Pinch, that is the reason I'm tossing stuff. No kids and substantial $ and not knowing where they will go. We'll figure it out! Anyway, only 1 set of dishes here because there is no where to store another set. Two sets of 8 glasses that get replaced bout every 5 years. Lots of wine glasses but they break with use. They get replaced too. Jelly glasses? I've only started making jams/jellies so only have 6 of those. Honest to pete, I'm finding I have empty space in my cupboards and in the pantry. This is good!

Have a wonderful Easter!

I have lots of empty space, too, but jeeze! 70 glasses? And the diagonal uppers. Big mistake. I like to buy a couple of plates and bowls every now and then just for pretty but I sure don't need multiple sets! I have a dishwasher and if all else fails, there were paper plates left over from the remodel. The second hand stores are full of dish sets. I guess I'll add a few more to their shelves. And throw in some glasses, too.
If only I would keep the space allotted in the garage for resale stuff I could amass enough to have a sale of my own. I start out great and then about 2 boxes later decide I won't ever have enough for my own sale and take it to goodwill. If I do that every year, it wouldn't take long to have enough for my own sale. Of course there's the "misplaced" issue. Somehow a few things always escape the box and I find them a month later. Seed for the next time? I'm still looking for the cookie jar. And the soap dispenser from the kitchen faucet that I was going to use in the bathroom. And the tv wall hook up thing cover got lost. And a few other things that I KNOW I had a few minutes ago but are nowhere to be found now.

Hm-m-m, I just added one to my collection yesterday for the first time in decades because I was down to only two!

When we were moving into our new house, my daughter looked at ALL the piles of boxes of "stuff", and said, "Mom . . .". I said, "Don't worry, I'll get rid of it all before I die. I won't leave you to sort through all of this." There may not be enough time though, and I hope/expect to still be around for a lot of years!

Anne

I have this... thing... for pretty dishware. I have reached the point where I simply do not allow myself in those departments in stores! I have finally serious thinned the herd and saved only the favorites. It was painful, but a relief when it was over. I did it one box at a time, and it went to charity. If I tried to do it all in one batch for a sale it would never happen.

However, I used to keep service for 8 until I had 8 people stay at my house for 2 weeks. Now I keep service for 12, but no more!

It's not only jelly glasses, but most everything in my house doesn't get thrown out. It's a good thing I have a basement or I would be crazy. My conspirator is my niece. We sneak things out thru the basement door.

alabamanicole, Me, too! But now I just buy one or two and I shop at Goodwill or the dollar store. I'm trying to find a "few" old plates. Have you ever compared the size of today's dinner plate with a dinner plate 40+ years old? BIG difference. I really like the old stuff and I sometimes can find one plate that still has life in it. IF I can find one, too often they were used under a potted plant and didn't fare well.

doraville - Oh, I can identify with you! Before I moved I got rid of EVERYTHING. And then spent the next 6 years buying it all back. When I moved to this acreage I looked at all the outbuildings and thought, Oh, good. Finally MORE than enough room for my stuff. Well, guess what? I have about half a machine shed to go and then it's going to get stacked higher. It helped immensely when my carpenter used most of it for storage. Now he's moved almost everything out and I see open spaces. I need to put something in there;-) I have enough projects to last the rest of my life if I live 50 more years. 'Course I notice it takes me longer to do everything these days. Maybe I'll be done in 100 years!

Pinch, did you actually throw them away? Aren't there people who collect jelly glasses? Or did you mean you gave them away?

Not these jelly glasses! They had the cheap store brand jelly in them. I only have two genuine glasses to put new jelly in. And I bought a dozen last year that are still in the package in the garage. The elderberries are still in the freezer. One of these days...........There will be new elderberries! And strawberries. And rhubarb. Which reminds me, I need to use the rhubarb in the freezer.

"nd the diagonal uppers. Big mistake."

why?

I'm the same way - getting rid of stuff. as I move into the new place (and months after) I'll be going thru things to get rid of, sort and pack into plasic bins for the kids. I do plan to photo things and put in a photo album - and label them for the kids so they know what came from which gma etc after I'm gone.

I got rid of a huge set of dishes (fransican ware?) yrs ago to a friend - plus some silver bowls. She was starting her family and they would be used...

70 glasses is way too many unless you are inviting the whole neighborhood over for iced tea... I plan to keep about a dozen. that's it!

I am "moving back" into out kitchen, but taking my time. I tossed perhaps 25% of the items as I packed - and I am trying to toss more as I move back in.

I ran across one of the old "jelly glasses" - at least what I call a "jelly glass" - jelly came in them and then after the jelly was gone you used it as a small kids glass. We only have one left, but my kids (now young adults) loved it. I feel like I am tossing the memories if I toss the glass.So for the moment I put it in the cupboard, promising myself I will go through the kitchen shelf by shelf after I have everything unpacked.

My mother LOVED dishes. She had 31 sets. My father still has them, but expects that I will be taking half of the sets soon. Not sure where they will all go. There is no where near that much room in the kitchen. (Although I am hoping perhaps two of them will fit.)

Yes, 5 years ago when we moved I got rid of alot of stuff -- so now, I'm packing up (demo in 2 weeks) and trying to figure out how I have 5 Luray gravy boats. Five. Gravy. Boats. Why and how did that happen?

70 glasses is way too many unless you are inviting the whole neighborhood over for iced tea...

ROTFL!!! Steph, yesterday I had only about half of the immediate family and used five dozen glasses. One dozen tumblers for sodas and water before we sat down, and 2 dozen each water and wine (including one of each for the ritual). I have a couple dozen more, plus the kitchen glasses. And I just bought 3 dozen stems in different shapes, a dozen each of juice and water in colors to go with the colored luncheon dishes, and some polycarbonate ones for using at my desk and outside. Everything gets used.

Maybe the trick isn't getting rid of stuff but inviting people home?

Though I do get Pinch_Me clearing out the storebrand jelly glasses. And I can't imagine her parade of friends (the chickens and horses and all) sipping delicately from then....

The diagonal uppers are impossible to use. I thought blind corners were a pain. They're nothing compared to the diagonals. I have TWO. They are so deep even the bottom shelf requires the two step stool. Everything above that is totally inaccessable.

I still have two of the cartoon jelly glasses. The ones that are in the garbage are plain clear with raised something around the bottom. Don't ever throw that "loved" jelly glass away. Someday those young adults will be my age and delighted to have that glass.

Five. Gravy. Boats. Why and how did that happen

That's easy. When I can't find something and I finally run across it, I buy two. And when both of those vanish, I hunt until I find it again and buy two. Eventually they all show up. Sometimes they are in different places and I don't realize it isn't the same one. Sometimes they end up together and I realize if I would have stopped to think where I would put the new one, the old one is likely there already. Sometimes I have such a terrible time finding the replacement, when I finally do I buy two because I'M NOT GOING THROUGH THAT AGAIN!

If you get rid of stuff, the stuff you have will be accessible. It's true for clothes and dishes, too. The less you have the more selection you have.

I say bite the bullet and get it ALL out. Unpack if needed. Then when you know what you have, you can pick and choose. Don't let anything go back in storage unless it's grandma's china or something... and even then I think you ought to get that out and use it!

I unpacked things I haven't seen for almost 20 years. What a walk down memory lane. Most of it's in the cupboard, toward the front. My aunt and I used to go antiquing together. And there were some other gifts I had packed for safekeeping. It was like Christmas opening those boxes! If only I could find the cookie jar. To make matters worse, the cookie jar is ugly and a horrid turquoise color with the paint features on crooked. But my kids ate many a cookie from that jar. I'm becoming one of those old women who live in the past. Trying to bring myself to pay the price at eBay for a 1946 calendar. I just can't do it!

I gave new stuff away. Does that count?

just had my kitchen, utility, and small bath re-painted(walls, cabinets in/out,ceilings). I swore as I packed things up that I had never used that it would NOT go back in (well. . . there were a couple of exceptions!!). I have always had a thing for the cute dishes at places like Crate & Barrel and Sur La Table. The "odds and end" got tossed (3 remaining of 4 custard cups), 6 of 12 storage dishes that I only used 4 or 5 of. . . gave 3 boxes of "white things" to a friend, and the multi-piece set of cornflower blue corning ware is going to Urban Ministries. Some things really hurt (Ivy platter and pitcher that belonged to my Mom but I have never (and would not use. . . chips, scratches ). But. . .I now have THREE empty cabinets and a couple of drawers. Off to buy more "stuff"!!

I'm in a bind because I have a huge basement whispering to me to put up Container Store wire racks and store everything instead of toss/sell/donate it. So: keep six plates in the kitchen cabinets, put the rest in the basement to use as replacements when the original six get chipped or broken. Ditto on glasses, coffee mugs, wine glasses of all shapes and sizes, brandy snifters, flower vases....and jelly glasses....

I admire everyone who throws stuff out when they do a kitchen reno. I'm definitely getting rid of the things I never use - so long, pasta machine! - but I'm going to have trouble letting go of all those perfectly good glasses. Ah me.

Zeebee. . . you Go Girl!! Keep whispering "Container Store, Container Store". . . wish I had the space!! I have about 15 Frankhoma coffee cups (from an Auntie) that are "going" just because I don't have space.

My plan was to get everything OUT of the basement and garage. And then the new cabinets started filling up with - junk. No other word for it. I wonder if I could get the plates sorted......keep one of each color/pattern. Who cares any more if the table matches. Nobody I hang out with. (There's always mom's dishes or my antique set still packed away but I know where they are now!) The bread machine is still in the basement. I see it when I'm there for something else but never remember to bring it up. I would make bread if it was in my face long enough. I think.

BTW how do you chip/break dishes? That would solve a LOT of my problem. I can part with glass shreds. It's when they are all together in a recognizable shape that I have trouble letting go although broken glass makes a great mosaic.

Anyone else collecting a set of small drinking glasses from store-bought molé?

Have a Mediterranean feast! Start throwing them at the fireplace!

aah, the jelly glasses I wasn't sure if you meant the kind with the cartoon characters or not so I had to read the whole posting Why is it those cartoon jelly glasses we had as kids bring such fond memories? I actually purchased some jelly in one about 10 years ago for the nostalgia factor, even though this one didn't have cute cartoons but a rather ugly endangered species crocodile. I use it to dump hot grease into to cool before throwing away. But every time I look at it, I see those cute cartoon ones I used as a kid.