PURPLE DOOR HOME: I thought you bought this place furnished?!

So did we. But apparently we want to put our own stamp on the cottage with things we've collected over the years. LOTS of things! Today I started organizing the items we've been collecting for our "someday" second home. I'd been storing things in the attic and lately had been stockpiling items in the garage and I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I didn't know what I had or what I still needed. So today was sorting day. I took everything I had and filled up our living room.

"Didn't you buy this house furnished?" was my friends reaction to this scene.
Our dog Sadie sleeping in the crowded living room.

Literally! Piles everywhere. And then I began to sort. One bin or pile for each room. I had pictures of the bedrooms in front of me so I could work with the colors of the bedding we already had and the bedding we'd bring up for extras so that everything could coordinate. We have lots of artwork that we just don't have room for in this house. There are wedding presents, and paintings from Rod's parents, as well as framed photographs my dad took. We have pictures and frames that just didn't work with our decorations at home anymore. We still love the artwork and have been holding on to it for someday. Well someday is here.

A pile for one of the bedrooms

Kitchen Pile

Bunk Room

It was time to coordinate and organize and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I will wait for the purging phase till we're all moved in at the lake. Then we'll know what we need and don't need. We've also been purchasing a few things here and there that we noticed we need or things that we wanted to suit our taste and the style we want the cottage to be. But we haven't gone crazy with buying new things. We are however going crazy repurposing things we already have. Making chalkboards out of unused picture frames. Finding frames from the girls nurseries that we have outgrown and then finding something to fill those old empty frames. So I've been crafting, and pinning and printing. We will surely add to the cottage over the next few years as we collect things at antique stores or acquire new items that suit the house and it's style. We don't want the house to feel cluttered since it will be a rental house. We do want it to feel homey and cottage cute! (We being me and the girls. My husband just cares about the snow mobile and boats!)