After returning to London the other week, I was inspired to do a bit of decluttering. It was long overdue. Staying in a very small cottage had got me thinking about whether or not I could live smaller than we live now. I often think about this and the idea really appeals, but I rarely do anything about it.
When I got back home, I decided to make a start by finally decluttering our mug cupboard. It had been in my mind to do it for months, but I'd just never got around to it. It was completely full of mugs and cups, but I use the same 7 or 8 all the time. OH maybe uses another 7 or 8 and LB uses only 2 or 3. The rest just sit there unused from one month to the next. It was time for them to go. They were all chip free and in very good condition, so they'll be going to the charity shop.
Here's a picture of the ones I'm donating:
And here's a photo of the mug shelf afterwards (I forgot to take a before picture):
I then continued to look at what I could declutter from other shelves in the cupboard and decided to let go of these Orla Kiely eggcups and salt and pepper shakers. I've had them a good few years, but have hardly used them. I decided I'm probably going to try to sell these too, as I think they might be more collectable. I'll see how they go.
A few plant pots also got donated, as I have way too many and I want to reduce my plants as they die off. These are probably my least favourite ones.
I also pulled a few cups out of another cupboard and put them into cirulation in the mug cupboard. They've been sat unused for years until OH recently started to use a couple of them for drinking his expresso coffee. I figured that they may as well all come out and be used in rotation. I don't want to let go of them, as they are vintage Poole Pottery and I like them, but they do need using if we're going to keep them.
In this session, I gathered around 21 items to sell or donate. It's not a huge amount, but it was a start.
The next week, I decided to do a bit more decluttering by tackling 'the cupboard of doom' in our kitchen, which contains all the jars for preserving/storage, tupperware, spare salad spinners, lunch boxes, etc. I'm sure everyone's got one. In our house, we all dislike this particular cupboard, as it's the kind of cupboard where everything falls out when you open the door. I've tried numerous times to reduce and re-organise it, but it's still a nightmare.
Anyway, at the back of the cupboard are my recipe books. I never use them, as I'm not really very interested in cooking these days. OH tends to do most of the cooking, but we do really need to add a few new dishes into both of our repetoires, so I initally got them all out to search for inspiration. It very quickly became apparent to me, that very few of the books inspired me at all and I decided to donate most of them. I'm hanging onto a few, such as one particular Delia Smith book, which is my go to for some things if I make them from scratch and various others that I think might be useful. This did help a little, as it created a bit of space at the back.
In addition, I went through my folder of recipes cut from magazines, picked up at the supermarket, etc. and threw out any that no longer inspired me or that didn't suit our tastes. I managed to combine two folders into one to create more space. To be honest, most recipes you can find online or on Pinterest these days, so as someone who isn't really a foodie, recipe books are virtually redundant here. Most of them have been picked up in charity shops at some point, so it's not as if I've spent a lot of money on them. It felt good to get rid of so many (12 in total) and make some space. Here's a picture of the pile going to the charity shop:
Later in the week, I decided to tackle the pantry cupboard. I'd tackled the food shelf a couple of weeks ago, but shelf below was very messy. It was largely full of items I use to make beauty or household products. It needed a good tidy and reorganisation. Here's an after picture as I forgot to take a before again:
There wasn't much there that I wanted to let go of, but it is all now much more organised and easier to access. I was even inspired to make some homemade deodorant again, which felt satsifying, as I've been meaning to make some for a while.
To be honest, most of the items in our kitchen are used regularly, so there isn't a whole lot to declutter. I did find some grapefruit spoons that I could donate. They have a serrated edge for cutting the fruit from the pith, but I can't eat grapefruits anymore, as my doctor told me they are contraindicated with one of the medications I now take, so I decided to let these go. They were a useful little tool when I did eat grapefruits though. There were also a couple of other pieces of cutlery that I don't like, so they got donated too.
That just about concludes my decluttering for now, but hopefully I'll get around to doing a bit more at some point in the not too distant future.
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