Simplification vs Overwhelming

Am I the only one who ever gets the urge to simplify their surroundings? I have gone through this stage before. My house was so overly decorated with country stuff (and I absolutely DETEST dusting!) that I finally got around to basically stripping my walls bare except for quilts. I loved the fact that dusting had become something that I didn't need to dread. When you have a lot of stuff sitting around and on your walls, you can spend a lot of time dusting or you can be like me and give it a quick swipe and call it good. My problem is I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, extreme primitive. If I could live in a house like Little House on the Prairie, have nothing but oil lamps, crocks, a wood cook stove, enamel plates, wood bowls, rope beds, wooden floors and quilts all over, I would be thrilled to death. However, having surroundings that look like that costs a lot of money. Hard to believe, isn't it? Well, go to any antique store and start pricing some of that old stuff. I have had so much of it off and on and then sold it. Now that I live in a smaller house, I have had to eliminate a lot of things. Plus, having little kids around all the time causes you to just put stuff away because it's too much work to try and keep them away from it (at least when you get older and are a grandma!)

Back to my story....simplification and dusting....I keep contemplating on stripping my walls bare and getting rid of a lot of my stuff - again. I sit and think, "Wonder how it would look if I just painted all the walls white (because that's all the color they would have had back in the 1800's), hang up a quilt or two on the walls and take down all the shelves and the stuff that's on them, get rid of all the primitive dolls, and go to the bare necessity look..." Wouldn't cleaning be so much easier? Of course, I keep looking at my carpet and thinking, "I wonder how the wood floors look under there....." My husband would have a fit if I told him to rip up the carpet. But you know, you can't get that TRUE primitive look with carpet! Oh well. Guess I will just have to live with it. I need to repaint the interior (as well as the exterior) of the house but it's too hard for me to do anymore with my arthritis. Besides, I can't make up my mind on what color to use. All the woodwork in my house is painted - I hate the color because it's this weird kind crayon flesh color but it does help to hide the dust! If I would paint it white, it will show dust and if I repaint it a dark color, it will also show the dust. I know! I know! I have OCD. If you don't know what that is, it's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Anyway, I am going to add some pics for you to see what I wish my home looked like if I could afford it.

You really wanted to know all that, didn't you. :-)