Junk Out 2010

I didn't have as much energy as I would have liked to had had this past week, but then I could probably say that just about any week, eh? I did tackle the decluttering the upper shelf in my closet. Oh, the things a person can stash in a closet...

It was time to toss the boxes that my son's and my point and shot cameras came in 2 years ago. Good grief, they've been used and abused, charged and recharged, and are probably well past their warranties- it's not like I was going to need the boxes to return them in, and using them to box a birthday present of some sort just seems like it would be kind of a cruel tease. Old cell phone boxes too, seriously, what is it with me and the boxes I might need someday? Out they went! If I need them next week, well that's just too bad... I'm not worried about it, anymore. (And the boxes from the ball winder I got for Mother's Day a while back, the Danskos I've been wearing for quite some time, and who even knows what else? There were a lot of boxes up there- not anymore!)

There is the issue of the 2 lamp posts pictured in last Saturday's post. I love them. We have these old white nightstands with white lamps by the bed. They don't match the current decor, but I haven't found either new nightstands that would look well or the money to buy them with. I do still plan to remedy that situation, and am seriously considering painting the nightstands an antique-ey black, the kind that's crackled, which would go much better, in my opinion. My point is that I am not decluttering those new lamp posts, but would rather someday soon declutter the current lamps, and find a couple new lamp shades... I looked for some the other day, but the ones I liked the best were the most expensive ones on the shelves, go figure, and I was too cheap to buy them. Soon, though, soon.

I'm a knitter (and a designer), and being such, I have a bit of a stash, and while I'm committed to knitting from my stash, I am not inclined to declutter my stash. Stash is not clutter, it just isn't. If you're a knitter, you probably know what I mean, unless you're one of the unusual kind... My stash my not be destined for the thrift store, like so many things I've been pulling from this closet, but it did need to be tamed, contained, and at least have the appearance of being organized. Getting it out from the monstrous pile that was growing on and beyond the bookcase in my room and onto the shelf up inside my closet, which has so much more room now, is a major improvement.

I have pulled out a few more shirts that haven't been worn in well over a year as well as a couple pairs of my husband's pants which are in great shape, he just doesn't like them. I don't know about the men in your life, but my husband just doesn't wear pants that he doesn't like, hmm, kind of like those shirts of mine... We wear what we like. Things we don't like (and hence, don't wear) really should not be taking up space in our closet, especially if somebody else could get some wear out of them. Off they go to the thrift store, I hope they find a good home, I really do.

As I cull shirts from the closet, one thing I am trying to do, bit by bit because they cost money, is replace our plastic hangers with nice looking wooden ones. I got these at Target. One of the things I LOVE about using wooden hangers is that you can't fit as many clothes in the closet when the hangers take up more space. Seriously, this is a good thing. Fewer shirts means fewer head scratching sessions as I stand there staring blankly into a closet stuffed with too many shirts, that I rarely wear, only to reach for one of my favorites and pull it out all wrinkled from being squished, stretched, and crumpled in among the losers. Tossing and donating a dozen or so tops feels great! Back to the hangers, I've got most of my husband's dress shirts on wooden ones and a random handful of mine. A few more bi-weekly regular shopping trips with another pack of wooden hangers thrown in ought to be good.

More randomness:

• toddler clothes hangers
• the mantel clock I made in 8th grade industrial arts class
• a medieval costume
• breast pump
• nursing pillow
• a bag of old (after Halloween sale) candy I was keeping from my children to bring out on a rainy day sometime that I never brought out and is now quite stale and somewhere towards the bottom of the trash can. Sheesh!

The lower half of my side needs more work this week. That is where I'll be for some time and I'll need to make some decisions on some older pairs of shoes as well as the pile of very random stuff that has grown high enough to reach the bottom of the long skirts and dresses.

How about you? What area are you decluttering this week? Do you have a giveaway box? Have you found anything worth selling? I found 2 never folded/never used Wheaties boxes from when the Twins won the World Series in 1987, cool, huh? I guess I could sell them for $12 a piece, or I could just keep sitting on them until 2037 when they might be worth a few dollars more, hmmm...