For the last couple of days, the family living over the road have had a lovely wooden side cabinet sitting on the nature strip for anyone to help themselves.
It is absolutely beautiful and I have been fighting the temptation to claim it for myself. This piece of furniture is two-toned and with the most basic of cleanups would compliment any home. But for us it would just be for show. We don't need the storage, instead we need to reduce the amount of stuff that we have. Claiming this would be counterproductive.
If you are not familiar. in Melbourne, Australia, we have a system in the major cities where there is a hard waste collection - it is a special removal of all old broken furniture and things that are too large for the regular bin. Every once in a while, we book in and a van comes around mid week and picks these things up. Most people put their stuff out on the weekend and it makes for a very interesting weekend for some pickers, who cruise the streets looking for waste they can take home and fix up if required and sell on the internet. just because the previous person couldn't be bothered to do so. It would actually make a decent living if a person had a little second hand furniture shop and just cruised and picked the streets on the weekend, then took it back to a little furniture shop where it could be fixed and sold for a decent second-hand price. Especially when the pieces are as lovely as this.
We have no space for it. And instead of being a hoarder, I intend to learn to let go. Happiness is in the quality not the quantity and to make the most of what we have.