Contest
Kate is having a contest that requires you to post the contents of the cupboard above your fridge. I don't have a cupboard above my fridge, but I do have one above the window on the same wall as the fridge which is equally inaccessible, so I think it qualifies:
Sorry for the wonky angle, but it's way above my head and if I stand on the ladder that I use to open the cupboard to take the picture, I'm too close to get the whole thing.
From left to right: my blender, some silver serving pieces, some paper cups, some plastic serving pieces and some ceramic serving bowls. So basically, party stuff. I don't have people over very often any more because the dogs are not good hosts. However, I'm not getting rid of the stuff because it's stuff that I can and do use periodically.
It does bring up a good question. At what point do you get rid of stuff you're just keeping around "in case". This is an important question for me because I live in a small home built in the 20s. I always say they built my house when people only had 3 outfits to wear. I have significantly more than 3 outfits. And a lot of books. And as you know, a lot of yarn. So storage is a huge problem for me.
The "Clean Sweep" type of shows always say to just purge, purge, purge. I do that somewhat with the clothes. Since we have two very distinct clothing seasons in Minnesota, I switch out the wardrobe twice a year. When I'm packing away the previous season clothes, I always try to weed out the stuff I haven't worn at all that season. (As a side note, this is the time of the year I start to wear the stuff I haven't worn all season so that I can keep them or decide to finally get rid of them. Like the green shirt that I wore yesterday.) Sometimes I keep something I haven't worn all season just because I want to and I think I'm going to wear it again. I still have way, way more clothes than I should and my closet is jam packed, my wardrobe bar is jam packed and I have small storage units in the dining room with clothes.
I'm trying to go through the books and get rid of them. I've joined Book Crossing and have released some of them into the wild. I've gotta keep going. I'm never going to have time to read all of those books, unless I end up in jail. Same thing with my music and movies. I should just get rid of all my casettes and video tapes, since they are not on my preferred mediums. But it's so hard. I was so happy to get those things and I might someday really really want to watch "The Prince of Tides" or listen to "Eric Clapton Unplugged".
It's the stuff like that in the kitchen and that ilk that are the hardest for me to even think about getting rid of. It's perfectly good stuff. Some day I might need to use it and it would be expensive to replace it. But perhaps I should be more realistic and just purge and feel better about my surroundings on a day to day basis. This is something I really need to think about and consider doing. But first I need to actually get the house clean even with the clutter before I start de-cluttering.
It also brings to mind an article in the paper today from an advise columnist. The writer asked how does one become happy. The columnist answered that you have to be happy with what you have already and not just focus on what you want. Good advice.
Sorry for the wonky angle, but it's way above my head and if I stand on the ladder that I use to open the cupboard to take the picture, I'm too close to get the whole thing.
From left to right: my blender, some silver serving pieces, some paper cups, some plastic serving pieces and some ceramic serving bowls. So basically, party stuff. I don't have people over very often any more because the dogs are not good hosts. However, I'm not getting rid of the stuff because it's stuff that I can and do use periodically.
It does bring up a good question. At what point do you get rid of stuff you're just keeping around "in case". This is an important question for me because I live in a small home built in the 20s. I always say they built my house when people only had 3 outfits to wear. I have significantly more than 3 outfits. And a lot of books. And as you know, a lot of yarn. So storage is a huge problem for me.
The "Clean Sweep" type of shows always say to just purge, purge, purge. I do that somewhat with the clothes. Since we have two very distinct clothing seasons in Minnesota, I switch out the wardrobe twice a year. When I'm packing away the previous season clothes, I always try to weed out the stuff I haven't worn at all that season. (As a side note, this is the time of the year I start to wear the stuff I haven't worn all season so that I can keep them or decide to finally get rid of them. Like the green shirt that I wore yesterday.) Sometimes I keep something I haven't worn all season just because I want to and I think I'm going to wear it again. I still have way, way more clothes than I should and my closet is jam packed, my wardrobe bar is jam packed and I have small storage units in the dining room with clothes.
I'm trying to go through the books and get rid of them. I've joined Book Crossing and have released some of them into the wild. I've gotta keep going. I'm never going to have time to read all of those books, unless I end up in jail. Same thing with my music and movies. I should just get rid of all my casettes and video tapes, since they are not on my preferred mediums. But it's so hard. I was so happy to get those things and I might someday really really want to watch "The Prince of Tides" or listen to "Eric Clapton Unplugged".
It's the stuff like that in the kitchen and that ilk that are the hardest for me to even think about getting rid of. It's perfectly good stuff. Some day I might need to use it and it would be expensive to replace it. But perhaps I should be more realistic and just purge and feel better about my surroundings on a day to day basis. This is something I really need to think about and consider doing. But first I need to actually get the house clean even with the clutter before I start de-cluttering.
It also brings to mind an article in the paper today from an advise columnist. The writer asked how does one become happy. The columnist answered that you have to be happy with what you have already and not just focus on what you want. Good advice.
rdladd@arnan.com
