Letting Go of the Stuff

  
  My house is in shambles. Items long safely tucked away, tightly stacked, quietly hidden and sometimes forgotten have seen the light of day and been made to plead their case. It's been a roller coaster week for one with only a dim recollection of the joys a basement brings and who prides herself on keeping newly useless items rolling out the door. I've alternately been dismayed, delighted, teary eyed, dewie and lost in reminiscences.

  I've also engaged in fierce debates with myself. I quickly realized some of my arguments wouldn't last a heartbeat in a true debate.

  For instance: When you collect antiques you cannot decide to be rid of one simply because it's old. It was old when you bought it. It's partly why you bought it.

  You can see my dilemma, can't you? It was necessary to develop a new set of parameters to help me make the cutthroat decisions needing to be made. I came up with several categories and items on the stand had to fall into one of them in order to remain in my household. I share some with you in the hopes you, too, may  find them helpful...

1. The Punch Bowl Category: You rarely need a punch bowl, but when you do - and sooner or later you will - nothing else will do. This rule does completely negate the long established "If you haven't used it or worn it in a year, it must go" rule. And yes, egg plates are a gray area here. Thankfully, I've only one egg plate anyway.

2. The Yes, I've At Least Got the Fabric or Upcoming Event Category: While long ago I learned to never buy a partial outfit when shopping, I clearly never applied that knowledge to my hat purchases. I've far too many hats for which I was going to make a vintage reproduction gown. If the fabric isn't already in my stash or the event on my calender, said hat was asked to take a seat on the other side of the room. This was an especially brutal morning.

3. It's Really a Sub-Category of Items I'm Fond Of Category: Decorator teapots, 1-person teapots, chocolate pots are among the items falling into this lot. This was especially helpful and not nearly as painful as I had first imagined.
 
 You get the idea. I momentarily considered a Would You Grab It If You Had to Flee Category, but that's just silly. I'd be getting rid of all but 32 of my teapots!

  I'm hoping to have this sale up and going early next week. I'll keep you posted!