After a few months of settling in, we’ve entered what I like to call the “What We Really Need (And Don’t)” phase. Like most people, we tried to donate, sell, or give away things we knew we wouldn’t use again, so we wouldn’t waste time and energy moving items that would just end up in storage. Still, we moved a lot of pieces we loved and used in our last home even when we weren’t sure where they’d fit here.
After a few months of living in the new space and rearranging — sometimes many times — it becomes obvious which pieces were worth the effort and which we could have skipped. What looked perfect in one house can feel out of place in another, or an item you used constantly may no longer have a function because the layout or storage options are different. In short: moving hindsight is 20/20.
I first noticed this years ago in New York when I moved two blocks from Sullivan Street to Thompson Street in Soho and carried everything by hand with the help of friends — yes, even my mattress and bed frame. Every single item mattered. I tried not to move any unnecessary kitchen utensils, but once I unpacked I ended up with a big donate pile. Those bruises from carrying boxes back and forth would have been easier to bear if I’d pared down beforehand.
Over the years I’ve learned to accept it rather than get upset. We’ve been selling things that don’t fit the current house, which is actually satisfying—clearing out feels good, and the extra cash is a bonus. Since many of you asked for a rundown of what we no longer need and have sold, here’s the list.
1. Four slatted bar stools. A reader reached out saying an identical vintage set was selling for $825 on One King’s Lane and offered $800 for ours. After a quick reality check about how we’ll likely have an eat-in table instead of a bar, we decided to sell. Rather than accept the full offer, we countered with $400. The buyer was thrilled to get them for over 50% off retail, and we made more than we paid for them on Craigslist last year. Here they are enjoying a new kitchen life.
2. An egg chair and an Ikea slipcovered chair. Both were fine in our sealed sunroom, but once we opened that space to the outdoors they wouldn’t hold up to weather. Without a cozy nook for them in the new layout, we listed them on Craigslist for $30 total. The egg chair went to an admirer of its design and the Ikea chair went to a college-bound buyer.
3. Yellow deck chairs from our previous house. I loved these, but with only one outdoor area here they clashed with our red Adirondack chairs. The two bold colors felt too much, and we decided the Adirondacks matched this home’s more traditional style, so the yellow chairs were sold for $90.
4. A rocking bench from the front porch. We don’t have a wide front porch here and worried the bench would just sit near the woods and collect leaves and ticks. It sold quickly for $20.
5. A woven nursery chair from Clara’s old room. It worked in our mid-century ranch but felt too modern for the trim and paneled doors of this house. We listed it for $20 and ended up taking $10 since the buyer also purchased the yellow deck chairs.
6. Clara’s dresser from her big girl room. Although it looked great on a blank wall in the previous house, we decided her nursery dresser fit better with her daybed here, and John’s dad’s hand-me-down dresser would suit a future nursery. We sold the dresser for the same price we bought it ($55) to a furniture rehab professional who sent back a lovely updated photo.
7. Slate from the new backyard. This wasn’t moved by us, but we inherited around 120 pieces of slate scattered across the yard where we want grass. We considered reusing them for a patio, but with the deck and newly opened sunroom providing plenty of outdoor living, we opted to sell the slate for $100. It sold quickly.
So far our Craigslist total is $705 from these sales. We decided to reinvest that money into something we really wanted: a wood inlay dresser that went on sale at West Elm for about the same amount. At 31, we’d never bought a proper grown-up dresser; we’d always relied on a hand-me-down and thrifted pieces. Having it delivered assembled and carried up the stairs felt like a small luxury—white-glove delivery made me feel unexpectedly fancy.
I’m excited to share a photo of it in our bedroom once I stop treating it like a sculpture and actually put clothes inside. It’s funny timing: wood and iron are traditional sixth anniversary materials, and since the dresser has iron legs, we’re calling it a belated anniversary present. Here’s to marriage—and to a dresser that will (hopefully) keep our clothes organized in wedded bliss.
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As a little Friday bonus, here are four current projects, chats, or questions from the forums, along with this week’s giveaway winners announced in the Rafflecopter box on the site.
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| by DelightfullyNoted | by candice | by ViewAlongTheWay | by K8e9 |
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