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The Kitchen Table

downsizing and decluttering with glee

Toronto Veterinarian

7 months ago

This is often a painful process for a lot of people, so - for another point of view - here's a great essay about a couple who are happy to downsize and are happy that their children don't want any of their things. ("First Person" stories are submitted by readers.)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/502350e443e61dbf4d3ff87c4e018dbb5fd31e46b194898cedb955d6c9e37197/T7T63CPUOJDVTDE74FUGMNAR5E/

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Comments (6)

bothell
7 months ago
last modified: 7 months ago
Good article especially since we'll be facing this process next year
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
7 months ago
Darn . Can't open-window expired.
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Because we don't have a basement for storage, I have had to store Christmas in the garage in the plastic tubs. I won't add another tub so everytime I buy something then something else has to go. But, I have not yet been able to eliminate a whole tub of Christmas which would be a goal. I do hope when the kids get places of their own I can hand down some of the memories. I will be dissappointed if they don't value the memories enough to take some of the items that the family has collected. Good for you for separating the "stuff" and holding on to the memories. I hope to be there soon.
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I've been doing pretty well so far! Between my husband and I we have donated about 10 bags of clothing. A couple hundred books. Not as much kitchen stuff as I would like, but that is the husband's domain and we did get rid of a few moving boxes' worth. Took another car full of stuff to donate after the free yard sale, maybe seven or eight bags of knick knacks and kitchen ware. I do notice a real difference between the relative proportion of stuff I have purged using the Marie Kondo method (clothing and books) and my usual method of picking through my belongings to find stuff I can let go of (knick knacks, building supplies and kitchen stuff). I did the latter out of necessity because I ran out of time, but the first is much more thorough and has led to a much greater proportion of stuff going out the door. So I do plan to follow through with the Konmari method systematically over the next few months. The weekend give away in my city was hugely successful and everything I put out (I did not put out junk) was gone within 12 hours. I am really stalled in the Konmari method because I went back to work, and only really have energy to clean or work in the same day, and because I am onto papers. Very tedious work and unrewarding. We have just a ton of paper to go through. The good news is I have put it all in one room and shut the door but it feels very psychologically heavy, like there's a black cloud around the room.
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I just had this discussion yesterday with my grandaughter. i told her not to get rid of the Kenmore which I had purchased in 1971, if (or more likely, when) I'm gone My other machines, the Husqvarna Viking Epic and Designer Diamond, along with my 2 Featherweights (one black one white) are great machines, but if I have a tough to sew project needing heavy needle penetration, the Kenmore is my go to. In addition, I have two ancient sergers, my Bernina 2000DE which I love, and the Elna 927, which I dislike intensely. She has used my Epic to both sew and embroider, but if that's not where her future interests lie, then definitely keep the Kenmore and unload the rest.
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Indigo Rose
7 months ago
Me neither - it sounded interesting, and I forgot the link that allows one to read many blocked articles.
Fun2BHere
7 months ago
Couldn't open. :(
salonva
7 months ago
Usually I can open with

removepaywall.com but it wouldn't work for me either..............
Toronto Veterinarian
Original Author
7 months ago
Well, that's disappointing.......here's some of it (without doing too much to risk copyright laws):

" The walls in this house have heard and seen our four children come and go. And come back. And go again......The kitchen walls absorbed the noise of chaotic breakfasts, all day lunches, logistically impossible dinners due to the kids’ hockey, dance, soccer and fencing obligations. Not to mention late-night pizza parties and the sleepover pancakes. The walls observed cheers and tears through achievements and disappointments, celebrations and mournful moments....Our hallways went from empty to resplendent with paintings by my artist sister, photos of family, and a dresser mirror that my husband inexplicably insisted on hanging upside down for decades...And now as we take apart, throw out, donate and attempt to sell the contents within the walls, we know what has always been true. The memories of what happens in these walls is far more valuable than the contents within them. We don’t want most of the contents they hold anymore, and we know our kids don’t either........ There are very few things in this house that will end up in my children’s homes. I am more than happy with that, as I know they will be collecting their own future disposable contents with their own memories attached.....My children are now 23, 26, 32 and 34. They fill their own walls with what is meaningful and joyous to them. I love seeing what those things are, as they mark a path that is owned by them......For us, that path is changing and change can be hard. I’m not a sentimental person, particularly when it comes to stuff, but the physical labour of changing out the stuff is is testing me..... As we paint every wall in the house a grey shade of white to make it less horrible and more attractive for sale, I like the idea of a new family moving in with a clean slate, the house and its walls ready to absorb their memories, as our new house waits for ours.

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