The most obvious things we are able to give away are furniture. Luckily, one of my sisters is just beginning a phase of life in which she needs furniture. My husband and I are able to furnish her new abode with free items that are in good condition.
Furniture is where the ease ends. Furniture is also where the least of our clutter is! Most of our clutter is in stuff. You know, "stuff." Stuff like four staplers, six ice cube trays, two immersion blenders, one large box of empty notebooks and binders, two full closets of clothes, three boxes of Christmas decorations, a large trunk of "things of sentimental value", and kitchen items that have expanded into every room in our home.
That is not efficient living.
As we are slowly filtering items, we are learning where the balance of stuff really is. We will keep some ice cube trays, but not all of them. We will keep my beloved waffle maker, even though I only use it about once a month. We will get rid of extra staplers. (Seriously, how did two people come to own four staplers?) We will meticulously go through each and every item and decide if it is worth keeping or not.
This, I believe, is where many people get into trouble when they are decluttering. They begin by going through the big things, like furniture. Then they start with obvious or heavy things, like books and unused board games. Then they begin to lose interest or run out of time, and things are not sorted by item but buy box. Yes, we want to keep the Christmas items; no we don't want to keep that box of spilled toothpicks.
It does not matter now little or lightweight an item is. If it is clutter, get rid of it! We have at least six spatulas (the flipper kind, not the rubber scraper kind). Two of them are good for hamburgers, two are good for cookies, and two are good for little pieces of dessert. They do not take up much space, and they will not be heavy to move. But they are still clutter! It is not efficient to have six spatulas! (Shall I also note that two of them are worn out and leave pieces of plastic in our scrambled eggs?)
It does not matter how long you have had an item. We just bought two very cool ice cube trays that make long, thin ice. I thought long, thin ice would be neat. However, upon first use, we found that the long thin ice went up our guests noses when they tried to drink. Yes, they are little, lightweight, and practically new. We are getting rid of them.
It does not matter if someone important gave you the item (within reason). A nick-knack given to you by a good friend ten years ago that you never display should not be kept. It is the friend that matters, not the gift.
It does not matter if the item is part of a set. A couple of years ago, I bought a vintage set of Pfalzgraff dishes. The next year, I bought another set which had some pieces not in the previously purchased set. So, when we got married, my husband and I had his set of Corelle dishes and my two sets of Pfalzgraff, which included at least 14 plates, 16 mugs, 16 dessert plates, 4 canisters, the butter dish which started the entire collection, and many various other pieces. If we ever serve dinner to fourteen people, it is most likely that we will use paper plates! Very rarely will we ever need that many place settings.
Looking around our home, I realize that this is going to be a big project. I love to pack, but this might be ridiculous. I need some luck.
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You put 2 staplers together, next thing you know, you got four of those darn things. Don't give your secret to the office supply stores or we will see an economic meltdown related to stapler surplus.
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