Clutter Or Keepsakes?

 In a previous post, I posed the question, 

"But does decluttering mean we're becoming minimalists?"

For the most part, I'm a very practical person and a messy house stresses me out, so minimalism does have an appeal. But I'm also sentimental about some things. What I consider clutter is stuff that once had a practical purpose, but is no longer needed...clothing that doesn't fit, extra dishes, miscellaneous containers, old financial papers, pamphlets or magazines. The impractical items like mementos, gifts and ornaments aren't clutter to me. 

 If you too enjoy being surrounded by mementos and collectibles, this little peek into our new home is for you.

Our House Tour; Downsizing & Moving On

 I know I promised a house tour months ago, but life just got a little hectic and we never did find time to do a video before moving out of our Hoops Loop house. We did, however, manage to get one done when we went back to do a final cleaning. 
 For those of you who haven't been here before, I'll give a little intro. As my husband nears retirement age, we realized we hadn't really planned for this stage of life. Most of our family has grown up and left home, and we've retired from 30 years as foster parents, leaving us and just 2 kids in a very large house. We had started a decluttering and downsizing process about 2 years ago, and in June 2019, we moved into what we hope and expect to be our retirement house.  I'll be sharing more about that in the future but for now, I hope you'll enjoy taking a walk through our previous house.