Spring cleaning anyone? Share your plans/progress - Page 8

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@Snoopp I have two bad knees. I can’t kneel on them at all. I just bend down and wipe them off. I do this all of the time and they don’t get bad enough need much attention.

When I first retired, my DH removed all of the wood trim around the doors, windows and baseboards and I sanded them down to bare wood, stained them and applied two coats of poly to them. Our home is 30 years old, but my wood trim looks like new.

pattypeep · ‎06-06-2011

@Mominohio Spring cleaning? I just took down my Christmas tree today.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea-Robert A. Heinlein

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

Well, the basement has been purged twice over the past 4-5 weeks...oy! This last time though, it is complete and relieved looking much better than it has for about 10+ yrs.

All ready to be able to sow seeds soon. DH just has to set up the lights again either this weekend or next...

The kitchen & bathrooms are done...walls and everything.

Still on the list of major cleaning projects:

Removing all the artglass and cleaning curio/wall unit shelves in livingroom...

Complete cleaning needed in livingroom, bedroom and library room (our spare bedroom which is DH's computer room too...lol)...which includes washing walls, shampooing carpets and purging clothes closets...

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Susan Louise wrote:
Well, the basement has been purged twice over the past 4-5 weeks...oy! This last time though, it is complete and relieved looking much better than it has for about 10+ yrs.

All ready to be able to sow seeds soon. DH just has to set up the lights again either this weekend or next...

The kitchen & bathrooms are done...walls and everything.

Still on the list of major cleaning projects:

Removing all the artglass and cleaning curio/wall unit shelves in livingroom...

Complete cleaning needed in livingroom, bedroom and library room (our spare bedroom which is DH's computer room too...lol)...which includes washing walls, shampooing carpets and purging clothes closets...

@Susan Louise

Do you ever consider paring down considerably or totally eliminating your collection of art glass (you have a lot of Fenton, right?)?

I have a collection of salt glazed pottery and I really love it, and use some of it as well as have some for display. I have a couple of other smaller collections of things that I decorate with, and every once in awhile I consider moving them on (or at least most of them), simply to simplify my life a little (like you did recently with your dishes.....).

Have you ever considered this with your art glass? And what was the motivator for you to do so with your dishes. It always seemed you got such joy out of the dishes.

I kind of wonder what people consider when they are scaling back, just which items or categories to choose.

Still pondering some of my options!

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
@Susan Louise wrote:
Well, the basement has been purged twice over the past 4-5 weeks...oy! This last time though, it is complete and relieved looking much better than it has for about 10+ yrs.

All ready to be able to sow seeds soon. DH just has to set up the lights again either this weekend or next...

The kitchen & bathrooms are done...walls and everything.

Still on the list of major cleaning projects:

Removing all the artglass and cleaning curio/wall unit shelves in livingroom...

Complete cleaning needed in livingroom, bedroom and library room (our spare bedroom which is DH's computer room too...lol)...which includes washing walls, shampooing carpets and purging clothes closets...

@Susan Louise

Do you ever consider paring down considerably or totally eliminating your collection of art glass (you have a lot of Fenton, right?)?

I have a collection of salt glazed pottery and I really love it, and use some of it as well as have some for display. I have a couple of other smaller collections of things that I decorate with, and every once in awhile I consider moving them on (or at least most of them), simply to simplify my life a little (like you did recently with your dishes.....).

Have you ever considered this with your art glass? And what was the motivator for you to do so with your dishes. It always seemed you got such joy out of the dishes.

I kind of wonder what people consider when they are scaling back, just which items or categories to choose.

Still pondering some of my options!

@Mominohio Paring down the collection in the wall unit and curio cabinet...no.

Why? Because we love looking at the pieces. For about 11 of 12 months we have the lights on in the wall unit and curio cabinet so we can enjoy viewing all the pieces...truly candy to the eyes. Even DH enjoys looking at them and if I forget to turn on the lights at night, DH does

I would say about 65-70% are Fenton pieces. The rest are various depression era art glass/glass/carnival glass (or earlier turn of the century), porcelain, etc...

If you are wondering if I had any pieces that were stored in boxes or in the basement...I don't. All the pieces are in the wall unit and curio cabinet.

If I did have any in the basement/storage (like in your situation, and you are looking for advice) and had to narrow down/choose, I would save my faves and most valuable pieces and let the rest go by way of a local auction house/business.

Thankfully I don't have to choose and I stopped collecting when I filled both the wall unit and curio cabinet. The only problem is that when we both pass, there is no children to pass the collection onto, so they will be auctioned off and profits will go to our fave charities.

I still would not be bothered selling myself and certainly wouldn't have a garage sale.

As for my motivation with the dishes, I just started loathing the weight they had on me emotionally. I remember how It was fun collecting, but as the months passed, the joy of having so much started to lesson. It is beyond my comprehension that I actually collected beyond what fit in the kitchen and carried them downstairs to accumulate them on 3 shelves.

When I was collecting I remember how fun I thought it would be to mix and match so many types of patterns of dinnerware. I just didn't find a stopping point after a certain amount of accumulation.

My turning point actually began last Spring when I had to move so much stuff to get our tables ready for sowing seeds. The other half of our basement was a nightmare between all of the decor and 3 shelves of dinnerware. Those 3 shelves previously would have been used to place stuff temporarily during January-April til I started hardening off the plants for our gardens. I just had enough of the craziness.

I guess everyone has their own turning point/rock bottom. I hit mine. Trudging up 7+ heavy boxes of dinnerware was quite eye opening. No dishes will EVER be stored in our basement again!

If we had a home with a diningroom, I would keep the collection to just the hutch in there and a couple of cabinets in the kitchen. But we don't have a diningroom anyway.

I was thinking of you when I was purging the 3 shelves in our basement. You mentioned in another thread you have 5 full shelving storage units and another hutch in your basement all full of dinnerware/bakeware. I just can't even comprehend that much being used/stored.

If you ever start purging any of it, quite honestly it will take a lot of heavy lifting. You have adult children that could help...right?

And after the dish purge, I feel a great deal better. It is so enjoyable now going in the basement...a sense of calm

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Susan Louise wrote:
@Mominohio wrote:
@Susan Louise wrote:
Well, the basement has been purged twice over the past 4-5 weeks...oy! This last time though, it is complete and relieved looking much better than it has for about 10+ yrs.

All ready to be able to sow seeds soon. DH just has to set up the lights again either this weekend or next...

The kitchen & bathrooms are done...walls and everything.

Still on the list of major cleaning projects:

Removing all the artglass and cleaning curio/wall unit shelves in livingroom...

Complete cleaning needed in livingroom, bedroom and library room (our spare bedroom which is DH's computer room too...lol)...which includes washing walls, shampooing carpets and purging clothes closets...

@Susan Louise

Do you ever consider paring down considerably or totally eliminating your collection of art glass (you have a lot of Fenton, right?)?

I have a collection of salt glazed pottery and I really love it, and use some of it as well as have some for display. I have a couple of other smaller collections of things that I decorate with, and every once in awhile I consider moving them on (or at least most of them), simply to simplify my life a little (like you did recently with your dishes.....).

Have you ever considered this with your art glass? And what was the motivator for you to do so with your dishes. It always seemed you got such joy out of the dishes.

I kind of wonder what people consider when they are scaling back, just which items or categories to choose.

Still pondering some of my options!

@Mominohio Paring down the collection in the wall unit and curio cabinet...no.
Why? Because we love looking at the pieces. For about 11 of 12 months we have the lights on in the wall unit and curio cabinet so we can enjoy viewing all the pieces...truly candy to the eyes. Even DH enjoys looking at them and if I forget to turn on the lights at night, DH does

I would say about 65-70% are Fenton pieces. The rest are various depression era art glass/glass/carnival glass (or earlier turn of the century), porcelain, etc...

If you are wondering if I had any pieces that were stored in boxes or in the basement, had to narrow down/choose, I would save my faves and most valuable pieces and let the rest go by way of a local auction house/business.
Thankfully I don't have to choose. The only problem is that when we both pass, there is no children to pass the collection we do have, so they will be auctioned off and profits will go to our fave charities.

I still would not be bothered selling myself and certainly wouldn't have a garage sale.

As for my motivation with the dishes, I just started loathing the weight they had on me emotionally. I remember how It was fun collecting, but as the months passed, the joy of having so much started to lesson. It is beyond my comprehenshion that I actually collected beyond what fit in the kitchen and carried them downstairs to accumulate them on 3 shelves.

When I was collecting I remember how fun I thought it would be to mix and match so many types of patterns of dinnerware. I just didn't find a stopping point after a certain amount of accumulation.

My turning point actually began last Spring when I had to move so much stuff to get our tables ready for sowing seeds. The other half of our basement was a nightmare between all of the decor and 3 shelves of dinnerware which would have previously been used for moving of other things during that time period. I just had enough of the craziness.

I guess everyone just has their own turning point/rock bottom. I hit mine. Trudging up 7+ heavy boxes of dinnerware was quite eye opening. No dishes will EVER be stored in our basement again!

If we had a home with a diningroom, I would keep the collection to just the hutch in there and a couple of cabinets in the kitchen. But we don't have a diningroom anyway.

I was thinking of you when I was purging the 3 shelves in our basement. You mentioned in another thread you have 5 shelving storage units and another hutch in your basement full of dinnerware/bakeware. I just can't even comprehend that much being used.

If you ever start purging any of it, quite honestly it will take a lot of heavy lifting. You have adult children that could help...right?

And after the dish purge, I feel a great deal better. It is so enjoyable now going in the basement...a sense of calm

@Susan Louise

Thanks for the reply!

I do rotate my dishes at least four times a year but yes, I have come to the point where some patterns never even see the light of day anymore. Even with the fact that in my kitchen/dining room at any given time, are complete sets in four or five patterns (not counting the patterns in the basement to get moved up in rotation) and I choose something different every day, it is still more that will get used.

I have Corelle in all the original 1970's patterns but had just started the spring green last year. I went down there today and gathered that pattern up and have it ready to take to the donation center tomorrow. There are only about 20 pieces, but I'm eliminating everything I have for that pattern and will not pursue collecting that one.

Three patterns in complete sets is more than enough. Blue for spring/summer, gold for fall and brown for winter.

I have a lot of sets of just the salad plates for various seasons, and that is something I need to deal with. I bet I have 6 or eight different patterns of just salad plates with nothing else to match them (except some have some matching mugs).

My thought process was 'how cute! These will be great to serve just cookies when guests come, or for dessert".

Well that worked out great when we had lots of family coming and a kid still at home. Many of the family have passed on, the kid grew up, and me and hubby don't need dessert!

I have started using a salad/dessert plate for my meals (I eat alone most of the time because of his odd work schedule), and will display a set of them or two at a time in the kitchen each holiday/season, but still, there are too many.

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
@Susan Louise wrote:
@Mominohio wrote:
@Susan Louise wrote:
Well, the basement has been purged twice over the past 4-5 weeks...oy! This last time though, it is complete and relieved looking much better than it has for about 10+ yrs.

All ready to be able to sow seeds soon. DH just has to set up the lights again either this weekend or next...

The kitchen & bathrooms are done...walls and everything.

Still on the list of major cleaning projects:

Removing all the artglass and cleaning curio/wall unit shelves in livingroom...

Complete cleaning needed in livingroom, bedroom and library room (our spare bedroom which is DH's computer room too...lol)...which includes washing walls, shampooing carpets and purging clothes closets...

@Susan Louise

Do you ever consider paring down considerably or totally eliminating your collection of art glass (you have a lot of Fenton, right?)?

I have a collection of salt glazed pottery and I really love it, and use some of it as well as have some for display. I have a couple of other smaller collections of things that I decorate with, and every once in awhile I consider moving them on (or at least most of them), simply to simplify my life a little (like you did recently with your dishes.....).

Have you ever considered this with your art glass? And what was the motivator for you to do so with your dishes. It always seemed you got such joy out of the dishes.

I kind of wonder what people consider when they are scaling back, just which items or categories to choose.

Still pondering some of my options!

@Mominohio Paring down the collection in the wall unit and curio cabinet...no.
Why? Because we love looking at the pieces. For about 11 of 12 months we have the lights on in the wall unit and curio cabinet so we can enjoy viewing all the pieces...truly candy to the eyes. Even DH enjoys looking at them and if I forget to turn on the lights at night, DH does

I would say about 65-70% are Fenton pieces. The rest are various depression era art glass/glass/carnival glass (or earlier turn of the century), porcelain, etc...

If you are wondering if I had any pieces that were stored in boxes or in the basement, had to narrow down/choose, I would save my faves and most valuable pieces and let the rest go by way of a local auction house/business.
Thankfully I don't have to choose. The only problem is that when we both pass, there is no children to pass the collection we do have, so they will be auctioned off and profits will go to our fave charities.

I still would not be bothered selling myself and certainly wouldn't have a garage sale.

As for my motivation with the dishes, I just started loathing the weight they had on me emotionally. I remember how It was fun collecting, but as the months passed, the joy of having so much started to lesson. It is beyond my comprehenshion that I actually collected beyond what fit in the kitchen and carried them downstairs to accumulate them on 3 shelves.

When I was collecting I remember how fun I thought it would be to mix and match so many types of patterns of dinnerware. I just didn't find a stopping point after a certain amount of accumulation.

My turning point actually began last Spring when I had to move so much stuff to get our tables ready for sowing seeds. The other half of our basement was a nightmare between all of the decor and 3 shelves of dinnerware which would have previously been used for moving of other things during that time period. I just had enough of the craziness.

I guess everyone just has their own turning point/rock bottom. I hit mine. Trudging up 7+ heavy boxes of dinnerware was quite eye opening. No dishes will EVER be stored in our basement again!

If we had a home with a diningroom, I would keep the collection to just the hutch in there and a couple of cabinets in the kitchen. But we don't have a diningroom anyway.

I was thinking of you when I was purging the 3 shelves in our basement. You mentioned in another thread you have 5 shelving storage units and another hutch in your basement full of dinnerware/bakeware. I just can't even comprehend that much being used.

If you ever start purging any of it, quite honestly it will take a lot of heavy lifting. You have adult children that could help...right?

And after the dish purge, I feel a great deal better. It is so enjoyable now going in the basement...a sense of calm

@Susan Louise

Thanks for the reply!

I do rotate my dishes at least four times a year but yes, I have come to the point where some patterns never even see the light of day anymore. Even with the fact that in my kitchen/dining room at any given time, are complete sets in four or five patterns (not counting the patterns in the basement to get moved up in rotation) and I choose something different every day, it is still more that will get used.

I have Corelle in all the original 1970's patterns but had just started the spring green last year. I went down there today and gathered that pattern up and have it ready to take to the donation center tomorrow. There are only about 20 pieces, but I'm eliminating everything I have for that pattern and will not pursue collecting that one.

Three patterns in complete sets is more than enough. Blue for spring/summer, gold for fall and brown for winter.

I have a lot of sets of just the salad plates for various seasons, and that is something I need to deal with. I bet I have 6 or eight different patterns of just salad plates with nothing else to match them (except some have some matching mugs).

My thought process was 'how cute! These will be great to serve just cookies when guests come, or for dessert".

Well that worked out great when we had lots of family coming and a kid still at home. Many of the family have passed on, the kid grew up, and me and hubby don't need dessert!

I have started using a salad/dessert plate for my meals (I eat alone most of the time because of his odd work schedule), and will display a set of them or two at a time in the kitchen each holiday/season, but still, there are too many.

@Mominohio After having more time to think about your question to me in a previous post:

"Do you ever consider paring down considerably or totally eliminating your collection of art glass (you have a lot of Fenton, right?)?"

I have some additional info to share with you and others who may be interested...

The collection of artglass and porcelain in the curio cabinet and wall unit will never be purged and if we ever move, both the curio cabinet and wall unit will be going with us along with all of it's contents.

The curio cabinet my husband bought for me for the collection and the wall unit we had custom made in 2013 which cost just a tad under $8,000. Over 10 pieces of artglass in the collection are valued at between $300 - $500+ and many are valued between $100 - $250+. There are over 300 pieces of artglass and the collection is also insured! Every single piece has it's own pic and documentation for records.

I thought I would clear that up for you that nothing pertaining to either of those pieces of furniture is considered clutter or in need of paring down...LOL

Clutter to me is 'stuff' that doesn't get used. By all the pieces in our livingroom being on display 24/7 - 365 days a year, and really appreciated 11 months each year by turning on the lights in the cabinets every evening except during the holidays when the Christmas decor lights are on. That is not clutter.

If I had collected pieces beyond what fits in either the wall unit or curio cabinet and was in the basement...in storage...out of sight, out of mind, out of daylight for any length of time, I would consider them clutter and then pare the collection down to what fit in both units in the livingroom.

As far as your collections you have...like your salt glazed pottery, only you can determine what is clutter and what isn't...no matter how much you love your collection/s. Are they all getting used? or only 1/2? most? Why keep the ones you don't use?

If you love the collection that much, why not find a home for them all and display them all like we do in our livingroom?

I had a collection of over 110 Hallmark ornaments I got rid of over 5 yrs ago now...only keeping one (the 1983 'Diana' doll) of them. I got rid of the colection because like the dishes, they started to wear me down, taking up prime real estate in our basement, and lost interest in them.

Additionally, most of the Hallmark ornaments were also too heavy for our Christmas tree. When I started to collect them I put them on my 'real' tree in my apt which had stronger limbs than the faux Christmas trees we have used in our home here.

So, the Hallmark ornaments became 'clutter' and I finally decided to let them go and have others enjoy them for what they were instead of them being boxed up and not being used. I gave them to the homeless and battered women's shelter.

So anyway, just trying to be helpful if you or anyone else is at a sticking point of paring down - purging 'stuff'.

If you or anyone needs a guide on paring down decor:

All of our decor now has a 'home' in our basement...either in a container, hanging on a wall, or on a shelf. Nothing is on the floor or haphazardly piled up. I don't have to move or climb over 10 things to get to anything I want to display/use...all easily accessable.

All of the decor is also 'stuff' I use...anything that hadn't been used in the past 3 years or I couldn't honestly visualize using within the next 2 years went bye-bye...no matter how much I loved it.

Ask yourself...if you love *fill in the blank* so much, why isn't it being used?

Anyway, HTH

Natasha218 · ‎07-23-2017

I plan to wait until Spring. Cleaning now is winter cleaning and I did that before holidays.

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@Natasha218 wrote:
I plan to wait until Spring. Cleaning now is winter cleaning and I did that before holidays.

@Natasha218 For some of us, now is the best time due to scheduling of other projects in the Spring...like gardening. Now is also a good time when the weather is real cold. When the weather warms up, being inside is the last place I want to be...

For those that live in the south I guess that wouldn't matter much.

I can only speak for myself though and I give myself til the end of January to finish cleaning/purging the entire house and decorate for Spring/Summer.

Then I start sowing seeds indoors and plan for gardening. By March I am outside prepping gardens, removing debris, etc. I also start feeding the Robins mealworms in March..they keep me busy...LOL

Some folks don't have gardens to worry about, birds to feed, or other similar things on their schedule.

Everyone must move to the beat and rhythm of their own drummer

Katcat1 · ‎07-21-2011

@Mominohio So far I cleaned under the sink in the bathroom. I need to do the linen closet. I started giving away clothes and still working on that. Tossed out shoes I no longer wear that are more than 3 years old. I lived in apt. and we have vertical blinds so no curtains. Still need to clean under the sink in kitchen and kitchen cabinets. I have a lot to do but I do one task at a time due to medical issues.

kindness is strength