I saw a chart that said the average American home size was 1,660 sq. ft. in 1973. Homes grew bigger until the average US home reached 2,519 sq. ft. in 2008. The little graph ends in 2010 with the average US home at 2,392 sq. ft.. In the interest of reducing the Jones family's carbon footprint (Ariel says that the next person he hears use the phrase "carbon footprint" is getting punched square in the mouth...thank goodness he doesn't usually read this blog), work load, and impact on Ariel's wallet (not necessarily in that order) I've been thinking about downsizing to a smaller house. Jones Family Home Number Three is about 3,000 sq. ft. if you count the stupid smelly living room in the basement, which I do not but Ariel and his real estate agent do. I've got it in my head that I can fit our family in half that space, maybe less. Ariel thinks I'm nuts (for a multitude of reasons... cramming six people into 1,500 sq. ft. probably doesn't even rank top ten on his list).
Now, I'll admit that all moves are horrific. I'll admit that I own way too much crapola. I'll even admit that I don't know exactly what I need and what I don't. But most importantly, I will admit that I really, really, really like being right SO I have started going through my possessions to see if I can even fit us comfortably in the house we live in now before I join in on The Great American Downsize I keep reading about in Better Homes and Gardens and Country Living (which I'm canceling my subscriptions to to reduce clutter) because I desperately want to be successful.
Over the weekend I made the grand journey into my attic. My attic is proof that there is life after free piles. My attic is like a disorganized Salvation Army or Good Will. It looks like a gigantic I Spy photograph up there and could probably get me a spot on that Hoarder's show. On Sunday I went through a tote and two garbage bags in an attempt to find shorts for the kids. There are at least five more totes and five more garbage bags of children's clothing alone. I'm tackling the clothes first (then maybe holiday decorations or unused toys). I've decided I'd like to share some of my booty with other kids but I'm not sure how much I should keep. So, my question to you is how many of each type of clothing do you or your children own? How many T-shirts? How many pants? How many long sleeved T's, warm shirts, button ups, jackets, pairs of shoes, jammies, play clothes, dress clothes, and winter coats should a person have? I've always kept whatever I could get my hands on because I have the space and I think I have a bit more than we need. What do normal people have in their closets and dressers? I would really appreciate your help with this. Please leave an answer to this question in the comments section here on the blog, or on Facebook, or in my e-mail, shoot, if you see me in town flag me down and tell me what you think. I really want to get to the bottom of this! Thanks for your help!!!
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