The 2-4-1 challenge has forced me to start using things that have lain dormant for years. I no longer feel as though I can justify keeping something that I once loved using if I no longer find it useful. I have two wardrobes in my bedroom. One is full of vintage dresses and the other is full of the clothes I wear on a daily basis. I logically know that I cannot justify having a wardrobe full of dresses I never wear, so I’ve started to wear them. Sometimes to school and sometimes on a casual outing – even out to dinner (yes, I went out to dinner last week for the first time since December!). I realised that I LOVE wearing my vintage dresses. I love that they are unique and many of them are also really comfortable to wear. I feel good when I’m wearing something interesting. I have justified the existence of these dresses in my house by wearing them.
Likewise, I have a collection of vegetarian cookbooks that I relied on heavily before the Internet became such an amazing source of new and interesting recipes. I have loved these recipe books in the based and used them a lot. Some of my favourite day-to-day recipes come from them. I no longer use them regularly and I have been trying to decide if I can justify keeping them. I have found that the more I think about getting rid of them (or just the more I think about them) the more useful they have become. I now often go to the books to see what they can offer before I search the ‘net. Recently, feeling a little sniffly, I was craving a big pot of spicy veggies. I found the perfect recipe for vegetarian chilli in one of my books. I could have found twenty recipes on the ‘net, but I found one I love that I will always have access to, in a book I love.
You really need to know what is in your house in order for it to be useful to you. Being more aware of what I have (in some ways by having less and also because I am always trying to find something new to get rid of) I have found new life for old belongings. I don’t want my house to be full of dust catchers and this challenge is perfect for finding the life in what I already have.
The Fearse Family 
I was raised wearing only dresses. I now love sundresses and cute skirts, which don’t resemble anything I had to wear growing up. 🙂 They are soooo comfy, especially during the summer! I am in the slow process of purging my closet. I’ve already taken two large garbage bags full of my clothes and my munchkin’s clothes (one they’ve outgrown and I don’t feel I’d need if we can have another child) to consignment. I figure this way I can still get a few things we may actually need while clearing things out that we don’t use. My clothing has been tough to go through, since I’ve either been pregnant or nursing for most of our over 4 year marriage. A few things I’ve rarely worn, but I would if I weren’t either pregnant or nursing, and I couldn’t replace them, so….they’re staying for when I can wear them and pretend they’re new. LOL
I have a shelf full of cookbooks. Some I used with my mom, and won’t get rid of. There are alot of my childhood dishes in those, and even more memories.
I find the wardrobe quite difficult for the same reason. Since having being pregnant and giving birth my size has changed so many times. Since we are planning on having more children I don’t want to get rid of all those in between sizes and I need all the maternity clothes and all the baby clothes and all the clothes I will wear when not nursing and and and and and (there is always an excuse!)