Goodbye, sweet desk

I'm obsessed with my move now - I think about it at work; I talk about it with my friends after work; I ask my boyfriend to help me pack for it; I dream about it. And when I'm not thinking about the move itself I'm thinking about the things I'm not moving. Like my car and all the furniture I own that won't fit.

It gives me a good chuckle that since college I've actually downsized. In college of course I lived in the dorms, followed by a house and a condo, all with roommates. After college, I moved back in with my parents but that only lasted two months. Then I moved to a big one-bedroom, railroad style apartment that I miss every day. At that time I was working a full-time day job and a part-time night job to pay off bills. When I consolidated to one job, I moved to a smaller attic apartment. Finally a year ago I moved into a house but with roommates. Now I'm basically moving back into a dorm room, size-wise.

As a result, I have to rethink my living style. Much like the buildings in NYC hold people vertically, I'll be storing my stuff vertically. Goodbye storage benches; hello tall bookshelves! Suddenly things I used to take for granted are now weighed by importance - do I really need all that chick lit with me in NYC? Will my guests really need towels? Are pots and pans that important?

I've surprised myself a bit. Being a clotheshorse I thought I would have a hard time getting rid of half of my wardrobe, but inspiration from Clean Sweep helped convince me to cull. I'm also considering buying a storage organization system and seeing if the landlord will give me a break in rent if I agree to leave it behind. But my furniture has been tougher to sort through. Some things, such as my short bookshelves, are no-brainers to sell. But other pieces, like my desk, are tougher. Since college I've been investing in nicer pieces and it breaks my heart a bit to part with some of the beautiful stuff. My boyfriend laughed at me until I asked him how he'd feel about parting with his stereo equipment. In the end, I sold my couch and chair and used that money to purchase a sleeper sofa as well as my desk and matching bookshelf and dresser on Craigslist. Also going are two shorter bookshelves, a storage bench, a CD rack, and my bedframe. I hope to have a tag sale to sell other random items if time and dedication allows.

And then there's the toughest sell of all - my car. God, I love my SUV. It moved me back to the East Coast from Colorado. It's been my savior in the winter and my dependable workhorse. It represents freedom to escape from my house, my state, etc. I know I don't need a car in NYC, and I probably wouldn't want one. But I'm really going to miss it. Not to mention that I'm still paying it off. I have ads up on Cars.com and Autotrader.com and CL of course; and flyers in groceries and coffee shops around town. I do worry about it not selling though. If I run out of options I can try to sell to a car dealership, but I'd make less money and I don't want to end up upside down on my loan. I need the money.

I need it because even though I am selling a lot, I will need to buy things as well. Like underbed storage, tall bookshelves and an armoire-like structure to supplement the one small closet. If space allows, I also want to buy some bathroom storage - a cabinet and a space saver maybe. Also, a small garden shed to use as storage in the backyard. Finding space, anywhere I can.