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[Mominohio]

that after years of purging/down sizing/right sizing, you still don't have the kind of control over/results from, that you want to see. 

I didn't want to put this in the middle of the purging thread, so thought I'd start this one. 

Many of us have been weeding out the unneeded, unnecessary and unwanted things over the last few years, with varying levels of results. 

Many of us have one (or more!) areas that we still don't have in the condition we really want it to be. 

Care to share what yours is, why you think it is still hard for you to make it happen, and any plans to make it happen and how? 

My most pressing are actually two things.

Linens. Not full blown out of control, but still way more than I probably need. I have a hard time parting with good linens, as the more time goes on, the harder it is to find truly good quality ones (sheets, towels, blankets, quilts, etc.). 

Dishes. Not sure I'll ever get that one really under control. I love dishes and bakeware. I've gotten rid of some, but only a fraction of what probably should go. 

My plan for the two. 

Don't really have one that I'm committed to making work, other than severely limiting what comes in in those categories, and weeding out the truly worn out, chipped, damaged, thread bare, and not replacing.

[DrakesMomma]

For me it is pictures.  Real pictures.  Photographic pictures in frames on the wall.  And black only frames.    

[phoenixbrd]

@Mominohio  your post reminds me of a quote by Emerson,

To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.... (a bit of a paraphrase)

I've dealt with the easy releases, what I'm faced with now requires a plan of action, motivation, and courage.

[kittyloo]

dishes is a hard one for me. l feel the need to have absolutely every size and shape of plate, bowl, whatever. 

whenever i think "these should go" i'll even pick them up to go into the donation box, then think, they are so cute though. i may need them. when i do let them go, i always replace with something else. it's a never ending battle.

[queendiva]

@Mominohio: I am beginning to think we were separated at birth!

Dishes: Love them and used to have a ton. Got rid of most all during my previous move in 2006 when I decided I would be doing a lot less entertaining in a smaller home. Got rid of more last year. All the dishes I own fit on one shelf in one cabinet and were bought recently at thrift stores. I love and use them all, except for the Lenox Christmas pattern which I sold for five times what I paid at thrift.

Linens: My collection of fine linens is limited to napkins. They are housed in one shirt box. Manageable. Loved and used. I have no paper napkins in my house- never have.

I am sure I would have trouble parting with beautiful quilts. I am still using the same winter comforter and matching curtains for my bedroom purchased and used every fall/winter since 1997- I love them that much and they have matched my decor in 3 different homes with 3 different color schemes.

I have 3 large bins full of jar candles- close to 50 of them. No more permitted to enter the house. 

The collection I love and continue to add to: handbags. Carefully curated. I love every one and never rule out a new one, unless it's over a certain price point. I have many Dooneys and love them. I parted with many prior to my move and have purchased 5 in the past 2 months! Irresistable sales. I can probably release a couple of them, probably not 5. All are stored/ displayed on closet shelves and all get used.

I also have too many coats and shoes. Not adding to either collection and can probably pare them down minimally. I will see what was not worn at the end of the season. My stash of beauty products is also larger than it could be.

I think that's it.

[gidgetgh]

Hmmm..... I don't know that I can pinpoint something that's TOO over the top, but a few areas I'm sure I'll tweak more as I go on:

Kitchen glasses- there are 2 of us.  We only have family over at Christmas if it's our year to host.  I mean, really, how many drinking glasses do we need?  But, I kind of go by Marie Kondo's Konmari method.  The glasses we have bring me joy.  All of them.  I've toyed with the idea of donating 8 brand new, never used, pretty acrylic glasses that I got from Bed Bath and Beyond summer of 2017, but I still hold on to them but I've looked at them a few times in the last two weeks and, if the normal pattern follows, that means they're on my mind and I'm getting close to donating them.  If we actually DID have anyone over, I'd use those.  But I'm really, really, really close to donating them.  I'm big on acrylic glasses and this would at least get 8 out of there.

Christmas decorations/ornaments/tree- compared to many families, we have just about nothing.  But we haven't put a tree up in 3 years and I haven't missed it to be honest.  I need to have my husband bring the one large container of ornaments out of the small attic space accessible through our bedroom closet so that I can get rid of more and move what I DO keep to the basement.  Again, in the grand scheme, we don't have much, but I've been procrastinating on this.  We also have 2 small trees.  I want to donate at least 1.

The Konmari method talks about your "click point".  The point at which you feel you have just enough of whatever item.  But I think the click point is an ever changing thing.  Like the kitchen glasses.  I thought I was at my click point, but now I'm not.

For other categories, purses are a continual review and sell/donate thing for me.  I'm a purse person, but I'm changing the inventory frequently.  I have way less purses than I used to have and I'm trying to get the collection down even more.  I'm not at my click point yet.

Oh.... and we do have way too much Tupperware/plastic storage stuff for, again, two people.  But it's all really really organized and I like all of it so I have no plans right now to reduce the inventory.

[GenXmuse]

Dishes here for me too! I’m not ready! But I seriously need another china cabinet. 

[Still Raining]

I am remarkably purged and in the process I did best if I defined how many/what I wanted to be left with rather what I wanted to purge.

A few years ago when I moved I decided that only what could be arranged on the new walls would be kept.  No more storage.  I also decided that I did not want any bookcases, ergo no books.  I only need 12 placements of dishes, period.

Still had some tears, but was done.

Admit shoes may be an issue, sigh.

[loriqvc]

For me, it's serving pieces—I am slightly obsessed with having just the right sizes, shapes, and colors of bowls, platters, and such for entertaining, so I've accumulated quite a collection over the years. The problem? I entertain less than half as much as I used to, so the primary purpose for these items now is making me smile when I open my "party cupboard." Granted, that's nice, but I sometimes feel guilty about keeping so much, especially when the majority of the items are large and take up a lot of space.

I am definitely still at the point where I'm unwilling to let many of my treasures go, though I do sell or give away a few every year; my solution right now is just to not buy more. I'm doing pretty well at that lately, particularly since I adopted the mantra, "That is beautiful/such a great idea, but I don't need to own it." If I make myself say that out loud when I encounter a great new find, it really does stop me in my tracks for long enough to think things through.

Good luck with your quest, @Mominohio! 

[Mom2Dogs]

Not to gloat...ha, ha...but I don't have excess of anything...and I am being honest.  I purged years ago and got rid of unnecessary stuff and never looked back.  What I have in the house...linens, dishes, etc. is everything I want, in good shape, etc.  The problem is I'd like to have some new things but my neat-nick personality keeps me from buying 'cause I don't know what I would do with the item I am replacing the new one with......I have a decent size home roughly 1800 sq ft. but I don't have linen closets, a walk in closet or pantry to store things in.

I did mention on another thread that I needed to go thru my closet..but I really don't have a huge amount of unused clothes, I just 'feel' like I should thin things out....I think I need therapy.