Want to know why this photo makes me happy?
These things do not belong in there.
And yet . . . they fit.
Life happened and we needed new floors. Getting new floors meant moving my china cabinet. Moving my china cabinet meant getting my china out of it.
Last summer, I was leaving the country at the time when the first floors were going to be installed, so I wasn’t going to be there to supervise china-cabinet-moving. I probably wouldn’t have risked moving it with the china inside anyway, but I definitely wasn’t going to risk other people moving it without my supervision.
I combined my everyday dishes into two mismatched stacks, and moved my fancy stuff into those safe, unmovable cabinets.
And that was it.
I didn’t have to box anything up.
And when that room ended up being the last one to be re-floored in a long drawwwwnnnn out process, we were just fine with the temporary situation.
All that doesn’t make a very exciting story. BUT, if you know where I was years ago, you know why I was so excited.
I once had cabinets stuffed full of everyday dishes. And counters piled with dirty dishes. At the same time.
And if, back then, I was in this same situation (if . . . since I would avoid this floor-replacing situation), I would not have had a place for my fancy stuff.
I would have moved the plates and cups and gravy boats around or stacked them on the counter and thought mean thoughts about the dishes and myself every time I had to move them. Or I would have had to shove them somewhere where one or three or seven would likely have broken.
So I celebrated. In my heart, and now in the presence of the Internet.
Having room to do what I needed to do when I needed to do it in a way that kept everything safe and everyone sane was a very big deal.
For reference, here’s a photo of all the stuff I moved out of the china cabinet and placed in my kitchen cabinets.
I’m proud of me and jazzed about all the decluttering I’ve done and how it makes life easier.
Go me.
I couldn’t understand why my full cupboards got so messy from others. My husband explained that my cupboards were like playing tetris and no one had time for that game. So, I started weeding them out with everything I learn from you. Where I have successfully weeded my cupboards stay nice and my family helps. Where things are very crowded there is mess and back up and no help. Hmmmm. Less really is more; more help! Thank you Nonny
Excellent reference to Tetris. My husband and recently changed out diet so drastically that we use very few pans or dishes.
Only when we entertain would we need much more than we use now.
My kitchen and even pantry contain enough for two or three households of cooking and serving tools.
Needs a solid clean up (as life happens) to put away for gifts or give away/sell now.
Thanks for the reminder of the game we are still being annoyed by in the cabinets and shelves.
Go you, indeed! Yay! Something to emulate here…
Woohoo! High-five!
I love it. Great job! Question: what is that lovely shelf liner?
It’s whatever Walmart had in stock in ’06 when we moved into this house!
Whenever I see that shelf liner in one of your pictures, I get tears in my eyes. My mom used that same contact paper to cover some boxes. She has been gone for 4 1/2 years, and I still miss her so much.
Strong work!!! Don’t you just love it?!?! YOU GO GIRL!!
You Go Girl! 😃 Something for the rest of us to aim for….
I have the exact same china!!!
Oh that’s cool! I love it so much!
That is such an accomplishment!! I’m very happy for you! Thank you for sharing with us. Your honesty in your podcasts, blogs & books provide so much hope & aha learning moments! Thank you!
That is truly inspiring from where you were to where you are now. It’s given me hope that I can do it too & actually your post moved me (crying with relief) that it doesn’t have to be a mess & I just need to declutter at the speed of life; slow & steady. Thank you Dana x
I have decluttered my cabinets once but I know I need to do them again. Congratulations on new floors!!!
Question: Do you ever *use* the china? I want to pull ours out a few times a year for special occasions but never think of it…
I’m laughing to myself because, it’s because of you that I was able to bring my good dishes out of the basement. I don’t have a china cabinet and was just storing my dishes in the basement for special occasions. I couldn’t trust myself to have them in the main cabinet because I hadn’t yet learned the premade decision of taking care of dishes every night and every morning. Now that I have conquered the dishes dilemma, I don’t have to worry about anyone using them because there aren’t any other dishes available (clean). I can enjoy the view of my dishes daily without fear of a pile up.
“Find thyself a Teacher,” says the Talmud.
After trying everyone from the Flylady to the Clutterbug, I finally found YOU, Dana. Your humor, relaxed attitude, and ADD-friendly methods have been the game changer for me. You are such a gifted teacher! And I’m trying to be your A student! Thanks from the bottom of this slob’s heart!
Dana, I too have found peace in my kitchen again. It is going on a year of a decluttered kitchen. I do dishes once or twice a day and everything fits comfortably. If I am unwell or busy we can go two days on what I have available clean to use, and it feels wonderful. Peaceful – I no longer dread doing the dishes because it goes so fast.
Thank you again!
Wow! I’m impressed that you were able to get all of your “china cabinet” dishes into your kitchen cabinets! You go!
I’ve been reading your blog and books for a while now, and learning. I have 2 recent wins!
My lids drawer (this works best for me) had gotten over-full. I matched up the lids needed for the jars I keep for food storage, keeping some extras (because it’s not easy to find a particular-sized lid when there is only ONE in the drawer). Formerly, I would have dumped all the rest in a box “just in case I need them.” Because I already have such a box (that is full!), I decided to just TRASH the rest! That was about 2-3 quarts worth of lids! This is HUGE for me, the quintessential “just in case” keeper of all things.
Win 2: Recently, someone posted a need for school supplies in my Buy Nothing group. Knowing I had some 3-ring binders, I pulled the box down from the office closet shelf and that person took what she needed. More empty binders made up most of the rest of what was up there. Hubby suggested that my jigsaw puzzle collection could go on that shelf. I thought about it and decided to let the binders go. Thanks to a relative and my Buy Nothing group, the binders are going to new homes. My puzzles were stacked on top of boxes that were put in the office years ago to clear out another space. I had intentions of eliminating most of the contents of those boxes, but could not even get to them because of the puzzles. We’ve moved the puzzles to the shelf, and now I can get to the boxes to declutter them! This is exciting and I’m looking forward to getting on with the job. I have hopes of storing the laundry baskets in that space and (FINALLY!) getting them out of the living room!