“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”

Thanks for the quote, Mr. Vonnegut. Like Billy Pilgrim's mother, I've collected a lot of impersonal stuff that doesn't mean much to me or no longer means what it once did. The Sirius Black bust given to me by a college boyfriend? The posters that have been rolled up and stuffed in my closet for four years? The vintage sculptural bric-a-brac that I keep in a cabinet because it looks like clutter when I put it anywhere else? Ugh. Who needs it?! These fresh, invigorating, un-cluttered interiors reinforce my belief that less is more. I'm so glad I got rid of it all. Getting rid of junk feels good.

Sidenote: OH HELL YES. HAHAHA, WOW. Thank you, Hot Topic model ex boyfriend!

Minimal blush pink and shiny bedroom... I like the mix of textures so much, I don't even mind the mirrored wall! Skonahem

My renovation last month kicked off a huge de-cluttering project. When the floors were replaced, I had to pull everything out of my closets and chuck it on the living room floor. Take a moment to think how scary that would look, okay? When I saw all that crap out of the closet and on display, I barely recognized half of it. I found a dozen shades for a chandelier that I replaced five years ago. I found huge paint cans containing colors that aren't even on my walls anymore. I found medicine that expired in 2005 and a dust bunny the size of my dog's head.

Why do an antique print mixed with mismatched vintage chairs look so fresh and modern?
Imagine this space full of stuff... Not so good, right? I think the lack of clutter makes this room. Skonahem

To make a long story short, it's all gone. The annoyingly crooked lamps, the weird ottoman that was always a little bit too short, and the cache of barely worn boots that didn't quite fit my disproportionately thick calves. I purged half the things in two closets and under the sink in my bathroom. Best of all, a bunch of nice cheapskates savvy Craigslisters came to my house and made all that junk disappear in just a few hours. I didn't even have to haul it to Goodwill or feel bad for throwing it away. Getting rid of stuff is easy.

Carefully edited collections are so much prettier than shelves stuffed with mounds of objects.
Wait, are those birds' nests on cake stands?! Um, yeah. No, I don't know why. Design Sponge 

This is going to make me sound like a crazy hippie fruitcake, but... Since I cleared out the old junk, my place feels like it's been imbued with clean, happy energy. I know it doesn't make logical sense. Why should a bunch of old, unused, and maybe broken things hiding behind closed doors bring a feeling of stagnancy and heaviness to the places where they accumulate? Whether or not it makes sense, though, I think it's true. I laugh when I read, "The state of your closets [is] a feng shui test of your self-esteem. How healthy is your self-esteem? How clean, peaceful and beautiful is your inner world?" I mean, seriously. I dare you to read that quote out loud without laughing. But there is something to it. Who knows... maybe I'm just comforted by the knowledge that there's extra room in the closet now, but getting rid of old junk feels almost as good as a new wall color.