Stuff, Stuff and more Stuff

I was talking to my mom the other day about the drive to have things.  No matter how much I have, I want more.  I am always wondering if I could cure this problem with this thing.  I want things to hang on the walls and things to put other things in.  The strange thing is, I feel like I have to much already, and I can't figure out how to break this cycle.  We had a yard sale this past weekend.  I was impressed by how much was gone after one day of selling things in the driveway.  What I really wanted to do though was take that money and go shopping. 

I look around the house thinking, "If I had some piece of furniture, or some box to store these things in, it would look a lot neater".  That never works though, and I should know this by now.  In our last house, the front door opened into the living room.  I would walk in and drop my bags, jackets, etc. on the ottoman.  It was a large one that accompanied a love seat, so it held tons of stuff.  One night I was complaining about something Jackson left out.  He pointed out that every time I went shopping, I left the goods in the bags in the living room, this apparently drove him nuts.  I, of course, had a great excuse, I almost always have kids with me, or the phone is ringing, or I have to use the bathroom as soon as I get inside.  In all honesty though, I probably did this before we even had kids.  I will probably continue long after we are empty-nesters.  It's just what I do.

I got the brilliant idea that if we get an entry bench, one with hooks and storage, it will give us a landing place and keep things looking neater.  For Christmas that year my mom gave me just the piece I had been longing for.  Our entry organization was on the way.  It has never been successful though.  We have since moved from that house.  Still have the entry bench.  Now it is in the family room.  As I look over my shoulder at it, I see the bench is covered in stuff... library books, papers(that Jackson neatly stacks when he gets tired of the chaos), two bags that I carry things for the baby in, 6 hats hanging from the hooks, a jacket or two(even thought it is 88° outside), and various other things.  And, who knows what is contained in the cabinet beneath the bench? Although everything is within the structure of the entry piece, it almost always looks terrible.  This tells me that no matter what kind of furniture I get, I will probably not become the most organized person, and our family is definitely not going to stop piling things anytime soon. This realization should cure the furniture wants... but if I only had one of those cube things with bins...