Clutter,Tulips, and Linky Love

What do tulips and clutter have to do with each other? Nothing! It's just so happens one of my tasks for today is planting this years batch of tulips before the rain starts up again.  Even though I avoid doing heavy labor on Sunday, because of rain I had to mow about 3 acres last Sunday.  As soon as I finished it started to rain, and continued to rain all night and all day Monday, so my timing was excellent.  The sun is out right now, but not for long, so today is tulip day. Every year I plant spring bulbs by the hundreds to add to my collection.   I really hate this task (even though it goes pretty fast), but the spring reward is worth the autumn angst.

Let's Talk About Stuff

I love pretty things and I really have a tendency to love my stuff. You know the stuff I'm talking about.  It creeps and crawls its way into our homes and pretty soon all our time is spent taking care of this stuff.  We clean it, move it, and most of all, we organize it.  News flash - you can't organize clutter.  Trust me on this one. I've spent years organizing stuff that should have been kicked to the curb years ago.

I still remember my first apartment.  Tiny by most standards. A small living/dining combo with a galley kitchen.  A smallish bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom. There was a slider in the bedroom that opened onto a tiny walled in patio. I LOVED that apartment.  The living room was large enough for a love seat, two directors chairs, and a WWII army trunk that I used for a coffee table and extra storage. The dining table was a wonderful round iron patio table and matching chairs.The bedroom was big enough for a double bed and one bedside table.  A small dresser lived in the closet.

So what was so special about this apartment aside from the large windows, cute shuttered doors on the kitchen entry, and some built in shelves in the living room?  It DIDN'T HAVE A BUNCH OF STUFF IN IT~  sorry for shouting...

That being said (shouted), I'm not suggesting you get rid of all your stuff. Some stuff is good stuff and fun to have.  But guard against the creep of too much stuff.  In the future I'll talk about more specific stuff that needs to go and some strategies for keeping our homes under control.

Now I'm going to send you off to look at some pictures of glorious stuff  (how schizophrenic is this???)  over at My Romantic Home.  Cindy (one gorgeous lady, by the way!), was nice enough to take oodles of pictures at her favorite shop, "Vintage and Vogue." It made my mouth water!

Spend some time over at My Repurposed Life.  This lovely lady who signs her posts "G", is one of the cleverest DIY'er I've run across.  There are a wealth of ideas there to spark your imagination.

Check out this bathroom make-over at The Embellished Bayou.  Christy highlighted a room re-do miracle one of her friends did on a bathroom.  It has stuff - just not too much stuff.   Perfect!! 

For balance, Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie, will keep you from diving off the deep end. It's all about balance, doncha know. She also hosts Menu Monday with over 400 people linking to their menus for the week.

Before you go check out these gorgeous spring bulbs....

I planted this tulip last year.

 

 Over the years I've added more and more parrot tulips

 

I really love pastels

 

But still have some wonderful reds for sparkle

 

Spring would not be spring without lots of grape hyacinth

I've seen my crocus blooming in the snow.