Our recent decision to move across the country (for the 3rd time in our 8 years of marriage!) has gotten us thinking about what things we want to keep and what things we want to replace. Most of our things were purchased from our wedding registry, and, as such, they are over 8 years old. Some of our things are getting chipped and broken, other things aren’t quite right for life with boys, and other things were never quite right to begin with.
This move, we’ve done a LOT of cleaning out and giving away. Our last few moves were a bit more rushed, so we’ve decided to slowly organize and give away (especially when we discovered UNOPENED boxes from our LAST move 3 years ago!). Since we have a great thrift store down the road that supports our current school, we feel good about giving things to them, and we also get tax deductible receipts every time, making it “almost” like selling things, without the hassle!
And don’t get me started on eBay and half.com….we have sold over $200 in clothes and books in just the past month! I’m trying to save up enough to buy us an external hard drive for all of our files and pictures (maybe then my laptop and phone will run faster! haha!).
In total, we’ve taken 4 full carloads to the thrift store thus far, and we’re not done yet. If it’s not an item that’s serving our family well, we’ve decided to replace it with something that will. Why move it across the country, just to finally give in and replace it in a few months? Furniture is a no brainer. We’ve decided not to take any furniture with us, and try to fit everything into a smaller trailer. It’s very costly to move lots of big things across the country, we’ve found, especially because we can’t use one of those “U-Pack” crates due to our rural area.
So, without further ado, here’s my small list of items I have my eye on as we replace our household items. If you have any advice, please chime in!
Amber Collection from World Market– Our dinnerware set is something we got 8 years ago, and many of the plates and mugs have chipped and broken over the years. I’d like to supplement with a nice bright colored set, like these yellow ones, or even the white ones below. If we ever have open shelves in our kitchen (which I’d love someday!), I want the colors to match my kitchen.
Nantucket Collection from World Market
It’s time for us to invest in more Green Eats bowls and plates for the kids. They’re actually not as bright as what the pictures show. We’ve had 2 of these bowls and 2 cups for the past year or so, and I love them to pieces. Despite almost daily use in the dishwasher, they’ve stayed unscathed, unstained and unscratched. They’re 100% made from recycled bottles, and they are free of melamine, bpa, pvc and external coatings! What’s not to love?
Organic Wool Shikibuton from Soaring Heart— It’s about time for us to replace our mattress that we got as a wedding gift. I’ve been having some back pain when I wake up, and it went away on vacation when we were on a different, firmer mattress. All of my reading has lead me to conclude that our mattress is getting old enough that replacing it would give me a better nights sleep. I’ve wanted to try these shikibuton mattress which are supposed to be terrific back support, and you can roll them up when not in use! I definitely feel myself gravitating to a more minimalistic/modern style lately, and I even like the idea of a low platform bed. And you don’t need a boxspring, reducing the cost!
Mason Jar Mugs at Pottery Barn— Cheaper at Walmart— I love mason jars, and I’d love to add some of these to our glasses collection. We seem to never have enough glasses, and there are a few “beer” ones that might be a little tacky now that we’ve grown up a bit 😉
Sectional Sofa from Amazon— Hard to believe that it’s free shipping, right? I love our current sectional sofa, but, like I said, moving a sofa across the country adds a couple hundred dollars when you factor in the need for a big truck. Our current one is pretty beat up too after our foster kids, so I’m thinking a fresh start would be nice. This one isn’t crazy expensive, and it got great reviews.
Stainless Steel Frying Pans— The two frying pans we have from our wedding registry set are now completely SHOT. Jesse is itching to buy more so that we can actually fry eggs without creating a huge mess. He keeps wanting to pull the trigger and buy them now, PRE-move, and I keep begging him to wait so that we don’t have to pack them (something very difficult, they’re such odd shapes, and sooo heavy!).
Sourav Table from World Market— Marked down to $259 from $529. I’ve never had a real dining table that can actually seat PEOPLE before! We had a small circular one our very first apartment in La Mirada, then a tiny 4×4 one in TX, and now a circular one here in CA again. The circle shape just fit the dining room well here at our house, but even with the leaf inside, didn’t seat very many people. I would just love a big, hardy farmhouse table for all of our future kids! (jk, no more kids. Unless people keep posting their cute baby pictures, in which case, all bets are off).
Beer Garden Table from World Market— This one is so stinkin cute! But I’ve been wondering, is it too flimsy for everyday use? Seemed pretty cool in the store. The one downside might be the width, but it’s supposed to seat 8 people comfortably. Technically, it’s supposed to be an outdoor table. I don’t know, it might not be durable enough!
What things have you been wanting to replace lately? Any moving or organization tips?
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Rebecca Hatcher says
I actually recommend buying a griddle pan – it goes over 2 burners and we use it ALL the time!
http://www.amazon.com/Ecolution-Artistry-Double-Burner-Griddle/dp/B002LAS5TA/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1400996445&sr=8-9&keywords=griddle+pan
Kelly Cone says
What a great suggestion, Rebecca! We’ll look into it!