It has been a year since I walked past a row of townhouses in downtown Everett and mused if these homes might be a place for us to live. We had been planning to downsize for some time and knew that we had to get our house on the market before the end of summer…but we hadn’t found the right place yet for our next home. Looking for another house to buy just wasn’t the answer…but its tough to break out of conventional thinking and consider other options…though I’m somewhat of an “out of the box” thinker, contemplating ideas that would significantly change every aspect of our life was a little tougher. I’m a believer in the power of positive thinking so when we investigated these downtown townhouses…and found out that one (out of a possible ten) would indeed be vacant by the end of summer, I knew that I had to persevere and make it all happen - continue to purge and pack, sell the house, move and then resettle.

I’m one of those people who does not like to be told that something can’t be done…express your doubt or reservations that it can’t be accomplished, and that’s all the motivation I need to prove otherwise.

Especially daunting was my not-too-small amount of art supplies/vintage materials/rusty metal stuff/eclectic doo-dads that still remained. But little by little, the process began…getting one house ready for sale, continuing to purge and reassess every item being packed, planning for a space that would be approximately half the size of our current home. Step by step…tackling a bit each day…trying not to take it all on at once since that would lead to burnout and frustration. We celebrated small victories along the way understanding that low and steady would lead be the best route.

So this past weekend, I had my last purge sale of art supplies and yesterday I pared down our 10’ x 10’ storage unit to a 5’ x 10’ unit…with no basement, attic, nor garage at the townhouse, it was always a foregone conclusion that some sort of off-site storage would be needed. Where else do you put holiday decorations, summer fans, an extra table for parties or work projects? I had to condense the contents of 3 separate work spaces totaling 640 sq ft to a 10’ x 12’ studio and I wasn’t going to spend all my time going back and forth to a storage unit for supplies…it needed to fit in my new space or it was out the door.

I’m pretty proud that now, a year later from when I first walked by this place, that it is our home…and all the naysayers that said I had too much stuff that I would never part with are now gawking at how I worked such magic. You have to keep in mind that we are now renting so I’m not able to do anything I wish within our walls…but with a bit of ingenuity. trial and error, and plenty of “what if…”, I think my space it turned out well. The video shows the 12 foot wall in my new studio space where I reconfigured the shelving I had at the old house to fit here and to take advantage of the high ceilings we have.

Several friends have commented to me that they wish they could be so methodical and determined to purge and downsize…its definitely a process…and you have to be ruthless at times…but it has been so worthwhile.

With everything now in its place, its time to enjoy the summer ahead…and likely taking a little break from making art…its been 25 years since I decided to pursue my art practice full time…and someone else at that time telling me I wouldn’t be successful since I didn’t have a business plan…of course that’s all I needed to spur me on…I have 25 years behind me to prove them wrong.