Growing up as a child of art and antique collectors, I am developing an aversion to stuff. It’s not that I don’t like art and antiques; quite the contrary, as I have started collecting both myself and I have boxes of items in the attic to decorate my future place with. But I am starting to detach myself from material objects because stuff can just be so overwhelming, and a minimalist approach seems liberating and freeing. There is a fine line between collecting items that we cherish and actually want to use (yes, serving as decoration counts as a use!) and collecting things for the sake of collecting and wanting to add to that collection over time. The latter is where you can get into trouble and be left with countless things that leave you wondering, “What was I thinking when I bought this?” or “This is not my taste anymore…” It’s also hard to find the value in storing things for the future, because honestly, who knows when you’ll actually use them (says the girl who has boxes of things for the future in the attic, which I actually have weeded out!)

As my parents recently had an estate sale and were deciding what to keep or sell, I find myself quick to wanting to sell a lot that I may have previously wanted to keep, because getting rid of things feels so damn good! Here are some pictures from the estate sale, and I was actually very surprised by all that was sold.

Perhaps the solution to the desire to purge stuff, and having a love for collecting antiques, is to have a little antique shop. This way you can still appreciate antiques and they can be part of your life, but they don’t have to take up space in your home.