The Urge to Purge

Happy New Year! I have finally gotten back "on the grid," so to speak. Please excuse my absence . . .  I decided to take a break from blogging over the holidays and spend time with family and friends. While I've been unplugged, I've of course been dreaming and scheming of things to do to our home. The new year just brings more design inspirations. And in keeping with the old saying, "out with the old, in with the new," we've been doing some major purging and cleaning around our house (thus the blog title . . . hope you didn't think I was writing about bulimia).<br /><br />First up was our overstuffed and almost impenetrable attic. I didn't take any photos because, let's face it, attic photos are not that exciting and I was too busy tossing stuff. However, I did happen to snap a couple of before and after shots of my much neglected closet that I attacked next.<br /><br />Before:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZ9jJAz7usxCD3ho8VSNXO_pTZ6wsG-bxEH41QNwuNqrJdfpUqF3xz349kjnIUV6hAi8EZbtCS-b3RRFxgikgBP0uU9RFgpD5i3lhGWOWiGnR0_x6QCREVIgPxqKpWHWxTvmX7XeYdQg/s1600/IMG_0283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZ9jJAz7usxCD3ho8VSNXO_pTZ6wsG-bxEH41QNwuNqrJdfpUqF3xz349kjnIUV6hAi8EZbtCS-b3RRFxgikgBP0uU9RFgpD5i3lhGWOWiGnR0_x6QCREVIgPxqKpWHWxTvmX7XeYdQg/s400/IMG_0283.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty hideous. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7M1gylqxcRnuYf__VUA6fvqZ2jx1SU4jZrGf6iVxe20VJWrkkGowVMuTvXmNqv9hQkqCq8CJhHcqrqWk0mwBeOxHegF0BAVDcbOXFHyVNeFcR1KtdyGEJ6yIvsKMs5uFbFjo2nH90Icw/s1600/IMG_0284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7M1gylqxcRnuYf__VUA6fvqZ2jx1SU4jZrGf6iVxe20VJWrkkGowVMuTvXmNqv9hQkqCq8CJhHcqrqWk0mwBeOxHegF0BAVDcbOXFHyVNeFcR1KtdyGEJ6yIvsKMs5uFbFjo2nH90Icw/s400/IMG_0284.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yikes. I have a problem properly organizing my children's artwork. It mainly ends up stashed here and there.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">And, after:</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6oOvgbsPCtbpfsDSrO1qGOm4HJJJmglzu6oRKh0MrvD2Vgd3aVSQtMjsMHdEfzjQ7_lebdb5yTG3ZefJsG6WDLU8HgsN60ZfNjMh88FS_9T7INCwYOwsSnRgqkR6biqNER-lN1DhEW2M/s1600/IMG_0288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6oOvgbsPCtbpfsDSrO1qGOm4HJJJmglzu6oRKh0MrvD2Vgd3aVSQtMjsMHdEfzjQ7_lebdb5yTG3ZefJsG6WDLU8HgsN60ZfNjMh88FS_9T7INCwYOwsSnRgqkR6biqNER-lN1DhEW2M/s400/IMG_0288.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Much improved, but there is still work to do. Mainly organizing my handbags. Any tips?</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNC3pbn8xCxlW00R8_ZGOtBDD2P_Eqg2zTTBZcDsDHfkTfwYwHqOaKDkYbl7Xg3uIfBxnQ3l8aW4w2vwsMrLQF2z3bQT5GqU0-HGWuT4T2a4rAV2yU6_kuYGW_XZDn3HkTNbYr6TKtJVo/s1600/IMG_0289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNC3pbn8xCxlW00R8_ZGOtBDD2P_Eqg2zTTBZcDsDHfkTfwYwHqOaKDkYbl7Xg3uIfBxnQ3l8aW4w2vwsMrLQF2z3bQT5GqU0-HGWuT4T2a4rAV2yU6_kuYGW_XZDn3HkTNbYr6TKtJVo/s400/IMG_0289.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Better, right? I still need to thin out my jewelry. This was after major editing too. More purging might be in order.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">And since I purged, and got rid of a lot, I had to bring in some new stuff, right? Today I got the chance to do some browsing as my children both went back to school. I stopped in a delightful new shop in Berry Hill (the Nashville neighborhood where <a href="http://www.musiccitysmiles.com/">my husband's dental practice</a> is) called <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001816274919&v=wall#%21/profile.php?id=100001816274919">The Wish List</a>. I actually ran across it while perusing Craiglist. I met the nice owner, Kristin, and of course, made a purchase. It's a wonderful shop with unique vintage and handmade items. If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrz_9A43s0VhQYfcZ0IS56IFt3bW1jvczrdm0oWL07diQ0_ARni2voTwl2iNdWNpSAX-jBYyPiRQ-P9Pd5W1lq4J_EScYj_KvkvjLk6AOKAwMSVsukMJqUnl8NV9rbBFIgwkQqTkDcxz0/s1600/155317_109368242467051_100001816274919_54645_6881744_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrz_9A43s0VhQYfcZ0IS56IFt3bW1jvczrdm0oWL07diQ0_ARni2voTwl2iNdWNpSAX-jBYyPiRQ-P9Pd5W1lq4J_EScYj_KvkvjLk6AOKAwMSVsukMJqUnl8NV9rbBFIgwkQqTkDcxz0/s400/155317_109368242467051_100001816274919_54645_6881744_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These photos are from the store's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001816274919&v=wall#%21/profile.php?id=100001816274919">Facebook </a>page as I was too busy chatting to take any pics.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5ynUxeZNpPrQHE2POaH6fVLXZZLsd4wjk_BhrPIwm569grJOsAXE-3JoxQ4lBHm9BO8f7ZapJX3M3RgRQskIb70lZJveI6H37U7Ys2YBXY1TjLGCMaBOHBR2H2rOsver_ZC_4i3vgsA/s1600/156703_114906621913213_100001816274919_91103_3200708_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5ynUxeZNpPrQHE2POaH6fVLXZZLsd4wjk_BhrPIwm569grJOsAXE-3JoxQ4lBHm9BO8f7ZapJX3M3RgRQskIb70lZJveI6H37U7Ys2YBXY1TjLGCMaBOHBR2H2rOsver_ZC_4i3vgsA/s400/156703_114906621913213_100001816274919_91103_3200708_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVcG_rKKZXFyOlIw96nycwFELTPA9pcG3wTqsKOrfYoKIbpwbUcMd1QAc7613-3Mb9KtUGFn5JiD6eyTUNAqdB3JJ7_0Vjb9PaF8-Xlgd4qy4PALwahkftqhyphenhyphen8NQm1fFjA_aKYbmyLEQ/s1600/163037_117723954964813_100001816274919_108578_2177528_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVcG_rKKZXFyOlIw96nycwFELTPA9pcG3wTqsKOrfYoKIbpwbUcMd1QAc7613-3Mb9KtUGFn5JiD6eyTUNAqdB3JJ7_0Vjb9PaF8-Xlgd4qy4PALwahkftqhyphenhyphen8NQm1fFjA_aKYbmyLEQ/s400/163037_117723954964813_100001816274919_108578_2177528_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCGD2Azj9AjMj9r3UQp6cdPAQEE1ypjU9PcILIICaLCTQhyphenhyphen3RZk-vRqA3W2Lii0jubNY1LYaOdleU_MUkk93lcAfgu2AoPzt9asn8FCdlhZWR4dRXnlydqnA39ipewcfTVLwD448xGjY/s1600/164578_117944464942762_100001816274919_109933_7374090_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCGD2Azj9AjMj9r3UQp6cdPAQEE1ypjU9PcILIICaLCTQhyphenhyphen3RZk-vRqA3W2Lii0jubNY1LYaOdleU_MUkk93lcAfgu2AoPzt9asn8FCdlhZWR4dRXnlydqnA39ipewcfTVLwD448xGjY/s400/164578_117944464942762_100001816274919_109933_7374090_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The item I bought? A vintage desk chair for my son's room for $25. Can't beat that!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PAyfQqynD0w8tc88jL5Dwl1HWX-YUNFi361-foAl3h2qKe9IFUtFeRnAZXnZ3LcrAHdXXj6sAfnnWatA90a1Em-V7Wjsh3RB8hHG_RJeBXD0i3v5j1EdplggW4scOA5Gq_kbiZCcnqo/s1600/IMG_0294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PAyfQqynD0w8tc88jL5Dwl1HWX-YUNFi361-foAl3h2qKe9IFUtFeRnAZXnZ3LcrAHdXXj6sAfnnWatA90a1Em-V7Wjsh3RB8hHG_RJeBXD0i3v5j1EdplggW4scOA5Gq_kbiZCcnqo/s400/IMG_0294.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a great red color, but I'm actually going to paint it orange to go with the rest of my son's room.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYtIc-w2sUWqDmTROcfso1P93083Vmh7BOOmJQXFbRkegrPKHN9c1z1AszjGRUiHYABUOQNnxBuhz4bqbfEoFzhqXw3N7SSbsSmLUPuYAKoyk-wUmffDTM8qsSkljJtV9GsCJVkleuFk/s1600/IMG_0302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYtIc-w2sUWqDmTROcfso1P93083Vmh7BOOmJQXFbRkegrPKHN9c1z1AszjGRUiHYABUOQNnxBuhz4bqbfEoFzhqXw3N7SSbsSmLUPuYAKoyk-wUmffDTM8qsSkljJtV9GsCJVkleuFk/s400/IMG_0302.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOmDsGxnA9RQ1cV27ymvVrmyu17uGZty2N-uqf5vvk2-TlEXooddZT9F_TEU-zWHfpNpIuJjNWZ0wEjaUoRaxeWsziOzw2RY9amoekJeOVtHyHDnO63v_3dAPf7JwCEnO4U9V9EHOtJ8/s1600/IMG_0292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOmDsGxnA9RQ1cV27ymvVrmyu17uGZty2N-uqf5vvk2-TlEXooddZT9F_TEU-zWHfpNpIuJjNWZ0wEjaUoRaxeWsziOzw2RY9amoekJeOVtHyHDnO63v_3dAPf7JwCEnO4U9V9EHOtJ8/s400/IMG_0292.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think he likes it!</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">And check out the cute little package Kristin sent me home with . . . </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIYjv4vgem610caOcNGDI0yoNjRIcvYv5QgsW3x4JOM8rhT18CoB6TbqlFUVmNIbsbuqnUr72_BpZWaBmLeSxBWR5Y5vr9KPy9Gmw_EI5ES4TUNAeYaLTz3oEyfMiSfPm4heT8A3gvWk/s1600/IMG_0295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIYjv4vgem610caOcNGDI0yoNjRIcvYv5QgsW3x4JOM8rhT18CoB6TbqlFUVmNIbsbuqnUr72_BpZWaBmLeSxBWR5Y5vr9KPy9Gmw_EI5ES4TUNAeYaLTz3oEyfMiSfPm4heT8A3gvWk/s400/IMG_0295.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9RG2-fChMo9Yl7O4kjaodtKeA24KF0foh2zRlcSTECNzsrNPx2ydjUHnD7G1wKBLCEnXoWzDnV7oZdw7FYnspDvpOUiFvQ68ctMQbrMKwIXtNj7fApxN6UtNrJcZP3oTTdFzy6ii9M8/s1600/IMG_0298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9RG2-fChMo9Yl7O4kjaodtKeA24KF0foh2zRlcSTECNzsrNPx2ydjUHnD7G1wKBLCEnXoWzDnV7oZdw7FYnspDvpOUiFvQ68ctMQbrMKwIXtNj7fApxN6UtNrJcZP3oTTdFzy6ii9M8/s400/IMG_0298.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2sSbt0JKGz5LudJrhzOxzs4zo_4sdy2AJVTq_xfQCIvtH78i4y9ib3zL3kfs4GvR1zgXW9VbPJpWdT3sJlUY_mEnPrGTiHUqGl9_gevSpMoLDp1IkxHCsK7bQ2smH_EClOnMlo2re4g/s1600/IMG_0300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2sSbt0JKGz5LudJrhzOxzs4zo_4sdy2AJVTq_xfQCIvtH78i4y9ib3zL3kfs4GvR1zgXW9VbPJpWdT3sJlUY_mEnPrGTiHUqGl9_gevSpMoLDp1IkxHCsK7bQ2smH_EClOnMlo2re4g/s400/IMG_0300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's the little touches that mean so much. What a sweet way to start the new year. Hope you're off to a great start as well!</div>

The Urge to Purge

Happy New Year! I have finally gotten back "on the grid," so to speak. Please excuse my absence . . .  I decided to take a break f...

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