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Clutter, Clutter, Clutter
So long story short, my husband and I have tons of crap. We move into together after he graduated from college and while I was still in college. Our families have been collecting household items throughout the years, and a lot of it is outdated and honestly does not fit our style. We are thankful for the items when we first started out, but now we feel that our house is cluttered. Here is the catch though - his family gets extremely upset when do not have the things out that have been given to us throughout the years. Their homes are seriously cluttered and my parents are the exact opposite. But, I grew up in the military so we always had to purge items. For example, I have rooster kitchen items and a dinning area, my husband's family downpours tons of John Deere items. During our wedding showers and any other event in his life we are dumped with John Deere items, and he wants me to have a kitchen style that I want - but I feel guilty. Honestly, the only thing that I feel that we have control over is our bedroom and bathroom. His mother writes on everything, so it's not like I can give it away. Than there are things that I think we should have up, but it just clashes bigger than Dallas. Such as a picture of Jesus that was his Uncle, which of course his mom wrote on the back of it, and a bible verse plaque, and tons of other "stuff". What do we do? My husband wants to purge as well, but we also don't want to be rude.
Re: Clutter, Clutter, Clutter
Sometimes rubbing alcohol removes ball point pen ink. Sometimes nail polish remover removes Sharpie or permanent ink. Be sure to test in small areas first and don't use on delicate surfaces.
Your house = your décor.
If this is an on-going concern and you have the sort of relationship with your MIL where you can show her things you like, maybe you can subtly plant suggestions.
Gifts are gifts and the giver can give whatever they want. But, after the giving the giver cannot dictate where or if the gift gets used.