Decluttering

Thinking I must climb up and clean the tops of all the cupboards before I let any workmen into this kitchen to rip them out.

Ooh no, surely not?
If you must, though, I recommend a wallpaper scraper.

It can't be right, cleaning before they get taken out.

MissAdventure

Ooh no, surely not?
If you must, though, I recommend a wallpaper scraper.

It can't be right, cleaning before they get taken out.

I think there's lining paper up there, at least I'll remove that (with my Marigolds)

Must get on!!

@Allira - my parents had a stainless steel coffee percolator, gosh I can smell the coffee now, high grown Kenyan Blue Mountain, from the Home & Colonial store in town,
bacon slicer, cheese wire, sawdust on the floor, angled tins
of biscuits, to help yourself, into a brownpaper bag to be weighed, probably thripence.
We children woke to the smell of coffee on a Sunday morning, gloop gloop as it percolated.
Where is it now, that magic memory maker - rammed at the back of one of my sister’s cupboards I suppose.
Thank you for this little reminisce.

MissAdventure

A word of warning.
I had what may have been a very slightly out of date tin of tomatoes explode, in the food cupboard.

It made a terrible mess, and all for the sake of a 15p(!) can.

My MIL had a tin of treacle explode when she opened it. It was hideous - she had to have the kitchen repainted, as the (black) treacle was all over the ceiling.

For me it's not about the 15p - it's (a) my siege mentality, and (b) the food waste. Also, I like to have food in as it makes me feel secure - and when we had Brexit and Covid I was glad of it.

To be fair though, in neither case were the supply chains altered much. With Brexit it was fresh items that were/are affected, and after the first couple of weeks when we couldn't buy more than three of the same things even Covid was easy enough (foodwise) for those of us who could get deliveries. Who knows when we might next be glad of full cupboards and plenty of loo roll though?

A new kitchen sounds exciting, Allira. You are wise not to have it done anywhere near Christmas. I still bear the scars.

I do use gadgets, and have loads of them. I am getting an appliance drawer in my new cupboard. Two of them in fact - one on each side . I did get rid of a chocolate fondue set, a popcorn maker, a (probably broken) SodaStream and a waffle maker on Friday though. I'll never use them - my daughter liked them when she was a teenager - so they went out.

Welcome, FrankandEarnest. Frank and Ernest were the names of my grandfathers, incidentally .

I definitely think my cluttering has become worse since I've not been well.
As well as some other unsavoury things that could easily become too habitual to be healthy.

FrankandEarnest

@Allira - my parents had a stainless steel coffee percolator, gosh I can smell the coffee now, high grown Kenyan Blue Mountain, from the Home & Colonial store in town,
bacon slicer, cheese wire, sawdust on the floor, angled tins
of biscuits, to help yourself, into a brownpaper bag to be weighed, probably thripence.
We children woke to the smell of coffee on a Sunday morning, gloop gloop as it percolated.
Where is it now, that magic memory maker - rammed at the back of one of my sister’s cupboards I suppose.
Thank you for this little reminisce.

Mine can't be that old in fact.

I probably bought it since we last moved so probably less than 40 years old - time to resurrect it.
The filter machine went to the dump, it had gone brittle but the percolator is a smart stainless steel job!

My Aunt worked in a Home and Colonial store.

I think George Foreman and Mr Breville got dumped ages ago because they got scratched, can't find them anyway.
Likewise breadmaker, it just stopped working.

What to do with 50 year old Tupperware 🤔

A - Keep it, in case you ever find the lids.
B - Throw it, and immediately find the lids..

Breadmakers have never been a success chez Dog. Mr D used to make bread in them (we've had two over the years) and it was always leaden and yeasty.

I use the George to cook bacon, and to griddle things like aubergines before they go in a moussaka - it gets used a lot.

My daughter used her George a lot, too.
She even sought out recipes and things online for it.

I don't know where she got that trait from!

A - Keep it, in case you ever find the lids.
I have surplus lids which don't fit anything, well, nothing that I've discovered yet.

I liked the breadmaker, it made good bread until it packed up, the problem was, we ate too much of it.

I do use my slow-cooker quite a lot.
It's out on the worktop, though, because I know what happens when things get put out of sight.

I put a roller blind and a Venetian blind in the bin last night. They’ve both had over thirty years use and the blind man said no one wants them second hand because peoples windows are all different sizes. Ordered some plastic bag holders. Wall hanging coat hooks have arrived. Did a bit more work in the garden this afternoon. Need to make it easier to manage. Sorting out toys for the charity shop tonight. Going to put as much stuff as possible in the small bedroom that was my son’s. Debating whether to paint a pine bed headboard white. Have got so much pine everywhere and it drains the colour out of a room. I’ve been meaning to paint it white for years. It would lift the whole room…need to make a list for my two dog free days.

Wow, that's brilliant!
What a lot you've achieved in just the last few days,

I think the decision on the blinds was the right one.

I can see the thinking behind painting the pine.

I've lots of pine in my place, and it's now that orange colour.

I'd go for it, if it was just a headboard.

I’ve got a beautiful pine fitted wardrobe in the bedroom which I’ll never paint and the rest of the furniture has been chalk painted. Apart from a sweet little dressing table that’s made of very cheap wood but I love it. There is awful pine panelling in the bedroom but that was thankfully painted over. My ex used to paint everything with a yacht varnish and the house is horribly beige. I can’t seem to find a colour I could add to everything which would tone down the beige’ ness.

Painting pine can make a huge difference. I painted a kitchen table and it looked great. I've since had it painted again to match the painted chairs. It really does give a return on the investment of time, and can make the whole room look like new.

Oh yes, yacht varnish.
I believe I may have a tin or 6 of those.

I'm terrible at home design and "ďressing", but hopefully someone stylish may have a suggestion for a colour.

I volunteered to help a neighbour ( a hoarder) as she was moving into sheltered housing.
That’s a day I will never get back. 😱 Everything we went through she had a reason to keep. Fortunately she was very clean and tidy will all this stuff
On her moving day her sons were so angry that she wouldn’t throw stuff out they filled 20 black sacks and left them on the drive.
Me and several other neighbours sorted what could go to charity and if there was anything anyone wanted.

MayBee70

I’ve got a beautiful pine fitted wardrobe in the bedroom which I’ll never paint and the rest of the furniture has been chalk painted. Apart from a sweet little dressing table that’s made of very cheap wood but I love it. There is awful pine panelling in the bedroom but that was thankfully painted over. My ex used to paint everything with a yacht varnish and the house is horribly beige. I can’t seem to find a colour I could add to everything which would tone down the beige’ ness.

Could you post a pic of your beige. It comes in so many shades.
This cabin is beige and white. The furniture colours go lovely ( in my opinion) with the paint work.

petra

MayBee70

I’ve got a beautiful pine fitted wardrobe in the bedroom which I’ll never paint and the rest of the furniture has been chalk painted. Apart from a sweet little dressing table that’s made of very cheap wood but I love it. There is awful pine panelling in the bedroom but that was thankfully painted over. My ex used to paint everything with a yacht varnish and the house is horribly beige. I can’t seem to find a colour I could add to everything which would tone down the beige’ ness.

Could you post a pic of your beige. It comes in so many shades.
This cabin is beige and white. The furniture colours go lovely ( in my opinion) with the paint work.

Well, that's my lamp! And I was just about to get rid of copper ornaments in my decluttering phase. 🤔
Time for a rethink.

I've just had an ad appear, entitled 'Old Items With High Value'.

MissAdventure

As long as they don't need cleaning!