Pearls n boots

Before vacation I signed for a new house. I did not expect all the craziness of the last few months. I am not sure if I should say I moved or am moving…the stuff is all here at the new house, but boxes lots of boxes.

A multi generational household, and the stuff from my grandparents and even great grandparents that had never been dealt with equals a lot of stuff.I currently have about 3 households of stuff to unpack between all of us. That stuff all had to be packed and moved. It now needs unpacked and put away. Oddly, some things were never unpacked at the last house…

Some of the excess is due to values passed down of thriftiness. I have the space and already own it; let me put it away in case I need it in the future. Decisions, and emotions can also be hard. It sometime feels like getting rid of the stuff is getting rid of the memories.

I am not sure how many sets of dishes, evening dresses or bookcases one person/household really needs. I do know I own too many from any objective standard. I find I tell myself I will get around to rereading that AP English book from high school that I never liked. Between you and me, I won’t.

With the way summer turned out; I was not able to clean out as I packed. The best laid plan that did not pan out. I am instead cleaning out as I unpack. Leading to many trips to the local donation sites and the dump.

I have found a few things that are speeding things along in the clean out process:

1. If it is broken, chipped- get rid of it.
2. If the item brings dread- get rid of it. This has helped with things I keep because I am supposed to. Those things that also bring up not great memories or emotions.
3. Would I let a guest use it? If not let it go. I live here and use it daily. I deserve nice things as much as the guest that comes over a couple times a year.
4. Would I buy it again? Not one like it, this one. This is helpful when cleaning out duplicates and things that don’t necessarily go bad. That old AP English book, gone. Evening dresses that are not my current taste gone. The white shirt with a stain gone but the nearly identical one without the stain still in the closet.
5. When was the last time I used this? No hard and fast rule here, not for me. But realizing the item has not been used in years, or maybe just months sometimes makes it easier to let go and open up the space. This question got the rest of the evening dressed out of my closet.
6. If it is important enough to save, live with it. This one is helpful for the stuff that is mostly sentimental and has spent a lot of time in storage. I have found some things when I am faced with putting it in my space suddenly doesn’t feel as important. While other things are in a place of pride and make me smile daily.

Reader, do you have any tips for doing a whole house heavy clean out? Share in the comments. -R.