We're moving next week, so we've been in the throes of packing up after living here for ten years. Our apartment is not cluttered and I am organized, but we've still managed to accumulate a whole dining room full of stuff to give away.
Let's start with clothes. We've all heard the rule if you haven't worn it in a year and a half, get rid of it. What makes us, then, hold on to the bulky sweaters bought in anticipation of going to a football game, except we haven't gone to one since high school?
Why on earth did we buy six ill-fitting galabayas (they were cheap!) in Egypt? Do we really think we're going to wear those six-inch green leather boots again? What made us think a bright turquoise leather jacket, bought in the straw market in Florence, was a good idea? When there is a fabulous sale at Macy's, why do we fall for the three for the price of two bargains when we didn't even need one to begin with?
When you travel it is tempting to buy items that remind you of the places you've been. Be careful. Will that four-foot carved giraffe really find a place in your home? Those marble chopsticks look beautiful, but do you need twelve sets? Do those African masks really work with your country French tables? Are you actually going to wear a sari? A brightly colored muumuu? English teapots are beautiful, but isn't one enough? How many bars of lavender or olive oil soaps, intended as gifts, are still in your gift drawer, along with silk scarves and ethnic necklaces?
It's time to get rid of all those VHS tapes, too. In the age of iTunes, should we hang on to all our CD's? And photographs! Do yourself a favor and throw away all your photos of unidentified people and scenery. You can't remember who or where it was and no one else will ever care.
Paperback books should be recycled. How is it possible to accumulate over one hundred pens but not one can be found when you need it? Paper clips? Boxes of staples? And cords! A whole boxful of them with no idea where they go or what they do. Where did all the letter openers come from?
How many sets of sheets are actually used, assuming they are changed once a week and you have a washer-dryer? That NYC street fair might have been selling 400-count king-sized sheet sets for twenty dollars, but really, aren't they just taking up space in the linen closet?
I do house clean-outs fairly often so I am astounded by the amount of stuff we have. In the USA, charities abound that come to your home to collect donated items. It is different in the UK, or at least in London. I could not find one charity to do so. There are also strict rules: no furniture is accepted unless it has a fire tag on it. I unknowingly cut the fire tags off a long time ago. No electrical items can be accepted because they might be faulty and the recipient could get a shock (I'm not kidding). I was able to take books and tapes to a local Oxfam.
The rest? We had to call a home clearance business that charged us to haul away (and they will later sell) all the things we thought we couldn't live without.
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