Jump to content

Menu

just curious: would you do it?


Recommended Posts

We've been remodeling our kitchen, doing it ourselves (which means it's been dragging out for months). Many of our things were put in boxes and stored in the room right next to the kitchen, where we could get to them as needed. We're nearly finished and there are some boxes that are FULL of things that we never needed. I am SO tempted to just donate the boxes- we don't use these things! But when I look inside, there are pots or gadgets or whatever and I think about the money spent on those things. But my kitchen is so much nicer not having all that unused clutter.

 

So yes, if you could bring yourself to do it, it will set you free. And maybe I'd be inspired to actually take my boxes to donate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No. Nothing matches anymore, I am over it. I have better things to do and way more important ways to spend a dollar or two. During the recession I decided to focus on making my life more fun. We can eat on Corell that doesn't match and I shall go kayaking. :D

 

Oh, I hadn't thought of it that way- I just thought that there were unused and missing pieces cluttering up the kitchen. No, I don't care about matching stuff or having everything look just so. I wouldn't toss things just to bring more into the house. That's just repeating the cycle and costing more money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We all have different ways of staying calm and getting thru our day. Clutter and chaos, and mismatched things make me nuts. I am truly messy when I cook, bake, sew, craft, etc. But I have to find the bottom of it to get motivated to go on to the next. I dislike mismatching measureing cups, silverware and glassware.

 

When we remodeled our kitchen, I really went thru things and got rid of stuff I was not using. I still filled up my new kitchen, but what's in there is used and not just taking up space. I recently chucked a ton of my old Tupperware and bought the new Rubbermaid that stacks and the lids fit more than one piece. I now have a drawer of Rubbermaid that stays organized and I have 2-3 times as much stuff in it!

 

If having things matching keeps you going and you can afford it, move it out and buy new. Donate it and tax the tax benefit and bless someone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. That's just repeating the cycle and costing more money.

 

I agree in general with this. But, when we moved it just wasn't worth it to box up our assortment of dishes and glasses. We brought our small appliances and good cookware pieces. Having a new set of cutlery has been oddly satisfying. Our dishes have grown a bit mismatched already though and I find drinking glasses eventually need to be replaced if they don't end up breaking within about 3 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

Everything I have in the kitchen is fairly old. I still use the dinner dishes I bought when I first moved out of my parents' house 22 years ago; one plate is missing, I can live with that. The breakfast dishes DH gave me for my birthday 15 years ago; a few chipped edges, but that's it.

I will use those until so much is broken that it won't be sufficient for a dinner party. I'd rather spend my money on other things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably not. I would rather spend that money on other things. Every 2 years or so I do go through the tupperware cabinet and get rid of pieces that don't have a lid, or have a lid with no bottom piece, and buy another small set. That is just because they aren't useful without the other piece though, not because things are mismatched.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm. I don't know. It depends on how mismatched, and what was lollygagging around broken, and not being used.

 

If you want to start somewhere, I would suggest scouring thriftstores and concentrating on, say, china with flowers. Then it will be mismatched, but themed the same and so the mismatch won't matter.

 

Cutlery is expensive, and mine is mismatched, but again, within a theme, so it goes. :001_smile: I'm not one for gadgets. THough I often wish I could think up one and become a millionaire.

 

So I guess would I pitch it all? Probably not, I'd ease it out. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends.

Bad pots and pans? Toss, or consign to the camping box (because if they get ruined over an open fire you can just toss them.)

 

Duplicates of mixing bowls and measuring equipment? I actually like having these so I don't have to keep washing while I'm cooking.

 

Seasonal stuff I only use once a year? Put in the basement, in clearly labelled boxes.

 

Odd glasses or plates? Donate. Get what you really want and use that. It will give you a lift. Or, if you have 'good china' that you never use, rotate a little of it into your everyday use. I did that with exactly 4 dinner plates, and love it every time I use them.

 

Old lead crystal? Donate. It's not safe.

 

When you've culled the stock, organize your kitchen cabinets in such a way so that the most often used stuff is easiest to reach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a dream world where money wasn't an issue I would. Except my plates. I have 3 different styles. I'm sentimentally attached to 2 of them. One is my great-grandmother's Blue Willow pattern that my grandmother bought me for my college graduation, and the other is a set of china salad plates that were my grandmothers. Oh and I'd probably keep my SS BLUE Willow cookware. Oh, and I like the silverware my mother bought me and my cutlery. Hmmm, on second thought may its just the plethora of plastic ware that bugs me. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did go through everything and donate or toss any pots/storage dishes that were missing a lid (and lids that were missing a pot/dish). We still have too many. If it's up to me, nobody will ever buy another pot/pan/dish for this household.

 

I don't care about matching pretties. I'm just tired of having to try to fit everything into the cupboards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had one item on occassion that I have hated, and gone out and replaced. e.g. baking pans. Never the whole kitchen at once. we have bought replacement pots, and gotten rid of most of what we had.

 

Mostly, dh buys kitchen stuff. He bought himself a set of wusthof for his birthday. wow. just, wow. :svengo:are my two henckles that dull (they are regularly sharpened), or are wusfthof just that much better? only, he *won't* get rid of his set of chicago's/henckles. He wants both sets. :glare: please, I want breathing room . . . . . . seriously, there is only so much room in my kitchen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many years ago I tossed all the plastic ware I had in a box and gave it to a teen that was moving out of her house.

 

I have an OCD thing about matching dishes/silverware/glasses so I make sure to buy 16 place settings at a time and use them until we get down to 8 settings (breakage/chips etc). Then I donate them to another teen :).

 

I don't really buy a lot of gadgets but I have some. I keep the ones I don't use all the time in a plastic tub in my pantry. That way it isn't in the way, but I can still get to it if I need to. Things like the candy thermometer, extra ladles, canning jar funnel etc that I want to keep but only use on rare occasion.

 

My ceramic mixing bowls are all white and stack. My colander stacks with my mixing bowls (I took one colender back to the store when I figured out it wouldn't stack). All my glass storage containers are rectangular Pyrex with the plastic lids. They all fit neatly into one drawer.

 

I tossed all plastic juice pitchers (another teen :) ) and bought two identical glass ones.

 

I even gave my old pans to a neighbor one day. We had too many and she had thin pans that burned everything.

 

Giving things away, makes me feel like the items are still out living a good life....but not cluttering up my kitchen in the meanwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One possible alternative is to store the less-frequently-needed items in a box in the garage or somewhere, to avoid the clutter.

 

Many of my bowls, pans, and things are wedding gifts or hand-me-downs from my grandparents' estates. Married 26 years, so things are aging (just like me)!

 

Living with 5 kids means things break, so I'm always going to have mismatched glasses, etc. With guests, I usually serve the adults on our nicer plates and the kids the plastic ones!

 

But this has given me food for thought. Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you, in a fit of disgust, pitch everything in your kitchen and start over?

 

Keep the stoneware and certain cookware pieces and just pitch the rest?

 

I'm just overwhelmed with pieces missing and lots of other little things.

 

But would you?

 

I think you do have to have a clear out now and again. I wouldn't go nuts - just pick one thing - like cooking utensils - go through them and decide which you use, which you never choose, etc. Cull what isn't making you happy to have, and donate. While you're at it, make a wish list of what you'd like to have, and start keeping an eye out for it. Be very, very picky, and don't settle. I looked at a lot of stainless soup ladles, over a year or two, until I found exactly what I wanted. It makes me happy every time I use it. Once you've acquired a thing or two on the list, cull that category again. The goal isn't to acquire more stuff, it's to have a few things of very good quality and design that make you happy when you use them.

 

Then choose another category - plastic ware, cooking pots, glasses, and so on. Cull, upgrade to quality, cull again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do occasionally forget that I am permitted to replace some of the kitchen things I've had for 30 years (and most of which belonged to my grandmother for decades before she gave them to me). My husband was just noting that our measuring spoons are peeling, dented, and, most significantly, missing the teaspoon. It just never occurred to me to buy another set. Maybe today!

 

But my old-school Pyrex, so ancient I've had to redraw the lines with nail polish, is getting buried with me. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you do have to have a clear out now and again. I wouldn't go nuts - just pick one thing - like cooking utensils - go through them and decide which you use, which you never choose, etc. Cull what isn't making you happy to have, and donate. While you're at it, make a wish list of what you'd like to have, and start keeping an eye out for it. Be very, very picky, and don't settle. I looked at a lot of stainless soup ladles, over a year or two, until I found exactly what I wanted. It makes me happy every time I use it. Once you've acquired a thing or two on the list, cull that category again. The goal isn't to acquire more stuff, it's to have a few things of very good quality and design that make you happy when you use them.

 

Then choose another category - plastic ware, cooking pots, glasses, and so on. Cull, upgrade to quality, cull again.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

Go through your things. Keep what delights you. Let the rest bless someone else via donation, garage sale, or whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One year we replaced our dishes with ones we love. One year our pots. One year I bought new cooking utensils. And so on. New dish towels. New wash cloths. So we do it in fits and spurts, but we do it. I enjoy the look of matching stuff and the quality of better stuff and my original stuff was mostly cheap junk. Slowly replacing has worked for us and keeps it looking nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on what pieces you are talking about.

 

I don't mind mismatched pots and pans, especially the ones for heating soup. I do mind hanging onto extra lids for anything (pots, Tupperware, etc.).

 

I did get rid of all of my older nonstick pieces, even the nicer ones. I am making do with SS and cast iron.

 

One way to purge is to take everything out of your cabinets and only put back in what you use. If it doesn't have a lid, or you have extra lids you do not use, donate or trash. I use more of my appliances and special pots and pans when my cabinets aren't cluttered with things I might use eventually.

 

I have a large family with little ones, so a lot of broken glasses. I do enjoy every few years getting new matching glasses at TJMaxx. I love how it looks to open a cabinet and see matching glasses. But, I can't stay too attached to that because they will get broken and there will be sippy cups in the cabinet. :tongue_smilie:

Edited by besroma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, could never afford it.

I wouldn't even want to go shopping for every single thing I like to have in a kitchen. ... If you have stuff you dislike and don't use, get rid of it. I don't see how replacing everything is simple.

 

I've got beat up measuring cups. They've been down the garbage disposal! I don't want to pay $15 for a new set. So I am keeping them.

 

I have a ton of different plates. I also got a few more, plus some bowls, when an acquaintance moved back to his home country. I don't really worry too much about it. Anyone who doesn't like it can buy me new ones!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you, in a fit of disgust, pitch everything in your kitchen and start over?

 

Keep the stoneware and certain cookware pieces and just pitch the rest?

 

I'm just overwhelmed with pieces missing and lots of other little things.

 

But would you?

 

Nope, but getting rid of things is not my strong suit. I would rather go through the kitchen and get rid of the things that need replaced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you, in a fit of disgust, pitch everything in your kitchen and start over?

 

Keep the stoneware and certain cookware pieces and just pitch the rest?

 

I'm just overwhelmed with pieces missing and lots of other little things.

 

But would you?

 

No way...I have only the stuff I love to use in my kitchen now. I weeded out everything that wasn't important in the last 25 years and I only have the best stuff now. :D I give stuff to my girls all the time that I don't use anymore...makes for a lovely kitchen now. I also love mis-matched stuff...very martha stewartish...;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...