Spring Purging

"Go confidently in the directions of your dreams; live the life you've imagined.  As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler."

- Henry David Thoreau

Spring is the time for fresh starts and new beginnings.  I quite admire minimalist bloggers who share photos of their pristine rooms or homes.  There's nothing there that doesn't belong.  It's all so vanilla.  And yet, why does it look so inviting?  I think it's the lack of clutter.  A minimalist place seems so refreshing because I imagine that that person's life is totally in order.  They've sifted through and gotten rid of all the extraneous in their lives.  Thus, they are free to live in the present.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm just projecting.

I titled this post "Spring Purging" because cleaning is not a strong enough word.  I really want this spring to be the start of something fabulous.  I will actively pursue the life I have imagined and to do that, I've got to get rid of the mess that congested the old one.  To start, I put aside my things in individual bags so that my room looks  clean.  Then, I rearranged the furniture in the entire apartment.  Now, I've got to pull them out of their hiding places, sit down, sort through them, and devise a better system to organize my belongings, so that I am more inclined to put things away next time.

Any tips or encouraging words to get through this laborious process?  Have you already done your spring cleaning?  I wonder if I am being too hard on myself that I don't have an immaculate home.  Yesterday at HomeGoods, I saw a couples funny boxes that said, "Stuff I will probably throw away anyway" and "I don't even know what's in here."  It made me feel a little bit better to know that I'm not fighting this battle alone.

While I appreciate minimalism, I'd definitely prefer my home to be more personal and homey.  When I finally move out on my own, I imagine my apartment would look something like this.  What's your decorating style?