Reducing the Horde/Hoard
Apr. 5th, 2026 05:58 pmIt's kind of cool when a day takes shape and takes off on its own, like today. I started out watching the first couple of episodes of the reality show Hoarders from 2009, which I always have been curious to see, and it was very interesting and thought-provoking. Last night, I had a bit of an internal melt-down when I tried to navigate the exploded-looking computer room, which already looks bad, but now has a bunch of bathroom clutter from the newly-remodeled bathroom. I am resisting putting things in the bathroom because I don't want to put the old clutter in the new, beautiful space.
So, I took everything out of the under-stairs closet downstairs and separated everything that can go in the outdoor storage building, like the Christmas decorations, and ended up with a lot of storage in the under-stairs closet. I made room to put my sewing supplies, luggage, and doll bags and was able to get the computer room mostly cleaned up, till I took out all the bedding, and now it looks exploded again (but I have a plan for the bedding, so I'm not as panicked).
But I asked myself, if my dolls could go to someone who wanted them really, really badly, like a best-case scenario thing, would I want to give them up? And for most of them, the answer was a big "yes." And in some cases, even if they weren't going to a situation like that, ha ha. So I made a list that really surprised me. I'm going to sit with the list for a little bit and start preparing to sell some on Instagram. I have bought dolls on Instagram, so I don't think it's a big deal. eBay takes such a huge cut now, I'm trying to avoid them. If Instagram doesn't work for some stuff, I'll go to Poshmark or Mercari, if they don't take a big cut.
One thing was, I got my two heads back from Dollmore. I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Lorien is everything I dreamed of and more. It is a dream come true to finally have a Volks SDC Kurenai, even though I've had her for seven years now, ha ha. Glynnis's face-up is lovely as well, but I faced the fact that I'm still not interested in Glynnis, even with her looking her best. That's okay. I'll finish up her cleaning, restring her, and sell her. I kind of thought that might happen. But what really surprised me is thinking about how bad some people want Dream of Doll dolls, and here I have three that I'm not interested in, even though I went through a lot to get the last two. They need new face-ups badly, but I don't feel like investing in them. It could make someone really happy to get a Dream of Doll, and I'd get a fair price for them. I wanted to have those first dolls "again," and it sparked the realization that yeah, that was then, this is now. I appreciate that I was able to get them and learn that.
I currently have 8 bjd's on my "keep" list, 1 16" fashion doll, 1 Barbie, and my American Girl Truly Me. That's a total of 11 dolls in the home. It's kind of amazing when I think about how free that makes me feel. It gives me breathing room to enjoy what I have, instead of feeling all that weight on me.
I think I've been quite a shopaholic every since college days, and there have been times I've accumulated, and times I've really gotten rid of a lot of things. It's definitely a cycle for me. It's hard to know how much I want to change in terms of being a collector. I guess the best answer I have right now is, I want to be mindful and open to letting things go when it's the right time. I do want to have dolls and other objects that I love, but I want to put the work in to make sure it doesn't get to be too much.
So, I took everything out of the under-stairs closet downstairs and separated everything that can go in the outdoor storage building, like the Christmas decorations, and ended up with a lot of storage in the under-stairs closet. I made room to put my sewing supplies, luggage, and doll bags and was able to get the computer room mostly cleaned up, till I took out all the bedding, and now it looks exploded again (but I have a plan for the bedding, so I'm not as panicked).
But I asked myself, if my dolls could go to someone who wanted them really, really badly, like a best-case scenario thing, would I want to give them up? And for most of them, the answer was a big "yes." And in some cases, even if they weren't going to a situation like that, ha ha. So I made a list that really surprised me. I'm going to sit with the list for a little bit and start preparing to sell some on Instagram. I have bought dolls on Instagram, so I don't think it's a big deal. eBay takes such a huge cut now, I'm trying to avoid them. If Instagram doesn't work for some stuff, I'll go to Poshmark or Mercari, if they don't take a big cut.
One thing was, I got my two heads back from Dollmore. I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Lorien is everything I dreamed of and more. It is a dream come true to finally have a Volks SDC Kurenai, even though I've had her for seven years now, ha ha. Glynnis's face-up is lovely as well, but I faced the fact that I'm still not interested in Glynnis, even with her looking her best. That's okay. I'll finish up her cleaning, restring her, and sell her. I kind of thought that might happen. But what really surprised me is thinking about how bad some people want Dream of Doll dolls, and here I have three that I'm not interested in, even though I went through a lot to get the last two. They need new face-ups badly, but I don't feel like investing in them. It could make someone really happy to get a Dream of Doll, and I'd get a fair price for them. I wanted to have those first dolls "again," and it sparked the realization that yeah, that was then, this is now. I appreciate that I was able to get them and learn that.
I currently have 8 bjd's on my "keep" list, 1 16" fashion doll, 1 Barbie, and my American Girl Truly Me. That's a total of 11 dolls in the home. It's kind of amazing when I think about how free that makes me feel. It gives me breathing room to enjoy what I have, instead of feeling all that weight on me.
I think I've been quite a shopaholic every since college days, and there have been times I've accumulated, and times I've really gotten rid of a lot of things. It's definitely a cycle for me. It's hard to know how much I want to change in terms of being a collector. I guess the best answer I have right now is, I want to be mindful and open to letting things go when it's the right time. I do want to have dolls and other objects that I love, but I want to put the work in to make sure it doesn't get to be too much.