Making Your House More Like a Timeshare

[julienjay]

Just back from a heavenly week at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale and I told my DH that I want to make my house more like a timeshare.
Less clutter
Less paper
Less CRAP we don't need!!!

The thing I always love about staying in a timeshare is that they only have what you need. 8 plates, 8 glasses etc...all matching. Not 20 million mismatched coffee mugs and misc. plates like I have crammed in my cupboards.

Of course, I know that certain things must be around to keep a place homey, and that my kids need toys, etc. ... but I want my house to be more like a timeshare!

(I guess I can think of the mortgage as my maintenance fee. LOL.)

Anyone else feel this way?

Any suggestions?

 

[Karen G]

Anyone else feel this way?

Yes! I've often felt that way after spending a week at a nice timeshare. The closest I've come to repeating that experience was when we sold our house last year and lived in a downtown apartment for a few months while our son finished high school before we could move on down to our current home.

It was really cool to get rid of stuff when we sold the house, put most of our stuff in storage, and just kept the bare essentials for the apartment. It was very liberating, but I do enjoy our house now much more than that apartment. It was fun for awhile, though.

 

[swift]

Yes, I would love to be free of all of the unnecessary things. Oh and the paper clutter--yikes:ignore: My Dear Husband is a major pack rat and has a hard time letting go of things and even after my millions of lectures he continues to print out stuff that is over and beyond what he needs. At the office I will often come across stuff that has been sitting on the printer untouched for a couple of days. He might have needed one page but printed out 10. Over this last summer I went through my kitchen and got rid of a bunch of stuff. Cleaned out the junk drawers and took at least 10 bags of stuff to Goodwill including clothes and other nonessentials. I have to do this all when my DH isn't home. He has now learned to appreciate less clutter but he just can't watch it go.

 

[swift]

Any suggestions?

Pick one drawer, closet or small area of the home and make it a goal for the week. Tackle it in small bites. Also, if you buy something use the bag that you brought it home in to take one item out for each item purchased. I also keep a green garbage bag next to my dryer. As I pull stuff out of the dryer to fold I ask myself if I really want it or if it is the kids does it still fit. If not it goes in the bag. Eventually the bag goes to Goodwill. I stay pretty on top of the kids stuff that way.

 

[Charlie D.]

I am so glad you started this thread. Since we bought our timeshare a couple years ago we love to use the 2 bedroom units. Pat and I like different TV shows and going to sleep at different times. A few months ago we converted the back bedroom from a TV/play station room for the grandkids to a bedroom for me. We now affectionately refer to our house as our 2-br deluxe. The study and the computer is right next to my bedroom so I surf the net until I get tired and then go to bed. If we can just get that view that we have at Pagosa out on our porch, we’d have it made!!

Charlie D.

 

[JoeMid]

Just back from a heavenly week at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale and I told my DH that I want to make my house more like a timeshare.
Less clutter
Less paper
Less CRAP we don't need!!!

The thing I always love about staying in a timeshare is that they only have what you need. 8 plates, 8 glasses etc...all matching. Not 20 million mismatched coffee mugs and misc. plates like I have crammed in my cupboards.

Of course, I know that certain things must be around to keep a place homey, and that my kids need toys, etc. ... but I want my house to be more like a timeshare!

(I guess I can think of the mortgage as my maintenance fee. LOL.)

Anyone else feel this way?

Any suggestions?

My spouse feels exactly that way, so she bought a condo and set it up that way, when not rented she goes over there to relax and watch TV.

 

[Patri]

When we moved into a brand new house years ago, the kids walked in the front door in awe. "Let's always keep it clean," they whispered reverently.
Yeah, right. That lasted about this long. It became their home.

 

[Lawlar]

Color Us Marriott

When we got back from Maui in January (our first stay in our TS), we felt the same way. So we made a few changes.

We painted our home in the same color scheme as our TS!:whoopie: We now have three color tones that are colorful and bright (no more off-white walls and ceilings). We got a few pictures to put on the wall. I even changed my screensaver.

We used to dump mail and other items on our kitchen table. I had a desk full of papers in my office-bedroom. Now we place that stuff in drawers and out of sight.

We also have the Rescue Mission visit us whenever they tell us they will be in the neighborhood. We give them at least several boxes of clothes and books that we will probably never use.

Little by little the place is starting to look like, well maybe not Maui, but perhaps Santa Barbara (which ain't bad).

[Did anyone notice that I said something nice about Marriott?]

 

[Kozman]

Now if you could just get your taxes and/or mortgage payment to rise double digit every year, you'll be there!

 

[cindi]

Boy, do I hear you on this one.

I absolutely love staying in timeshares. They are so clean and uncluttered. I make it my mission to keep it that way the entire time we are there. Drives DH nuts sometimes I think, when I keep after him to put his stuff away. Not pile it on the table, etc.

DH is also a MAJOR packrat. I am still trying to deal with it after 27 years. :annoyed: I keep piling his stuff up on the table and eventually on the spare dining chair, and then, when he isn't around, I just throw it away.

Now if I could just do the same with all the other stuff.

 

[shmoore]

And to think that I thought I was the ONLY ONE who thought this way!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[Carol C]

I just moved to a foreclosure I bought last August and spent 9 months totally rehabbing. The back wall was water damaged from a broken window, so instead of drywall I had a contractor put in sliding glass doors & a sidelight on either side. Now it's almost like a window wall. I put a 4 x 10 balcony deck off of that area and can now look down into my tree-filled backyard & when there's a good rain enjoy the creek just beyond. With a cup of coffee out there (sipped from one of many non-matching cups), I feel like I'm enjoying the balcony of a timeshare.

 

[Karen G]

With a cup of coffee out there (sipped from one of many non-matching cups), I feel like I'm enjoying the balcony of a timeshare.

Sounds wonderful, Carol, but if you were at a timeshare the cups would match!

 

[ctreelmom]

I feel the same way!!! No piles of paper, no junk mail, no disorganized craft/school supplies, only what you need in the closets, and when it starts to get messy at the end of the stay, you just walk out and close the door!

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Yes, we've thought about what it would like if our house were more like a timeshare.

We wouldn't mind living in an ocean front unit in Poipu. DW would even live with more mismatched coffee mugs. I don't think I would even notice; if I did notice it would simply mean I noticed the Hilo Hattie's had changed their designs once again.

 

[rickandcindy23]

As a Realtor, I can tell you that an uncluttered house appeals to buyers as well.

I had a client who had so much stuff everywhere, even two couches stuffed into a very small living room and chairs between, and when she had a moving sale and thinned it out, the buyers were fighting for the house. The living room turned out to be huge! (This was before the housing crisis.) I had an open house just after the last of her stuff was picked up by Salvation Army, and it was like a different place.

I have way too much stuff. I lecture sellers that buyers like to go in and "feel the organization." I haven't learned the lesson myself, I am afraid. My bookcases are a nightmare that need dusting and going through.

 

[Texasbelle]

The timeshare units I like best are the ones I could live in--that is plenty of closet and drawer space, washer-dryer, big bath with dual sinks [something I would like at home], king bed, plenty of TVs for everyone, well-equipt kitchen. The first one that made me think this way was Los Lagos at Hot Springs Village [now Escapes!]. Have stayed at several that were similar. BUT a view of water is the best feature of a timeshare for me.

 

[pjrose]

Yes, yes, yes. Every year we think that an uncluttered 2 bedroom condo is all we need. Then we come home to all the STUFF. DH wants me to get rid of MINE of course. I keep promising to do it, but then real life gets in the way - finances, kids, mail, work, errands......

It's also the surfaces - lots of carpeting and upholstery at home, vs lighter, airier, and easier to clean in our TS.

We redid the kitchen a number of years ago, and had a particular feature built in that I thought was from my imagination - till the next summer when we went on vacation and I realized I had copied it from the TS!

 

[jehb2]

Watch clean house

After I watched numerous episodes of "Clean House" I decluttered my house. I didn't have a lot of junk, but watching those people made me think I didn't want to come even close to being like them.

My policy now is if I have to "stash" it temporary than outside it goes. Also, before we buy anything we ask "will this be part of a garage sale in a couple of years."

 

[NTHC]

This thread is great! And so true!

As a matter of fact, we lived in a timeshare in Massanutten last winter for 6 weeks while we were doing a remodel. When we finally returned home I cleared the place out. It was great to get rid of stuff that I felt like I HAD to have, but that really was just clutter.

I have even noticed that we travel much lighter than we used to.


I try as well not to bring anything not needed into the house anymore.

Cindy

 

[sfwilshire]

After a day or so, our timeshares start to look like our home.

Must be the kids' fault.

Sheila

 

[shagnut]

Sheila, I had to laugh. We are related. I am just not a neatnick.