Decluttering, downsizing, and getting ready for home renovations

Moving to a tiny house is a process of reducing.  As a first step I am finding new homes for most of my furniture and belongings.  Already I have found places for my canoe, kayak, wind surfer, snow blower, water bed, coffee table, wicker chair, curtains, and bedroom side table.  The canoe was a gift from Margaret, who I have mentioned before, when she moved to Salt Spring Island.

A Cornerstone volunteer who is a student is just starting out and needed furniture and kitchen stuff; another friend is leaving her husband and also needs things for her new life - so my Champion Juicer that I never ever thought I would let go of, my bread maker, two desks, my laser printer, my blender, and my food dryer have all moved on.

I have researched smaller appliances and purchased a slightly smaller printer that can also scan and copy, a smaller bread maker, and a small mini prep food processor to replace the blender, which I found half price at the Bay and is red.

I have also started to create a mental list of things I plan on bringing with me:

• hammocks
• bed frame (but not the old not-so-comfortable mattress)
• small chest of drawers for clothes
• large mahogany trunk I inherited, an antique from Madagascar
• hand carved four panelled Indian screen (which I hope to have made into doors in the new home)
• my secretary's desk
• six square floor cushions that when covered with a mattress cover create a comfortable double bed
• my hand woven basket from Guatemala
• my books on yoga and art

• my paintings
• my glow-in-the-dark poster of the Milky Way
• the silk curtains from the dining room
• a couple of carpets
• my chain saw
• three very large ceramic pots for flowers to put on the deck of my new place
• two solitary bee's nests

• my leather couch and spinning chair
• my outdoor couch and chair
• a black bamboo coffee table for the deck from Venezuela
• three stools for the kitchen eating peninsula
• several beautiful quilts made by my mother
• my macbook, iPad and iPhone
• TV, cd player and cd collection and a couple of records
• kitchen things, probably about half of what I currently have in the kitchen
• yoga mats, blankets, blocks and bolsters
• my singing bowl collection
• my little hot tub