The other night I woke up in the middle of my night for some reason or another and ended up walking into my office to work on my laptop. (I do that to cure insomnia. It works like a charm.) Somewhere between my bedroom and the dining room, I stubbed my toe on a box of something I had out in preparation for the big princess party. I stopped, grabbed my toe in pain and looked around me in the dark. I was suddenly overcome with how much stuff I had in my house. Even in the dark (or maybe more so because it was dark) I could see shadows of stuff EVERYWHERE.

How is it that in one month I have fillled up an entire mobile home with STUFF? It made me sick.

Granted, it’s a small mobile home and I had a lot of things out and about that I was using to set up for the big birthday bash but still. When I moved in here it was empty. I didn’t even have a bed. It seemed huge. There were cupboards and drawers everywhere completely empty. I’ve never had a place to myself before and for the last five years I haven’t even had a room or a closet that I could call my own. So it seemed like an incredible luxury of space.

How is it that I have filled up this space in just one month? It took me aback.

This got me to worrying. Shopping for all that furniture at once was a heady thing for me. I’ve never had that much money at my disposal all at one time before. On top of the Ikea shopping and the thrift store shopping I was also setting up new accounts for internet and utilities, gardeners and a new dog that required things. It kinda felt like money was flying out of my bank accounts like leaves from a leaf blower. Sure, I wasn’t out blowing crazy money with credit cards or anything but it was A LOT of shopping for me. I’ve been scrimping and saving for a long time. This was a big change in behavior. Enough to kind of scare me.

So it is with that new fear that I bring you today’s post. When is stuff too much stuff?

Today we hit the mother load of stuff at thrift stores. Lots of neat stuff. Stuff that maybe I don’t even need and I’m willing to sell if anyone takes a fancy to anything. I’m trying to figure out what is valuable and what I just really like. I wish I had a huge warehouse where I could keep every random thing I take a fancy to and then maybe someday someone would hire me to decorate their house for them. I’d get a call and then I could go find that perfect thing in my well-organized and cataloged warehouse. I’d have sections set up by genre, time period, color etc etc… Oh what a dream that would be! I could be the Queen of Stuff! Ha!

But the reality is I can’t do that. At least not now. I like a home that is a little on the sparse side. So the stuff needs to be curbed. I’m not renting any storage space. That’s not in my budget or my life plan.

Onwards! Shall we?

First I found this end table. I couldn’t even believe it. This is exactly what I had been looking for for weeks to put beside my bed to put a lamp on. I had scoured Ikea in vain. Thrift stores had nothing. Why is it that now that I have settled for an old red metal toolbox for a bedside table that I find the PERFECT side table? It’s small! It has straight lines! It’s mid-century or something near that! Why?! Why? I shouldn’t have bought it. But it was only $20. I figured I could fit it somewhere. So now I have a table that I don’t entirely need. It’s not that big so I’m sure it will fit somewhere without me stubbing my toe on it but the warning alarms have started ringing. This might be a sign of a problem.

And hey! It came with a Mexican blanket or serape in the drawer!

Just kidding. I bought the blanket separately and stuck it in the drawer. I don’t feel too bad about this blanket because it cost two bucks and I’d been wanting to buy one ever since we threw the Actually’s their Mexican-themed farewell party. I wanted to make throw pillows out of one but I just couldn’t justify cutting up a blanket I spent $30-40 on. Well, now I can! A two-buck blanket can get cut up. Unless of course it looks prettier all in one piece which this one might. I’m kinda digging it. I don’t need it but I do love it.

And then I found these shoes. Swooni-swoon-swoon.

You know how I am about red shoes…

These are so red and so shiny and sooooooo not my size.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!

Kill me now. Should I have left them there to rot with all the other outcast misfit shoes: the awful chunky ankle boots, Grandma Edna’s nurse shoes and the leopard printed stripper heels? Would someone who does wear a very narrow eight and a half come along and buy them and maybe land that job because they looked so smart? In the sticks? Not likely.

Nobody but me knows the real value of these wonderful red shoes. I must buy them!!! So I did. And now I have to sell them. Because even though I can fit them on my feet and admire their beauty, I cannot really walk in them because I will trip. I wear a size seven. I really wear a size six and a half so an eight and a half is just plain clown-shoe silly on me. Just like my friend Deb always says, “Josephine crying in a bucket!” That’s me. I am crying in a bucket over these shoes.

Hopefully these will be listed in Etsy (if I can call them vintage, not sure) or ebay tomorrow after I measure them and document every last scratch and scuff.

I also bought this belt. It’s nice. I don’t really wear belts but maybe I should. It doesn’t take up much room so my guilt meter is low on this one. I should illustrate that. Maybe that will be a regular feature from now on.

There. That should come in handy in the future.

Next up: tongs. Boring but I totally needed them! They’re heavier and nicer than any I’ve seen in stores too so, no guilt here.

Phew. If I was smart this is all I would have come home with. But what kind of post would that have made? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……….

Next, I bought this teapot. I bought this purely to resell. I love the color but I’m not really decorating my house with turquoise right now like everyone else is. My only problem is, it looks kind of cute on my Paris cafe shelf. I don’t know… I think I should etsy this one. I just need to research and see how valuable it is. Same with the funny green pitcher and the yellow bowl and green cup from the top photo. Though, I am getting my groove on with the 70’s green in my trailer these days. It’s very trailer chic. Everything was very cheap of course. Under $5. Some of it is Bauer, some just stamped with USA so I need to read up on my pottery.

And lastly, we have this yellow sundress. I wish it was vintage but its H&M. Oh well, cute is where you find it, right? And I will need a sundress out here in the sticks where it’s 80 degrees in January!

I think I’ll keep it.