the new" epiphany?

I stopped, surveyed the gazebo. The dinette set looked amazing. It was like it knew it belonged outside all along. I could see it: Al Fresco dining with friends…laughing, sharing wine and fragrant bowls of pasta…very Barefoot Contessa! Everything else had to go…wait, the end table with the tic tac toe base...that would be a cute plant stand! OK, you can stay.

But everyone else--the party's over! Nice knowing you. Don't call me! We're done!

Just then a bird landed on that tank of a chair and I tried to picture it with a new cover, outside--next to the gazebo--like a security guard. Nope, sorry! Nice try, though. I opened the gate and moved it out to the alley, with a sign that read "Free. Needs good home."

How have you downsized lately?  Let me know in the comments.