Today In Decluttering
Jul. 20th, 2025 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutBecause folks need to maneuver sheetrock through my second floor hallway (up one stair, around a corner, down a hall, around another corner, up another stair), I am clearing out as much space as possible for them to move. The hall was already mostly clear, except for the almost-a-room alcove on one end, where there was a treadmill and two bookcases. And a TV. We really packed a lot of stuff into our house. I’m really feeling it right now.
Anyway.
I have permission from the kids to dispose of the speakers they built in shop class in high school. I’ve otherwise cleared off one very tall bookcase, and it just needs to head to the basement pending a disposal decision. It may go to friends of ours. Otherwise, it’s either list it on FB Marketplace (maybe) or donate it to HG (probably). It’s risky listing large items like this on FB because I don’t want to deal with someone showing up with an inadequate transportation plan. Altho honestly, I’ve been stupid lucky so far.
The other bookcase is where some of the contents of that first bookcase went. Most of the contents have been listed on FB and have been moving steadily out the door, which is awesome. I’m currently putting a lot of the remaining books in my car to go to the book donation bin, altho a few went upstairs to the bookshelves there, what remains of a once vast physical book library. I hate to do it, but there are some items that I just can’t bring myself to get rid of (in this case, my oz paperbacks from when I was a child).
I’m mostly waiting on a decision from the friends (who have a son who still likes physical books) regarding how many and which bookcases they want for their living room renovation. There’s no particular reason to rush, and it would be incredibly satisfying for my bookcases to go to them. So many of my bookcases over the years have gone to friends’ libraries, and it always makes me so happy and according to the various friends, it’s made them pretty happy, too.
I’ve got a knee that is freaking out about all the stairs I’ve been doing, but other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. Each layer that I excavate and figure out what to do with is that tiny bit more freeing, even when another plastic crate (in this case, containing lego instruction booklets) lands in my office with no clear plan.
ETA: 7’ bookcase is not only emptied, it is in the garage, awaiting a verdict from the B.’s about whether they want 7’, 6’, 5’ or 54” tall bookcases and how many. Once they have a decision, I’ll have to clear off whatever else they’ve picked and get it out the door. I have one empty 54” and an almost empty 5’ case For Reasons, so Murphy’s Law says they will pick the 6’ cases.
ETAYA: Both bookcases (the 7’ and a 5’) are in the garage. I’m starting to disassemble lego and list it on FB marketplace, and while I’m mostly doing small stuff right now (a 12 in 1, some brickheadz, I am groot), it’s clearing out space on top of furniture notably on bookshelves on the main floor that may be getting reshuffled soon. I’ve really taken to heart A.Y.’s advice to heavily declutter as part of the Figure Out Where All the Stuff We Want to Keep Will Go in the New Place. It was tough getting started, but I’m really rolling now, and no one is freaking out (yet).
We’ll see how tomorrow goes. There are a _lot_ of pickups scheduled, and in theory the sheet rock folks are coming, so it’s going to be kinda nuts around here. I have warned most of the people picking up that if the driveway is full they should park around the corner and I’ll walk the item out to them.
Oh, and unrelated, H.S. in Seattle found some voorraadbussen at a thrift shop, and we were puzzling out what the labels meant. Kruitnoot was mysterious, but turns out to be a regional term for nutmeg in the past. Along the way, I reached out to B.L., one of my sources for All Weird Questions Dutch Adjacent, and we chatted for a bit which we have not done in a while. That conversation involved a lot of odd herbs and spices, and as a result of that, I’ve ordered seeds for lovage, chervil and watercress. I’m going to attempt a fall crop and see how it goes.
Anyway.
I have permission from the kids to dispose of the speakers they built in shop class in high school. I’ve otherwise cleared off one very tall bookcase, and it just needs to head to the basement pending a disposal decision. It may go to friends of ours. Otherwise, it’s either list it on FB Marketplace (maybe) or donate it to HG (probably). It’s risky listing large items like this on FB because I don’t want to deal with someone showing up with an inadequate transportation plan. Altho honestly, I’ve been stupid lucky so far.
The other bookcase is where some of the contents of that first bookcase went. Most of the contents have been listed on FB and have been moving steadily out the door, which is awesome. I’m currently putting a lot of the remaining books in my car to go to the book donation bin, altho a few went upstairs to the bookshelves there, what remains of a once vast physical book library. I hate to do it, but there are some items that I just can’t bring myself to get rid of (in this case, my oz paperbacks from when I was a child).
I’m mostly waiting on a decision from the friends (who have a son who still likes physical books) regarding how many and which bookcases they want for their living room renovation. There’s no particular reason to rush, and it would be incredibly satisfying for my bookcases to go to them. So many of my bookcases over the years have gone to friends’ libraries, and it always makes me so happy and according to the various friends, it’s made them pretty happy, too.
I’ve got a knee that is freaking out about all the stairs I’ve been doing, but other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. Each layer that I excavate and figure out what to do with is that tiny bit more freeing, even when another plastic crate (in this case, containing lego instruction booklets) lands in my office with no clear plan.
ETA: 7’ bookcase is not only emptied, it is in the garage, awaiting a verdict from the B.’s about whether they want 7’, 6’, 5’ or 54” tall bookcases and how many. Once they have a decision, I’ll have to clear off whatever else they’ve picked and get it out the door. I have one empty 54” and an almost empty 5’ case For Reasons, so Murphy’s Law says they will pick the 6’ cases.
ETAYA: Both bookcases (the 7’ and a 5’) are in the garage. I’m starting to disassemble lego and list it on FB marketplace, and while I’m mostly doing small stuff right now (a 12 in 1, some brickheadz, I am groot), it’s clearing out space on top of furniture notably on bookshelves on the main floor that may be getting reshuffled soon. I’ve really taken to heart A.Y.’s advice to heavily declutter as part of the Figure Out Where All the Stuff We Want to Keep Will Go in the New Place. It was tough getting started, but I’m really rolling now, and no one is freaking out (yet).
We’ll see how tomorrow goes. There are a _lot_ of pickups scheduled, and in theory the sheet rock folks are coming, so it’s going to be kinda nuts around here. I have warned most of the people picking up that if the driveway is full they should park around the corner and I’ll walk the item out to them.
Oh, and unrelated, H.S. in Seattle found some voorraadbussen at a thrift shop, and we were puzzling out what the labels meant. Kruitnoot was mysterious, but turns out to be a regional term for nutmeg in the past. Along the way, I reached out to B.L., one of my sources for All Weird Questions Dutch Adjacent, and we chatted for a bit which we have not done in a while. That conversation involved a lot of odd herbs and spices, and as a result of that, I’ve ordered seeds for lovage, chervil and watercress. I’m going to attempt a fall crop and see how it goes.