What's in your "trying to get rid of it" box?

Unclutterer ForumsWelcomeHello!

What's in your "trying to get rid of it" box?

(61 posts) (28 voices)

Started 9 months ago by Sky
Latest reply from pkilmain
RSS feed for this topic

Overall Rating: votes

Tags:

No tags yet.

12…4 Next »

Sky
Member

for some reason I have things I don't want but sit in a box until I'm sure. Right now it includes:

pantyhose I've had for years, new in their package and I can't remember the last time I wore hose. Guess I'm worried I may need them one day.

a broken and glued back together dish my Mom gave me

soup tureen with big flowers on it that was my Mom's

3 glass candle holders

trays and baskets

cross-stitch pillows I made years ago for my Mom and Grandma (I hate getting stuff I gave someone back after they die)

Anyone else hang on to stuff that needs to go?

Posted 9 months ago #
ninakk
Member

Oh yes, I was just now looking through the professional photos from the wedding day, trying to find a few good ones to tweak into unrecognition for sale. The wedding dress is obviously the one taking up space and keeping money from coming back into the bank account (it was crazy expensive).

I've tried making peace with this decision on the following grounds:
1. I might not have a girl
2. She might not want to marry
3. She might not be my size (god knows I don't want her to be that size either!)
4. She might not like the dress

Plenty of good reasons to let go of it now that it is still in fashion.

Posted 9 months ago #
Mimi
Member

i have a "i am not sure if i really want to declutter these items"-box :)

to be honest, there are 3 boxes, each of them filled with flatware like a 5-liter-soupbowl, two terrine moulds (i so want to, but never do cook terrines), wonderful but heavy glass jars etc. i really love them, but i don´t need them, so i decided to pre-unclutter them in a box. if i don´t open the boxes for 1 or two years i will toss them. i will. i will! i will open them tomorrow :)

Posted 9 months ago #
happymonkey
Member

I have a collection of depression glass. Not a big collection, but twenty or so pieces. I have nowhere to display it in my home, so once or twice a year I decide to get it out and sell it. However, when I unpack it I realize I love the look of it, and the feel of it in my hands, and the history that goes along with it, and I just can't let it go. We just moved last month, and I went through the same process. So here I am, with my collection of depression glass boxed up, not being seen and enjoyed, not being used, but I am not yet ready to release it.

Posted 9 months ago #
chacha1
Member

Wow, HM, if you love it that much (which I can readily imagine) maybe finding a way and a place to display/use it would be a good, and mighty rewarding, exercise.

I'm in the process of getting rid of things I love *less* for that very reason, so that I can display and use the things I love *more.*

Posted 9 months ago #
MTNgirl
Member

Happymonkey, if you love it use it! Enjoy it, we only live once! Put a bowl on the center of your table with fruit in it!

My stuff is all clothes! I have gotten rid of everything else!

Posted 9 months ago #
jbeany
Member

Happy Monkey, why not rotate it? Put out a piece or two, and change every so often.

Posted 9 months ago #
happymonkey
Member

chacha1, MTNgirl, andjbeany, all good suggestions! I'm going to unpack a few pieces and start using them. I had thought about putting one of the small platters on my dresser to use as a tray -- I think I'll start with that, and I also like the idea of putting fruit in one of the bowls. That way, if I decide again that I need to get rid of it, I'll know for sure that I didn't enjoy using it enough to keep it. Thanks!

Posted 9 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

i am still trying to get rid of my espresso machine.
it's a lovingly-maintained commercial machine and i will not just give it away.
i have donated and gifted and recycled tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods and i want cash for this one.
i need to advertise it.
and i need to sell my motorbike.
i have lost my nerve and that is all there is to it.

Posted 9 months ago #
jbeany
Member

Come on bandicoot - you can do it! Maybe post a flier at work/the local diner/post office, whatever?

Posted 9 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

you are so right.
i'll put a flyer up at the local supermarket which is where our little community has it's noticeboard.
and a couple in the next town too.

Posted 9 months ago #
snosie
Member

I have a box, but it's more as a trasition to ebay-ing/freecycling/finding the best home for (CDs anyone? what to do with CDs?) Once it's in the box, it's leaving.

As far as things I'm trying to get rid of... hmmm... I'm pondering my high school memoribilia - do I need a signature bear? No, not really and it's dusty, but how to mindfully 'dispose' of it?

Posted 9 months ago #
Parsifal
Member

Just tossed out a functional (3 year old) $130 keyboard because it sometimes doesn't work right away when my PC starts up and has those really loud buckle-spring keys. I had to talk myself into throwing it out because it was 'still good' even though I didn't really like it and didn't even need it as a backup anymore.

Posted 9 months ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

Justin Case brand old clothes.

Posted 9 months ago #
chacha1
Member

@happymonkey, glad you decided to start enjoying your 30s glass!

I fell in love with Carnival glass long ago and it was a pitched battle between Logical Me (you live in earthquake country and have two high-velocity cats and it's not dishwasher or microwave friendly and it doesn't Go With anything) and Dreamy Me (but the colorrrrs!).

I have two pieces. One is a three-sectioned, lidded candy dish that I use for change. Perfect to sort dimes, nickels, and pennies, and when a compartment is full it's enough for two rolls of coins. The other is a ruffled bowl which I never use but which sits in the vitrine in my dining room and picks up light from my chandelier and iridescently throws it back out into the room ... . So you see, I understand!

Can I brag and say I don't have a "trying" box anymore? I think somewhere around year three of uncluttering, I outgrew it.

Posted 9 months ago #
KeKeD
Member

I know this has been mentioned before but I am still struggling with this issue. Don't know if I am looking for advice or permission in order to get past this.

I feel ready to declutter my mom's wedding dress - sort of. I don't want it, don't need it, checked with family a long time ago if they wanted it, but have ended up keeping it because I balk at the thought of it being in a landfill. No longer own a sewing machine so couldn't try to repurpose it. Visited our local charity shop but they didn't have a section of even prom dresses let alone wedding dresses. Thought of trying to find a school theatre group that might want it but realized it wouldn't be washable for their purposes, too much tulle. Definitely the ultimate unitasker. Ironically I didn't have a "wedding" dress for either marriage and yet I still am dealing with one!

Posted 9 months ago #
Sky
Member

KeKeD, could you keep a small part of the dress as a keepsake to frame or whatever and dispose of the rest? Or give it to a theater group and let them worry about washing it.

If you can't find anywhere to repurpose it, you have permission to LET IT GO!! It is only a dress, not your Mom.

Sentimental items are the worst.

Posted 9 months ago #
irishbell
Member

Framing a piece was my first thought also. Or- What about cutting out the prettiest piece of it and sewing it into a hanky.
I have some from my mom/gramma that I adore.

Posted 9 months ago #
PaulT00
Member

My most difficult decisions have to do with beautiful or sentimental things which are damaged, sometimes irreparably. My partner gave me a beautiful sculpture of a cat many years ago as a birthday gift. Several years later, one of the cats knocked it over and broke its ears and tail off. The tail was fixable but the ears broke into many pieces and disappeared. I still have the sculpture - it's in a drawer and not displayed any more, but I can't bring myself to throw it away because it's still beautiful and still a heartfelt gift. Crazy. Don't want to look at it because it's broken but can't throw it out...

Posted 9 months ago #
pkilmain
Member

KeKeD - can you put it on Craigslist, or even Freecycle? I guess that depends on the condition or size, but that way someone would get some use of it. You could take a photo of it (maybe even wearing it?) for your memories.

Posted 9 months ago #

12…4 Next »

Reply »

You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.