Moved-your belongings too?

[Deleted]

We had two or possibly three tons of automotive, woodworking, plumbing and general purpose tools when DH retired in '01. He said he never wanted to work on anything again in his life so we gave them all away and made our neighbors very happy. I held on to the painting stuff like trays, rollers, brushes etc for many years but we released that trove to a new home last year. We have a storage locker that houses my holiday decorations so I understand those who decorate for every holiday. We can afford the rent so it's cool and we enjoy our holiday pretties. It's almost pumpkin time

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2022 17:24:14 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Aug 21, 2022 17:03:59 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Books, books, books for both of us
Tools, tools tools for Jerseyguy
Clothes clothes clothes for me

Furniture either traditional or mid century
Oriental carpets ( weird writing that since only use Asian now) Think could be sold easily or given away, Habitat Humanity. Right now kids would keep mid century
Lots of kitchen stuff trying to go through this for Good Will. 2 ‘good’ dish sets one from my mom keeping both . Kids will keep or donate
Gave mom’s crystal champagne wine glasses to DIL already

Trying to get rid of silver plated pitchers, trays, sugar creamers , candle holders , etc. Posted on eBay, 0 looks.
Any ideas ?

Donate. Let someone else have fun creating a "glam" look.

Or repurpose.  I have a sterling sugar/creamer set on my bathroom counter for my cotton balls and swabs.  

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2022 17:25:57 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Aug 21, 2022 17:22:43 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

No one wants silverplate any more, not even the antique dealers.  Even the sterling items were tough to ditch and didn't yield much.  

So do you do? Throw away in garbage? Recycle?

Goodwill because someone will upcycle it and enjoy it. 

[jerseygirl]

Great will send to Goodwill I was thinking they wouldn’t accept
Thanks!

[NoNamePerson]

I've moved so many times in the 40 yrs I've been divorced people would ask my son why I move so much? His reply "she's running from the law" 

I have some things that go with me everywhere. I rarely bought something just to fill a spot. I have to really like it since I know it will be with me for a very long time. I have a triple dresser and night stand bought before my son was born that is still with me. He swears he is going to gut it and bury me in it. He's hauled it up many flights of stairs. As for stuff I don't have a lot but that comes from moving. Never been one to accumulate "stuff"  But I am now looking to upholster or buy new sofa. It will probably take me forever to do either since I know it will be around for a very long time and I don't want to get one just to get one!!
When I croak kiddo isn't going to be sorting thru 90 yrs of crap. I just made a short list of things not to put in yard sale  

[nidena]

I just keep thinking how my stepmom has so much kitchen stuff--and she uses ALL of it--but there's so much that some lives in the guest closet, the hallway closet, the hallway closet, their bedroom closet, and the big stuff lives in the two-car garage in one of the cabinets out there.  The Christmas stuff lives in a loft in the separate, 1-car garage. 

[nidena]

Aug 21, 2022 17:03:59 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Books, books, books for both of us
Tools, tools tools for Jerseyguy
Clothes clothes clothes for me

Furniture either traditional or mid century
Oriental carpets ( weird writing that since only use Asian now) Think could be sold easily or given away, Habitat Humanity. Right now kids would keep mid century
Lots of kitchen stuff trying to go through this for Good Will. 2 ‘good’ dish sets one from my mom keeping both . Kids will keep or donate
Gave mom’s crystal champagne wine glasses to DIL already

Trying to get rid of silver plated pitchers, trays, sugar creamers , candle holders , etc. Posted on eBay, 0 looks.
Any ideas ?

Did you try FB or Nextdoor Marketplace?

[jerseygirl]

Never used or looked at Facebook marketplace but will try
Didn’t think about NextDoor

[tcu2003]

Aug 21, 2022 18:05:41 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Never used or looked at Facebook marketplace but will try
Didn’t think about NextDoor

If you don’t care about selling it, I’ve gotten rid of a ton of stuff on my local Buy Nothing Facebook group.

[giramomma]

Aug 21, 2022 15:51:20 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Aug 21, 2022 15:32:24 GMT -5 bean29 said:

How small do you think you might go? Asking cause our house is 2,000 sq ft + about 1800 sq ft. I figure I wont go less than 1800 anove grade or more than 2200-2400 lately I think we might be best off staying put, even though taxes are high.

I'm thinking about 1600 sq ft on a single level.  However, unless we build or move, that unicorn does not exist in this city as a single family home.  We do know that this house will be fairly easy to age in, with minimal renovations.  Some, I'd like to get done sooner than later like installing higher profile toilets and a tiled/roll in shower.

Our house is 1800 sq feet. Actually, it's the perfect size. The only down side is that ours is a two story house, and there's laundry in the basement.

My inlaws place is bigger..it's 2300 sq feet, or so. They can still live there when stairs are too much. Bed, bath, laundry, kitchen, living room is all on one floor. Two bedrooms and family room in the lower level.

[raeoflyte]

I'm really trying to purge, but I've been saying and doing that for my entire adult life so we have an adding problem more than a decluttering issue. Dh really struggles to purge. A lot of years it was the fear of not having money to replace it. A lot of it comes down to time and energy. He never has either to go through things and purge.

We've replaced everything in our living/dining room since moving in 2014 - but replaced with all hand me downs, and craigslisted what we had. So cheap and low waste all the way around.

My parents have a lot of stuff. My sister has a lot of stuff, less room, and a lot of cats. That whole situation is going to be a nightmare. They're stuff is still taking up.most of our 2 storage rooms and the outside perimeter of the garage. Good reasons for us to store even less.

There are some things I struggle getting rid of because they were dgm/dgf. One was an old school kids desk and I really had to talk myself through - dgf didn't make this. He literally saved it from the landfill because it was in good shape and plants lived on it for 40 years. I think of them when I look at it, but I think of them all the time without a physical reminder. I let that go, but I still have a little guilt from it. Like I'm supposed to keep it just because it was theirs. I know my mom was sad I got rid of dgm table and buffet but she doesn't guilt me. I think it's the shock for her.

My next tough items are my childhood dresser and vanity. They were antiques when I got them 37 years ago and have obviously held up well. But we have a small bedroom. I'd really like something sleek that would hold dh and I's stuff. We'll see. May paint and refinish and just look for something kind of matching for dh. Or get rid of.

[raeoflyte]

Aug 21, 2022 13:51:43 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Interesting topic.

I got rid of stuff in my last move that I truly regret. 18 years agos! I had some lovely scandinavia framed indoor/outdoor furnture I got from an old neighbor of my parents when she sold her vacation home. Liekly made int he 40's. Was in perfect condition,even the cushions. Likely was pretty pricy/high quality. stupid. 

Aside from moving, I've done a lot of purging through the years as well. And I realized something about a lot of these clean/declutter gurus. They are all pretty young.

The stupid mantra - if you haven't used it in a year give it away. I've done that lots of times, to many regrets. You need to be more thoughtful about it than just that. Plenty of things I put aside for 5 or more years, then go through a period of near-daily use. 

While we all do acquire much more than we need to in the modern lifestyle, some things should be saved and it is really important to make thoughtful choices on what you save and what you don't.

Agree that 1 year is just a guideline and have things that sit longer, but I still need.

[laterbloomer]

I have a box of cards and pictures that mean something to me. Then I have half a dozen pictures framed that make me happy. Those are my must haves. I try to keep on top of clearing out clutter. ISO collects a lot of books. When he is gone there are 3 bookcases that will be emptied and gotten rid of. If I ever leave here I will be going to a small one bedroom or bachelor apartment. I'm dying to try out some of the compact designs I see on Pinterest.

All that said, it can't be cheaper to buy all new furniture than to rent a moving truck.

[nidena]

Aug 21, 2022 20:06:31 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I have a box of cards and pictures that mean something to me. Then I have half a dozen pictures framed that make me happy. Those are my must haves. I try to keep on top of clearing out clutter. ISO collects a lot of books. When he is gone there are 3 bookcases that will be emptied and gotten rid of. If I ever leave here I will be going to a small one bedroom or bachelor apartment. I'm dying to try out some of the compact designs I see on Pinterest.

All that said, it can't be cheaper to buy all new furniture than to rent a moving truck.

Depends upon how big that truck is and how far away the destination might be.  lol.  And also depends upon where you source "new" furniture.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 21, 2022 20:19:23 GMT -5 nidena said:

Aug 21, 2022 20:06:31 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I have a box of cards and pictures that mean something to me. Then I have half a dozen pictures framed that make me happy. Those are my must haves. I try to keep on top of clearing out clutter. ISO collects a lot of books. When he is gone there are 3 bookcases that will be emptied and gotten rid of. If I ever leave here I will be going to a small one bedroom or bachelor apartment. I'm dying to try out some of the compact designs I see on Pinterest.

All that said, it can't be cheaper to buy all new furniture than to rent a moving truck.

Depends upon how big that truck is and how far away the destination might be.  lol.  And also depends upon where you source "new" furniture.

It cost me $6000 in a full service move to move my belongings from KY to WA.  I could have tossed more, but lacked time.  While my belongings were not worth $6000, it very likely would have cost twice that to replace them.  

[NastyWoman]

Aug 21, 2022 18:14:48 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Aug 21, 2022 18:05:41 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Never used or looked at Facebook marketplace but will try
Didn’t think about NextDoor

If you don’t care about selling it, I’ve gotten rid of a ton of stuff on my local Buy Nothing Facebook group.

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2022 17:34:40 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Great will send to Goodwill I was thinking they wouldn’t accept
Thanks!

Oops, I hadn't thought of that.  I don't know if they accept or not.  

The Facebook sites that others mentioned are a good idea too.  I know a fair number of crafters work with silver plate for the shabby chic look.  A local lady uses the spoons in two ways.   First way, she stamps the names of herbs like parsley, oregano etc on the bowl of the spoon.  You stick the handle in the soil and voila! a plant marker.  She sells them in sets of 5.  The other things she does is fasten the bowl of the spoon to a piece of wood and bends the handle up to form a hook.  So cute by the door or in a bathroom.  I have several jewelry pieces made with old silverware too.

[Bonny]

Aug 21, 2022 17:22:43 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Aug 21, 2022 17:03:59 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Books, books, books for both of us
Tools, tools tools for Jerseyguy
Clothes clothes clothes for me

Furniture either traditional or mid century
Oriental carpets ( weird writing that since only use Asian now) Think could be sold easily or given away, Habitat Humanity. Right now kids would keep mid century
Lots of kitchen stuff trying to go through this for Good Will. 2 ‘good’ dish sets one from my mom keeping both . Kids will keep or donate
Gave mom’s crystal champagne wine glasses to DIL already

Trying to get rid of silver plated pitchers, trays, sugar creamers , candle holders , etc. Posted on eBay, 0 looks.
Any ideas ?

No one wants silverplate any more, not even the antique dealers.  Even the sterling items were tough to ditch and didn't yield much.  

Sterling has some scrap value.

Our cabin is about an hour from Palm Springs. The Mid Century modern look is very popular in the desert cities. I've seen beautiful glam displays of silver plate, cultured pearls, mirrors and the like to dress up dining areas. Very cool look even if it isn't my look. 

Are there any mid-century modern meccas near you?

[Deleted]

DH and I moved to the KC area shortly after we married in 2003. It was a move for my job and the company paid to move stuff from 2 houses since we were married. DH's had 2 sets of steps leading up to the front door and the main floor was up another set of stairs- house was built into the side of a hill, and I bet they charged up the wazoo for that.  It took over a year to sell his house after we moved.

We didn't work too hard to pare down. When we downsized we did and I don't regret the stuff we jettisoned- many duplicates since we'd had 2 households, pool furniture (no longer had a pool), books, etc. I used Free Stuff on Craigslist a lot.

I'm still paring down- DH died in 2016 but the book supply is creeping back up. Not much else, though. I've let go of many of his things over the years, but not all. I wear the clothes/shoes I have although the dressy ones don't get taken out often, so really no clothes to purge. It will be difficult to make the next move- most likely into a retirement community in Des Moines when I can no longer maintain the gardens here. A lot of the furniture will go but I don't get attached to furniture. It's a sad but necessary process- I saw it with Dad going from a house to Independent Living the year after Mom died, to a smaller unit, to LTC. My siblings who lived in the area did the hard work but when Dad died there was no major cleanout of 30 years' worth of stuff. I'm hoping that when I leave this world DS and DDIL won't have a lot to do.

[weltschmerz]

Aug 22, 2022 9:28:03 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Aug 21, 2022 17:22:43 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

No one wants silverplate any more, not even the antique dealers.  Even the sterling items were tough to ditch and didn't yield much.  

Sterling has some scrap value.

Our cabin is about an hour from Palm Springs. The Mid Century modern look is very popular in the desert cities. I've seen beautiful glam displays of silver plate, cultured pearls, mirrors and the like to dress up dining areas. Very cool look even if it isn't my look. 

Are there any mid-century modern meccas near you?

We spent about 2 months in Palm Desert, with DH's grandparents.  They lived at the Chaparral Country Club, on a golf course.  
The sheer amount of water wasted on golf courses horrified me, even back then.
Otherwise, it was a lovely place.

[tskeeter]

Aug 22, 2022 13:43:08 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Aug 22, 2022 9:28:03 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Sterling has some scrap value.

Our cabin is about an hour from Palm Springs. The Mid Century modern look is very popular in the desert cities. I've seen beautiful glam displays of silver plate, cultured pearls, mirrors and the like to dress up dining areas. Very cool look even if it isn't my look. 

Are there any mid-century modern meccas near you?

We spent about 2 months in Palm Desert, with DH's grandparents.  They lived at the Chaparral Country Club, on a golf course.  
The sheer amount of water wasted on golf courses horrified me, even back then.
Otherwise, it was a lovely place.

Interesting thing about the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area is their extensive recycling of the water they use.  Installations such as golf courses and farm fields are constructed with water conservation in mind.  The first step of construction is to dig trenches and install an underground water collection system.  The water applied at the surface is collected and stored in collection ponds.  The same water can be used to irrigate a field or golf course something like eight or nine times.  Did you notice how all the fields are very flat?  As part of the field construction the field is lazer graded. The exacting grading gives a very slight slope to the field.  This controls the flow of irrigation water, prevents wasteful runoff, and facilitates the collection of water after it passes through the root zone of the plants growing above.  Water use in the Palm Springs area is not nearly as wasteful as it may appear.

[weltschmerz]

That must be a relatively new thing, because this is from 2014. Only 8 years. Each golf course uses about a million gallons of water per day. That's a LOT of water used so that rich, old white dudes can hit a tiny ball with a stick.

Golf a major drain on Palm Springs area water supply

Golf courses use about one-fourth of the water that is pumped from wells in the Coachella Valley, contributing significantly to declines in groundwater levels and posing long-term dilemmas for public officials charged with overseeing the water supply.

www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2014/03/19/golf-major-drain-coachella-valley-water-supply/6594019/

[Bonny]

Aug 22, 2022 13:43:08 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Aug 22, 2022 9:28:03 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Sterling has some scrap value.

Our cabin is about an hour from Palm Springs. The Mid Century modern look is very popular in the desert cities. I've seen beautiful glam displays of silver plate, cultured pearls, mirrors and the like to dress up dining areas. Very cool look even if it isn't my look. 

Are there any mid-century modern meccas near you?

We spent about 2 months in Palm Desert, with DH's grandparents.  They lived at the Chaparral Country Club, on a golf course.  
The sheer amount of water wasted on golf courses horrified me, even back then.
Otherwise, it was a lovely place.

DFI: and wife #3 owned a place in Chaparral CC in the mid to late 1990s. I think Wife #3 sold it in about 2003. It had an Executive G.C. which I think was 9 holes vs 18. But there were literally acres of green belts which were not part of the golf course. I remember how humid the area would be including plenty of mosquitos!

That said I remember feeling the same way as you when DH and I moved to the greater Phoenix area. I HATED golf courses and refused to live on/near one. Not only the water issue but also fertilizer and other issues. Come to find out after taking a Scottsdale 101 course with the City that all "new" golf courses had to use reclaimed water. I don't remember when the city made the switch but I had the impression that it had been for some time, perhaps 10 years or so. I am further under the impression that as golf courses "remodeled" they also had to convert over to reclaimed use.

Water in the Southwest is complicated. Water right priorities have historically been driven by various water contract which now may be over 100 years old. For example CA has priority over AZ on CO River water even though it runs through AZ before reaching CA. That's because AZ was only a territory at the time of signing and didn't have the population it now has. There's actually a story about AZ territory going to "war" with CA over water!

One of the funnier stories about N. Scottsdale is that water processed by the Waste Water Treatment plant by law had to be injected into the acquifer. Water wells are located about a mile away but because the aquifer has naturally occuring arsinic the drinking water has to be treated again.   

I'm no longer so militantly against golf courses. The sport has declined in popularity and some of the courses are being converted to other uses. With the reduced use of chemicals the remaining areas are providing a needed open space oasis for wildlife. Here's some pix about bobcats on AZ golf courses: www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/video-bobcat-spot-and-stalks-golf-course-ducks-in-arizona/

Back home (Bay Area) our local muni golf course converted to waste water recycled water about six years ago. The local audubon society loves going there for the annual bird count because it's an important resting spot for migratory birds. It also provides habitat for our local endangered red-legged frog and the endangered SF garter snake. If this property hadn't been provided in perputuity by a family over 100 years ago, it would have been turned into another housing development. And if it were privately owned the owners might be tempted to do just that today given the pressure/incentives by the state of California to build more housing because economically it doesn't carry its own weight. This is one of those examples of "be careful for what you wish..."   

I think we all need to work harder to understand where the other side is coming from. The article provided is 8 years old and I'd be curious about the changes that have been made since then.

Sorry OP for going so OT. Open Space, including developed Open Space, is a subject near and dear to my heart!

[weltschmerz]

Well, bobcats need to eat, too. I can't hold it against him.  I like ducks, but they're hardly an endagered species.

I read last night that only 18% of golf courses use reclaimed water. That's a shame.

[happyhoix]

Aug 21, 2022 13:15:37 GMT -5 nidena said:

When I moved from DE to IN, I got rid of a ton of stuff.  I've yet to come across anything that I wish I had kept.  Probably because I kept the pieces that I knew I didn't want to part with.  Very little of it was furniture, though.  I knew that my old furniture needed to be replaced and that it likely wouldn't go with my new house.

In an interesting twist, I just bought a bunch of furniture on Thursday for my unfurnished yet finished basement.  It's all MCM and will go perfectly with the dark brown paneling down there.  lol.  I don't plan to keep that paneling the color that it is but it will do, for now, while I finish up the upstairs.

I'm not looking forward to sorting my parent's house when the time comes.  They don't have a lot, in terms of breadth of collections, but they do have a lot when it comes to depth within the few collections they do have.  Example: Christmas decorations.  They decorate extensively, from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, for Christmas and it's all stored in totes.  A few dozen totes.  Then there's her dishes and table decor.  We're talking a couple dozen dish sets, all with 8-12 place settings, plus chargers, cloth napkins, placemats, tablecloths.  I'm very glad I'm not the executor of their estate.

Sounds like my mom. We went through the painful process of helping her downsize from a four bedroom down to a one bedroom condo- she felt that everything she owned was a priceless collectible or incredibly useful, right down to the 1963 encyclopedia set and the cool whip containers she’d been using for the last 15 years for leftovers.) thought we’d gotten rid of most of it but found when we had to pack up her condo when she went to assisted living that she had brought all eight sets of dishes and every kitchen gadget she owned (and this was a woman who didn’t cook anymore). She had crammed the vanity in the powder room full of decorative candles and had three chests of drawers, a walk in closet and a storage rack the garage crammed with clothes, some several sizes too small and decades old.

At one point my sister opened a packed utility closet and just sat down on the floor and cried. Total nightmare. I went home and threw a bunch of crap out, and every time I clean a drawer or closet I try to brutally downsize it.

[readergirl]

But I am not talking about your parents' 50 years of stuff. In 1996, I gave up my apartment and moved onto my husband's tugboat. We did get a small storage unit, but what I gave up was incredible. I kept the washer and dryer, luggage, etc in the storage unit. No furniture. Then in 2008, we moved into a house. We did not own a stick of furniture. We had all the wood furniture made by the Amish. We bought good, upholstered furniture by Lazy-boy. And we moved to FL, I got rid of Christmas decorations, books, all my professional reference books. But I also got rid of the bread maker which I would like to have kept, and its cookbooks. Baking dishes which I used, and still reach for. It is the stuff I still used, and got rid of, because, "it costs money to move it". But, now I get to rebuy it, or since bread making is not really the in thing now, can't find to replace. That is why I think it is stupid. And the house we bought actually needed a few more pieces of furniture, but with the pandemic, the stores had a year waiting list. So, consignment furniture stores were really popular. I am not talking about junking junk, just good stuff you actually still use and want.