Monday, May 4, 2015

Heart To Heart to HomeTalk

 I left home at 21 so I have 
over 40 years of accumulating
stuff,organizing it, and storing it.

I have also purged hundreds of items, 
no, more like thousands of pieces of my own STUFF
and I cannot begin to guess at the thousands of 
client's belongings I have sifted, 
sorted, trashed, bagged, donated and 
wrangled into submission.

and yet....
I continue to purge frequently.
WHY?
I'll tell you a secret..
the stuff breeds
No other explanation....

As I reviewed the pics I recently shared,
I noticed many items that I never or rarely use.
Granted, they are all neat and tidy and I have 
created efficient ways to store them, but 
why would I keep them?

While I've pondered this a lot lately, my good friend 
Sue has said "but you have the space
 to store them and your house is all clean and tidy
so what does it hurt?"
Granted.. I do not have overstuffed drawers, 
unidentified boxes or bins, crowded
closets that you have to push the door closed
with your hip but still...
Why should I keep a food mill that I might use 
every two years, or 4 -9"cake pans 
for the rare occasion I bake 
2 double layer cakes at the same time? (never) 
and I baked only one cake in all of last year!
So I am going to switch gears on you
from the organizing posts I had planned.

To start with 
I am going to re-show you that cupboard
on the porch. All nice and tidy..


I am going to give myself 
a heart to heart to home talk
 and show you what happens.

I will honestly tell you and show
you how I work through this.
egads

How I plan to rid myself of
Just In Case Items that are 
so unnecessary.
JICI items are now my enemy.

Over the years I have read of several plans 
to de-clutter
1st day- throw out one item
2nd day - throw out 2  
etc for 30 days
(I know folks who would count post it notes and pencils)
OR
pick a number of items of clothing say
100 and edit down till you reach that goal.

Now both of these and others are said to work
and I do believe they help you concentrate
 on your needs versus your wants,
but none of us live in the same spaces,
with the same amount of family members,
in the same climates,
with same job wardrobes etc...

A person living in 5,000 sq feet making $300,000
a year who entertains clients and friends every weekend
has different needs than my daughter,
living in 400 sq feet who meets friends out for dinner,
freelances and crosses her fingers for income.

So a heart to heart to home
for each of us is crucial.

I am an excellent purger,
organizer, and tidiness freak,
always have been,
and yet I have JICI's by the bagful..
now known to me as "jickies".

If a constant purger and organizer
 can down size, what can you accomplish?

I have no idea if I can do this
as well as I hope to,
but follow along and watch me 
succeed or flop...
I promise to be 100% honest,
and I may hit some bumps,
so feel free to call me on it.
My stomach just clenched,
when I looked up and noticed my paperbacks.
I love the look of my mini library....
Oh no!
What have I done?
Thank heavens I'm not starting in this room!
*********************
Ten minutes later
I had this....






with this...
headed out the door


On the top shelf were some float glasses
and vintage juice glasses from
my Grandmother.
I decided to get rid of my plain juice glasses 
from the kitchen and swap out for the yellow ones.
I'll enjoy using these much more.


I tested the amount of liquid 
held by another set of glasses I
frequently use (on the left) and discovered it held
 more than the specialty 
float glasses so out they go.
I also purged..

 *1 glass covered cake plate - kept one

 *some tupperware I never use
because other storage containers
 work just as well.

* the aforementioned food mill

*plastic popcorn holders cute but not necessary

*a fourth springform pan
(I kept mixed set of three sizes)
I had kept this fourth one cause it had the neat
raised insert which I never used!

*a small rice cooker 
lost my mind at 3 am on QVC one night....


I will give to whichever kid wants it.



* small barbecue tools I got for son
who has since moved and sold his barbecue


Since I took the pic I also purged the brown snack set
on the second shelf.
I am struggling with the vintage bowl stack..
occasionally used BUT>>they are JICIS

Then I hit the candle cupboard and purged into a box all 2/3rds
used up candles and scents I did not like.
A friend said she wanted them.
This freed up two drawers.
One I filled with extra outdoor candle holders
that were in a box in the garage;
and I still have one empty drawer, 
and more space on garage shelf.

None too shabby for ten minutes, eh?
Getting the idea?
Getting the groove?
I am psyched!

z









15 comments:

Tracey Broome said...

I'm getting rid of the uglies I don't want in my new, (one of these days) house. Out today went the ugliest white iron patio glass top table with uncomfortable ugly chairs that were a freebie one day when I thought I could use just one more table and chair sets. I have been getting rid of the jickies this year too, but why are my closets and drawers still so full !!!!!

Tracey Broome said...

Oh and my daughter is moving home next week with all of her stuff, ugh!

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

You Go Girl!

www.MaisonStGermain.com said...

OMG you would have to move in to help me with my house. lol I am, though slowly but surely purging, But I doubt it will every be neat or sparse.
~Debra xxx
Capers of the vintage vixens

Tanya said...

A little of that going on here this week, along with a lot of painting. Happy Monday, Z!

Kathy said...

JICIs - love that! One strategy I use for clothes is I never buy hangers. If all the hangers are full then something has to go. Keeps my tiny little closet from getting too stuffed.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I am still a work in progress! I am at this time going through my 'collections' and trying to decide what to keep of them or if I keep any of them. I will get to my just in case items one of these days. At least I am still working on it. Determined to make my home less cluttered and my life simpler. You always inspire me!

lala said...

This post really hit close to home - a bit too close actually. I am in the process of trying to purge and declutter, but am having some difficulty due to the JIC items. I can't seem to let them go, even if they have not left the cabinet for over a year. You have definitely inspired me, and hopefully I can muster up the courage to finally let go of the JICI!!

Nella Miller said...

Now look what you've done! I was planning on painting and gardening today, and just changed my mind! Opened two drawers in the guest room/craft room and started clearing out and organizing! You're energy is contagious !
I so wish we lived in the same town !! N.xo

ain't for city gals said...

This is funny cuz when I read your post yesterday I thought yes it is all nice and neat but so much stuff! We just don't do the things we used to so purge away...

Lin from A {tiny} Cottage In The Woods said...

Hiya Z,

It took me 9 years to lose the JICIs. That was downsizing from a large home to a large rental condo to a purchased condo to storage in my sister's garage to storage in my brother's basement to our tiny cottage. I still donate stuff I no longer need, and I really think things through before making a new purchase. So it never ends.

But I think I've got the hang of it. I donated the everyday dishes/silverware and kept the good stuff for everyday, etc. Why not live the good life?

xo,
Lin

Amber ~ The French Pressed Home said...

You are shaming me! Boy do I ever need to sort and purge and organize. Maybe tomorrow. ;)

Jillayne said...

None too shabby at all z. I understand everything you've said, relate to all of it - not just how you got where you are now, but the angst at the next part. It's hard to part with some of jic items.
I've been back tackling my sewing room, for starters...made some tough decisions, got a good grounding in what i do and what i do not do. Today I sold my higher end sewing machine - it was a "caught up in the frenzy" need but soul-searching the whole thing made me realize my creative path is mostly by hand and old basic machine is all I need for the minimum of machine work I need to do. I knew if I sold it now I could get what I paid for it (working in a quilt shop does have it's advantages now again, along with several disadvantages - of which, oddly, this whole debacle was both!).
Anyway, as it went out the door this afternoon, I fair danced down the driveway after it - so excited! I've settled back into this lovely room of mine, it looks amazing, there is space and light and I am thrilled. It was such a big blocky machine, taking up this whole table, and beautiful as it was, I won't miss it a tot!
I'm going to enjoy following this journey of yours z - good luck.

Kathy said...

Thank you for the ideas! Even though I live in 1100 square feet, I have a huge yard and patio and we used to host an annual summer party with up to 70 people. I have a cabinet on the patio where I store all the silverware, fancy plastic drink cups, table clothes, etc. I haven't used any of it in 5 or 6 years so I think it is time for it to go. A couple of years ago I purged all the decorations from the attic. If I need it again then I will have the fun of buying new!

Tina said...

oh yes - you´re so good.
I´ve started to use the good stuff instead of saving it for better day - why not use the pretty stuff and throw out the ugly.