I have never had a subscription to a cooking magazine - the only subscription I did have was to Illuminatrice, an Italian lighting magazine, and that was at work. The only magazines that I buy at the newsstand are Italian design magazines, some of which are quite expensive (I used to buy men's Italian fashion magazines, when I was more fashionable), and I have saved every one of them. I also buy Architectural Digest, Interiors, Veranda, etc. when they publish photos of my furniture designs, and I keep these also. My old magazine collection takes up one shelf in my garage, and I do refer to the Italian magazines from time to time for inspiration. I do collect clutter, but books and magazines are not part of that. I have one shelf of cookbooks in the hall next to the kitchen. I once bought a magazine on Feng Shui, but I decided that the magazine was clutter and got rid of it. I spent last week-end trying to declutter my bedroom because I also bought a new mattress that will be delivered tomorrow, and I want my room to look nice. Yesterday I made a runner with the fabric left over from making new drapes for my bedroom (to be able to block out light) and put it on the wide dresser beside my bed. The dresser on the other side of my bed has a runner I made from fabric left over from when I made my bedspread. I find that decorating or trying to coordinate rooms helps me get rid of clutter. However, I did put a bunch of books on the wide dresser using bookends. I don't have room for another bookcase. If I need to get more books, I will get rid of old ones that I have. Lately I have been buying and reading books on Anthropology and early human evolution. I read them at night to help me get to sleep, and so it takes a while to get through them. I cannot stand to watch Hoarders, but I will watch Clean House if I need inspiration to declutter. Making my house and yards look as beautiful as possible is one of my top priorities, and this helps me let go of clutter. I haven't gotten rid of it altogether, however, and so I think it is an on-going process. I have a hard time getting rid of old clothes that no longer fit, and I am convinced that sometime in the near future, they will fit again. Anyway, that is my goal. They may be terribly out of style or inappropriate by that time, however. Getting rid of old clothes is my biggest problem. One of the things I came across yesterday while decluttering was a printout from a Cooking Forum thread from 2005 that I started asking what was in everyone's freezer. It included a post by Ann_T on pitahaya (I happened to have some in my freezer at the time) that she had copied and pasted, bad Google translation and all. The translation was hysterically funny. Lars

Marie - Progress! Itn't it great? ********************* The newspapers need to go! Are there any drop-off bins for them? If you find a bin along a route you often take, you can mke it go along with shopping ... papers go out to make room for groceries in. If your area is just not easy to recycle in, and there are no organizations that have "paper drives" ... trash them. ADS: The ads are short-term promotions. There will be more with the next newspaper. Would this work? 1. Coupons for things you buy? Cut them out and put them in a coupon wallet. Discard the rest of the ads. 2. Ads for things you need REAL SOON! Clip the ad for that thing and put it in your wallet as a reminder to buy it. Discard the rest of the ads. Throw out the ad as soon as you buy the product. 3. Ads for things you will need eventually (if you are planning a remodel or refurnish), or ads for "I can make that!" items. Clip the ad for that thing and put it in a folder labeled "Future Furniture" or whatever as a reminder to buy it. Discard the rest of the ads. Notice that you are only keeping the few square inches of paper that is of interest, not 8 sheets of it. With this approach, I turn a stack of Sunday ads into 15-20 coupons, and maybe a clip in a file folder of gardening ideas. A whole home and garden magazine becomes a few additions to the recipe folder and a clipping in a "How to" folder. ******** "filled a large garbage bag with unneeded stuff. It's in the corner of the garage for now because there are things in there that my kids might need for their kitchens." How old are the kids? Unless they are within a year or so of moving out, the stuff might not be worth the space it's taking up. And storing in bags doesn't work well - they don't stack tidily and the stuff breaks. If it's worth keeping, store it securely in boxes that stack. ********* "5-drawer filing cabinet" Storing at the point of need tends ot keep clutter down more than a huge storage place that isn't convenient.

cpartist why would you want to run all the way to the garage to get a step stool Thank you, Claire. The door to the garage is right next to my kitchen so no running. And I live in FL so it's not like it's a problem with cold air. Heat yes. Cold no. There is a space right next to the steps that lead down for a hook on the wall for the step stool. It's really not an issue as I had thought it might be. cpartist does this tall cabinet actually exist in the kitchen where you are able to add a bar above cabinets and have the ladder tucked away when it’s not in use. Yes it does but as noted in the drawing that is a wall up against it. Plus there is no room. Also my kitchen is mostly finished. The cabinet peeking out on the left below is the cabinet you circled. The wall next to it juts out 24" to frame in the nook with the buffet. To the right of the buffet is the door to the garage.

I realize it's a vague statement. I mean it has a more delicate look in an aesthetic sense. It's not a big heavy clumsy look. The actual feel is very solid with good workmanship. Does that make sense? Maybe a comparison would be, it looks like a ballet dancer as opposed to a country milkmaid (but they both have the strength to do what they do). By the burner issue, I mean, that I find it so much easier to wipe clean the spatter on a glass cooktop than oil and grease spatters on burner grates. I have had a beautiful viking gas cooktop in another house and I hated lifting and cleaning the heavy grates every time I used the cooktop. I didn't mean that the propane creates any issues or dirt. Please let me know what you think after seeing it.