After three years of living in plastic bins, I finally bought real furniture. My clothing and possessions need a decent place to live. I need more room to keep things organized. Everything I owned were in disorganized piles on the floor, crammed and lost in plastic bins. It was a mess!
I had a few things in mind when I bought my stuff. It had to fill two of my three criteria. First, it had to be eco-sensitive. The manufacturing, shipping, and end of life of the product needs to tread on the environment and society lightly. Second, I prefer a product made in the United States of America made mostly with USA manufactured components. Finally, it has to fit within my budget.
I chose to furnish my place with storage units and a comfy couch to create some structure. In an ideal world, I would have found great pieces at garage sales and on garbage day. I didn’t have time this summer to ramble around the Chicagoland area. I need the storage and organization now. Based on my shopping and research, I can’t afford quality furniture made in the USA. I finally settled on furniture on Ikea. All the furniture I have should last me at least ten years. I envision a long life cycle in which each piece will be re-purposed multiple times.
You probably think it’s crazy that I don’t own furniture. It’s insane that I chose to live in plastic bins for three years. I did it to save money. I thought I will more transient. I did it to be a pretty nice fellow. After a past ex-girlfriend and I broke up, I allowed her to take my furniture we bought together since she started fresh when she moved home. I was jumping from apartment to apartment. I finally decided to save money and move in with my parents. She promised she’d pay me back but I guess she forgot. She’s getting married soon and I won’t want to mess with her wedding savings plans. However, $2500.00 would be very nice in my pocket. Time to wash my hands of the $2500 and move on. I don’t want to be the horrible ex. I promised myself no more negative vibes and stop looking back. That’s how runners lose races. That’s how I’ll lose forward progression in my current journey. I also hope she has a wonderful wedding.
Now that I have fly furniture, you’re probably wondering what happened to those bins. I reused them and I’m storing my detailing supplies. Reduce, reuse, and re-purpose is a great mantra to follow.
