De-cluttering, the never-ending process

No, not today.......

Mañana

I wouldn't cut back to the minimum - we had my daughter and her partner for the weekend, and were back to large dishes - but for years I only used the 'serves 4-8' sizes, and I need to stop making giant meals for two people. I had a big sort out when we did the kitchen, but will need to do another one to better represent the way we actually live now, rather than how we used to do all the time but now is an occasional thing rather than every day.

So. That's the wardrobes, the kitchen cupboards and the bathroom that need a second round of decluttering, as well as the cookbooks that I started before Christmas but gave up on. I've had a break from throwing out during January, but will get back onto it soon. Not today though .

How long do you keep documents, photos, cards, first baby memorabilia, house deeds, major receipts, personal letters?
I have a fair amount of these, though I do prune them from time to time, but I have just gone through four big plastic tubs of this sort of thing from my late mother-in-law. They have been in our loft since she died ten years ago. I have only just discovered them. They go back generations. A fascinating record of social history, but just too much. I have taken a few photos, mainly to try to sort my late husband’s family tree, but photos are no substitute for the real thing.

I can't pare down to the minimum because the family come to stay and then they're needed..

Mind you, DH helped by dropping one large serving dish as he went to put it back on the shelf in the cupboard, it slipped and he smashed it plus about five others 😃

I considered big pan drawers when I had my kitchen done, but decided that the sensible thing would be to get rid of some of the big pans .

* I am sneaking a few pairs each week into different charity shops. They would turn me away if I came with the lot.*

That made me laugh!

Doodledog

I've recently turned 65, fancythat. Yes, my children may have children of their own one day (I hope so) but they are still young, and anyway don't live nearby, so won't be popping in often enough for me to need to keep large dishes for years on a 'just in case' basis.

I'm not going to rush into getting rid of dishes, but I do need to start to think about it, I think. It would clear more space in cupboards that are currently more difficult to use than they need to be.

They certainly take up a lot of space.

Nowadays, the trend seems to be, "big pan drawers".
Well yes, I would certainly have them, if it wasnt for the fact of being 30 years too late of an idea for me!

I have got sidetracked looking at documents going back four generations. I will hand them into the custody of my stepson tomorrow though I doubt he will want to keep them.

I would be ashamed to tell you how long it is taking for me to sort out my craft/ hobby stash. I have enough knitting needles to supply a small school ( inherited, donated, collected) I am sneaking a few pairs each week into different charity shops. They would turn me away if I came with the lot.
Then, of course, it will be the wool mountain...

I've recently turned 65, fancythat. Yes, my children may have children of their own one day (I hope so) but they are still young, and anyway don't live nearby, so won't be popping in often enough for me to need to keep large dishes for years on a 'just in case' basis.

I'm not going to rush into getting rid of dishes, but I do need to start to think about it, I think. It would clear more space in cupboards that are currently more difficult to use than they need to be.

I’m on a decluttering mission! The dining room has been finished off this morning - 200 greetings cards to bin! Cheap glassware in the recycling and good stuff wrapped up in newspaper to donate. The room just needs a good clean now.
However, I’m not going to sort pots/pans/cookware/crockery or utensils. I’ve nothing of value or sentimental value, so have told the DDs it can all go in a skip unless they want to save an item. Same with my desk - more stationery than WHSmith, but again, it can all be skipped. I have put post-it notes on a couple of ornaments explaining their origin, as I don’t actually collect anything, so none of it is mine.

Though I have no wish to derail your de- cluutering.

Is that stage of your life over though?
I suspect I may be a few years older than you, or maybe my kids got married earlier.
But they are coming back, with kids in tow.

I too have a large dish problem. But personally, I have had to allocate more space outside of the kitchen areas.
The kids get bigger and have bigger appetites too.

chuck, not chink🙄

Mine probably won't either

I know what you mean about not wanting to limit opportunities, but in my case it's less about that, as I have lots of large receptacles from the days when we used to entertain a lot because I've never got rid of them when I've got new ones. I could keep one or two and get rid of others.

At Christmas I decided that when I have lots of people for dinner (currently alternate years) I will get disposable foil trays for potatoes and so on, so I'm not messing about getting huge trays out of corner cupboards and finding that they don't fit in the dishwasher after use. I'm not a fan of disposable anything, but can live with it once in two years, particularly as aluminium can be recycled. I have three huge dishes taking up most of the space in a sideboard that could be better used for other things, and several soup pans when I almost always use the pressure cooker for soup. I need to bite the bullet and get rid of them. I do need a lot of serving dishes, as some of my family are vegetarian and others not, so I tend to make lots of different things, but that also means that I need fewer large dishes, as each offering is in smaller quantities than if we all ate the same.

Some of the difficulty is similar to that which I found with evening clothes - it's accepting that a stage of my life is over and won't come back. This is no longer a family home, and that's difficult to accept, as it's less than ten years since the children moved out, and even then they were students for a chink of that, coming back for holidays and still having here as a base.

This is a tricky one. It is not my priority now, but I have lots of pans, casserole dishes, crockery and cutlery which I will only use if I have a number of people round, which is not going to happen very often, but I don’t want lack of the aforementioned to be a reason not to invite people. My children don’t want my stuff.

Getting rid of the linen as you go is a good idea, Joseann, as is having a system for the kitchen. I really need to cull large pots and serving dishes, as most of the time there are just two of us eating, but I have lots of family-sized things. My children don't have space for them (and haven't got families of their own yet), so I can't pass them on just now, but they might want them one day. Realistically it's a bit daft to have the inconvenience of them taking up space in the here and now for the hypothetical possibility of saving a few quid by passing them on in years to come, though.

I decluttered all the linen drawers in January. As we are going away 3 times this year to places that require own bedding, I'm going to take the old stuff with me and throw it away when we leave. Saves bringing it home.
This month it's kitchen drawers and cupboards getting a clear out. Anything that doesn't match can go.

That sounds like a very productive morning, karmalady. I am just about to start my day now - my rhythms are very much those of a night owl.

Dear Cabbie, you are still in difficult times, I admire your efforts and mindset. One day it will be finished

I believe it is good to be self-aware, to know your personal circadian clock, when you feel most energetic. My time is morning and I mean early morning, the best time for me to tackle the jobs I am dreading. I made that drawer space this morning and have removed stuff that I don`t wear or is only fit for gardening, jeans etc. I safely bagged some layering items that I knitted in wool or cashmere, now safe from moths and stacked the marie kondo way. Layering will be my way forward for my future clothing

I did several drawers and realise that I have enough snag tights, in lovely colours, for years. Good, it means I save money by not buying more. I did not touch a few drawers, I will wait until winter is over

Enough de-cluttering for today or I will get boggled

If you can find a writers’ group near you they might be glad of the notebooks. Lots of people still love a good notebook- not so much office stationery ones, but fancy ones are in demand.

I know what you and karmalady both mean about it being hard work - it is. But I am now over 2 years into Mission Declutter and Decorate, and life is a lot easier. Decluttering is still tedious and emotionally challenging, but I love having space in cupboards and less ‘stuff’ to deal with. I have yet to really miss anything either. The kitchen has a lot less in it too, and it is definitely worth it.

I have another sort-out of the wardrobes to do. We decorated the bedrooms and replaced a lot of furniture so I sent huge amounts to charity, but much of the ‘not sure’ pile went back in, and items are not necessarily in the right wardrobes. I also need to be ruthless about the pantry. I’d like to have it remodelled, but the next big job is the bathroom so the pantry will have to wait. Maybe next year. If I can get into the habit of gradually sifting through it as I go, the final push should be less daunting though.

On Saturday, my son and grandson cleared the loft. Well almost:there are still some items up there but I know what they are and can deal with them much later.
I had just about got the house moderately tidy and now there are boxes everywhere. My bins are almost full. I have piles ready to go to charity shops ( there aren’t many where I can park nearby), RSPCA for old blankets and pillows, Oxfam books, antiques/ collectibles and general auction. Enough to justify getting them to collect.
More tubs and boxes to sort today before my stepson comes tomorrow to fill his car. Quite poignant going through boxes of family photos. I hope he will appreciate what an archive they are. His Gran labelled quite a lot of photos which helps. I am sure he won’t want her neat books of accounts, nor his Grandpa’s sermons!

But I will be left with lots of stationery which nobody wants these days. Lovely hard-backed or moleskin-bound books which would make great journals, for those who still write by hand. And paper - lined, squared, white, coloured: maybe a nursery could make use of it? But it is so much work!
My day begins.

I am a bit the other way around to some on here.
I have not taken on so much voluntary work lately as in the past, as I saw a window of opportunity to declutter the house. I am more than 4 years through a 5 year go[i am doing it all, and at my own pace].

I have an elderly parent and elderly in laws. They sadly, cannot keep going for ever.

Unfortunately my husband’s sister doesn’t want to throw anything away

It’s difficult when someone dies. There is always ‘stuff’ that nobody wants, but it seems heartless to chuck things away that parents have treasured.

It feels very raw soon after a death, but a few months down the line, your heart hardens and that makes it easier to dispose of items, either charity shop, skip, car boot sales….

At least, that’s what I found.

So many `wake up call` posts for me, especially Susan and Grandmabatty. It does not just happen, this decluttering, it requires mental and physical effort and a resolve to make things easier for our children

I have been stuck. The first big tranches were relatively easy but time and tide wait for no-one and that means personal aging is on-going

Comparatively it was so easy to get rid of the spare crockery, bed linen and so on in the first tranches

I don`t have much room in my kitchen, not much cupboard space, so one tall cupboard is crammed full, a layer at the back and another layer at the front. Some things don`t stack and it looks like a steptoe cupboard, if I sneeze than things will fall out. That needs doing

I have to get back on the treadmill, keep up with de-cluttering. It was another lightbulb moment when I realised that I was squashing things together in bedroom drawers

I need to do one a step at a time because I am a human. First I need to remove the equivalent of a full large drawer in one of two chests of drawers in my bedroom. I will have to take bits from several drawers and combine drawers to get this done. I can only see this happening if I do it via the 3 piles method, keep throw and maybe. I am going to make a start in half an hour