Image generated by AI assistant.
November 4, 2026
Sometimes I feel like Snow White. I’m living in a cute cottage, enjoying a simpler, smaller place that I can quickly tidy up and keep clean. We even have birds in the backyard that chirp and flit about all day. I love it here, and I’m appreciating the benefits of downsizing.
And then I have the storage unit. In stark contrast, it’s dark, hot, and not a fun place to be. While I like most of what’s there, I’m also wondering why on earth we kept some things. Maybe we were too tired to make one more decision. For whatever reason, now we’re schlepping through things we didn’t need to move or store. And that’s frustrating.
It takes determination, perseverance, and grit to keep going back. I’m looking forward to “the joy on the other side”—after I’ve dealt with damaged things, everything has its place, and I can find what I need when I need it. There’s no timeline to my desired end, but bit by bit I’m making progress.
The idea for this graphic started when I couldn’t find our corkscrew. Three weeks in, and I still didn’t know which kitchen box it was in. I imagined a dad telling his son about a cap gun that he played with as a boy. “You know what? I think I have it in the garage!” The boy can’t wait to see the toy his dad played with. He grabs Dad’s hand, and together they swing open the door. Let's just say neither of them got what they hoped for.
As we process our move, I’m noticing some things and want to write about them today:
1. Sometimes we need to live somewhere before we know what belongs there.
Prior to our move, we had thoughts about where we’d be, but until we actually got here, we were just assuming. We rented the cottage online and never actually saw it until we moved in at dusk. We were exhausted and the hurricane was coming, so we didn’t look closely—not that we could change anything anyway. We wanted adventure, and part of that would be figuring out ways to make this place work for us.
Before the move, we did our best to make thoughtful decisions. We knew we were signing a 6-month lease, and that we’d need things for fall, winter, and early spring.
Now that we’re here, I’m finding:
Some things worked beautifully in our previous home, but they don't work in this space.
Some things I thought I couldn’t live without turn out to be quite easy to live without. Who knew? I don’t have to clean or maintain them, store or find a place for them. I don’t have to move them around to get to something else. Life goes on just fine!
Some things I thought I'd need are still missing—like my winter clothes!
Some things need to be accessible, but not necessarily in the kitchen. It takes some creative thinking to figure out where to put things in a smaller space.
Some things will stay in storage until we find our next home.
My earlier decluttering work wasn’t done wrong. Thank God we did all that! We made good decisions and I’m so glad we went through that process. But we didn't know then what we know now.
2. I’m approaching the storage unit differently.
My storage units look a lot like my former closets, except bigger. What I’m noticing is:
I'm not overwhelmed by this project.
I’m not trying to avoid them like I did my closet. I wrote about that in my earlier post, When Your Body Says “Not Today”.
Now, full disclosure, my first trip to the units caused me to downright hyperventilate and sweat—and not because it was hot outside!
Fortunately, I woke up the next day knowing what to do. Because of the decluttering work I did earlier this year and what I learned along the way, I can repeat what worked then.
It’s true: I am decluttering again, but I’m not starting at ground zero. I have experience and confidence. I have a plan. I just need to keep showing up and working the plan. Little by little, this chaos will change.
3) There will be more than one round of decisions.
This second go-round is a resifting of what we actually know we need and want after getting here.
One important lesson I’ve learned through the years is how easily I can set myself up for disappointment and even anger when I have unrealistic expectations.
Sadly, there was a time when I would have thought I could downsize once and be done, or make a move and not have any deviations from the plan. I was so hard on myself. Other people weren’t the only source of my stress. My own expectations and reactions added to the mix.
As we downsized before the move, we knew there might be more to get rid of once we got here, and that’s been the case. And when we get to our next home, I’m sure we’ll sift and declutter some more. What fits in one place may not work in another. (Sometimes it looks frumpy!) What seems necessary in one season may not be in the next. And that's okay.
It’s good for my mind to work through these changes and adapt to them. It’s also been fun to see that I can use something differently here.
For me, decluttering isn’t just about getting rid of things or becoming a minimalist. It's about aligning our possessions with the life we are creating.
For now, I'm enjoying our cottage and figuring out what belongs in this chapter. We’ve had a few surprises and aha moments along the way, but those are stories for another day. I'll keep you posted!
I’m sharing what I’m learning about decluttering, transitions, and being intentional with both my thoughts and my things on the blog, Clearing the Way. I hope you’ll find something helpful for whatever you’re sorting.
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