Out, damned junk

[resonant]

I use January to clean the insides of things.

Or ... every January I intend to clean the insides of things. Some years I do a cabinet or two, some years I get around to the file box about March, some years I do nothing. One glorious golden year I did all the kitchen cabinets. It's been a while.

This year, though, I have an additional incentive because we'll be moving come summer, which was enough to get me going today on the two kitchen cabinets that cause me the most annoyance from day to day.

That's how I discovered that thinking, "Might I use this at some point in the future?" is one thing, and thinking, "Do I want to put this in a box and take it to Iowa?" is something quite different. An impending move makes me a much more ruthless discarder. (The Ruthless Discarder is now going to be my superhero identity.)

Two down, and how many to go? Difficult to be precise; how do I compare one kitchen cupboard with a closet? Or a garage? If I use a weighted scale based on the capacity of the space, there are 37 space units in the living area (not counting kidlet and spouse bedrooms), 13 in the basement, and 8 in the garage, which means that if I actually keep up the pace of two units a day, I will seriously finish this by the end of January!

Comments

[grey853]

I commend you!! I really need to do the same thing. My cabinets, especially in the kitchen and utility room, are full of stuff, good stuff, but not stuff that I use or really need. I've got stuff that's been there since I moved in 21 years ago and never pulled out to use...yet. Good luck on your project.

[realpestilence]

You MUST be ruthless, because even so, when you unpack you'll find lots of stuff that you'll say wth did I bring this for?

I've been going through my place and getting rid of things I haven't used, read, worn or listened to in years. It's hard, because the clutchy hoarding instinct kicks in; but I feel so much better after I clear out another area.

[cloudsinvenice]

It's a good time to do it. I love being able to look at the outsides of things whose insides I've cleaned and think, "The next time I open that, everything will just sit on the shelves neatly and not fall out at me."

Having said that, I'm going to need a lot more courage to clean the oven.