Help! What have I done?.....

If you are one of those super duper, tidy, organised, "no clutter" people, then you might want to close out of my blog now! This is a post where I am not going to bare my soul, but I am going to bare my kitchen and the contents of some of the cupboards. 

It all started with this corner kitchen cupboard, which I have hated intensely disliked, forever. I can't see to the back, so it's hard to find things, and there is so much in there, I have to close the door quick before it falls out. Every so often, (well rarely) it gets cleaned out and repacked, but that only lasts until you use things and then it all happens again. So I decided I would like a new kitchen. A lovely corner pantry cupboard, and some overhead cupboards to store the "stuff" that I could not fit anywhere, like the pots on the top of the stove, because my saucepan cupboard was full. 

But, instead of the kitchen happening, the bathroom was redone, and the rest of the house was painted and sorted. And now that the kitchen is about to happen, I am a bit "over it". I have 3 weeks to sort all this stuff out, get the cupboards taken out, and paint the dining room and some of the kitchen!! I thought that would be heaps of time, but after my little efforts this afternoon, I have realised maybe not.

And this is a view of my kitchen taken from the dining room. Sorry it is very messy, but housework has taken a back burner for awhile now! And one cupboard has already been taken from the wall on the right, so that stuff is on the benches. I am feeling a tad depressed just looking at the photo!

This morning I brought a trestle in from the shed, and put it in the lounge where the dining table has been moved too, and started to empty things ready to sort. I hope anyone doesn't want to watch TV anytime soon!

This is where I started. This kitchen cabinet was an "extravagant" purchase when we were married. We were looking at buying a kitchen table, and found one for $41. It was white, with 4 orange chairs. (In the 70"s!) We saw this cabinet, that was white, with orange drawers, and both loved it. It had a price tag of $100, so we were being very brave by deciding to buy it. It has moved to every house we have lived in during the last 42 1/2 years. (Long ago, the orange drawers were painted white!)And now I have mixed feelings, because there is no room for it in the renovations. I won't dispose of it, but it will go to the shed, where everything goes that I don't know what to do with!! 

I am not good at throwing things out, and have kept lots over the years. But how can you throw these things out. They were all wedding presents in 1973? I know a lady who could sort this out for me in a flash, and she would not think twice about letting them go. But I would have to follow her to the rubbish bin and bring it all back again!! I have used some of the sweets dishes for catering at The Sanctuary, for special desserts, but some of the glasses have never been used. There used to be a matching blue jug for the glasses, but that must have broken, and the glasses are full of dust, so have not been used recently, if at all.

These are too precious to get rid of. The cups and saucers belonged to my grandmother, and we use those for quilting weekends, when we have special 'high teas'. The green set at the back belonged to my great uncle, and he gave me the whole set after his wife died, and they had no children. I have to confess that being green, it was not a favourite and I used some it, and even used saucers as drainers under pot plants!! I am horrified now, because I realise that it is of some value. I had no appreciation of this as a young bride.

These shelves are mostly wedding presents as well. And a few dishes that belonged to my grandmother. Some of these are still in the original boxes, and do get used for special high teas too. Do you remember the Hollywood, and the Bessemer and the Corningware from the 70's? All this is covered in dust as the cupboard louvre doors let in all the grime. It is getting easier as I type this to put it in the shed!!

How many mugs should be taking up space in the cupboard? We don't use any of these, and I have a box full still in the shed of the ones we used across the road, that have not been brought into the kitchen yet. Some of these are children's mugs, so maybe I need to consult my family about whether they want them?? Otherwise I could easily let these go.

These dust covered tea pots, that were wedding presents, have never been used, so I could easily let these go too.

 And this is my recipe book collection. Time soon to go through these and keep what I want. Meanwhile, they will go into a box to be sorted later.

 I still have all the plates etc from across the road that are in the shed, so I think I could get quite ruthless with a lot of this. (Well, maybe?)

As I am typing this, I am thinking that if I can offload some of this stuff, then maybe the rest would fit into the cupboard space I have, and I won't need more cupboards!!??

This is only a small peep into my cupboards and if you have read this far, I hope you are not too dismayed. Over the last few years, life has been so busy, that things have got rather disorganised, and I will be so pleased when the renos are finished, and my house is sorted. But in saying that, I realise I have a lot of personal things in my bedroom to sort and get into order.

Anyhow, I have got that off my mind now, and shown you a glimpse into my chaos. It will be good when it is all done, and then I hope my blogs will be more about what I am sewing, which will be more interesting than in my cupboards!!

Blessings,
From Jude