Hoarding - Springing Ahead

anirtak191

evening all,
gq up until recently i didnt have enough sockets in my kitchen and had to use either extension leads or put those block things for extra sockets into the wall. dryer, wm, dw and oil monitor was plugged into the double socket by them. fridge, microwave, toaster and kettle plugged into the double socket at the other end of the kitchen, and chest freezer in its own socket i had put in extra in what would have been the airinf cupboard, they took my water heater out when they took the coal fire out and put the oil central heating in. and the socket that was in there to turn the water heater on, i asked the electricians if it was possible to have a plug socket put in there. unfortunately the freezer still needed an extension lead cos its own lead wasnt long enough to reach the socket.

now the stupid thing is i have enough sockets but not enough worktop space. so the microwave is on the oil boiler, and the tea trolley at the side. going rounf the kitchen we got door, small mini side that cant be used for much, cooker, little corner space where i keep the toaster, and utensils jar, (they seem to take up a lot of space.) with a glass chopping board to butter the toast on and to protect the side if i move hot pans off the stove. then the sink and draining board. then the other small side witch goes into the corner, with 2 chopping boards on to protect the sides and a bread bin. the fridge freezer oil boiler and tea trolley. if i putt he kettle and tea things on the side with the microwave id have no room to put plates and to prep food. oh and not forgetting the recylcing bins in front of the radiator as there was no where else to put them.
have to say i hate having to do the recycling because instead of one bin in the kitchen i have 3, and its annoying to just use bags and have them laying around. well ok i got 5 bins in total in my kitchen. one for unrecyclable rubbish, one for plastics/tins etc, one for paper/card, one for dog food as it looks tidier than leaving the dog food in the bags, and one for the dry cat food, the pet food is stored down the side of the freezer.
would probably be better off letting someone come in and going over my kitchen for me and maybe they can do the layout a bit better.so things are in a more useful place and not feeling like they are in the way as much. i think the cupboards are more organised than they were before the kitchen was done, but its everything else.
im actually starting to feel the clutter. if that makes any sense. too may things out and about it feels there is too much stuff.
have to say, i think at this moment, i would like to be able to get rid of everything, empty the flat apart form a few things, and start from scratch and just have the basics i need.

well im going to try and get moving, my husband keeps putting stuff on the tv i like to watch, its about 5 weeks worth of tv ive not seen. plus i need to try and get an early night as it looks like i might be doing the bootsale on my own tomorrow as hubby not going to want to come as the weather doesnt look like its going to be very good. not sure if i should bother cos will any one else if the weather is bad in suck a small place.

anirtak191

ok, im going through my vacuum bags in the draws under the bed, what do you do with things like old bedding, thats still in v gd cond, and old towels (one or 2 may still even be new as they are form sets that i have been bought). i have got a pile that are too good to throw but i know we dont need them as we have plenty, ok we have more than plenty i actually forgot how many towels we actually got. was thinking of taken them to bootsale tomorrow, but my husband said he wouldnt bother cos its something he wouldnt buy second hand.
so whats the best thing to do with them please.

softpad

Well done Anirtak and everyone for your efforts.

Thank you for the well wishes about my leg, its a bit less painful now although psychadelic colours!

Ani, I have often bought towels from car boots if they look good and clean, I just run them through a boil wash. I use 'animal towels' for the pets so have those too.
Post more later, did not do car boot as too wet and noone will come.

Have a good day all

GreyQueen

anirtak191 wrote: »

ok, im going through my vacuum bags in the draws under the bed, what do you do with things like old bedding, thats still in v gd cond, and old towels (one or 2 may still even be new as they are form sets that i have been bought). i have got a pile that are too good to throw but i know we dont need them as we have plenty, ok we have more than plenty i actually forgot how many towels we actually got. was thinking of taken them to bootsale tomorrow, but my husband said he wouldnt bother cos its something he wouldnt buy second hand.
so whats the best thing to do with them please.

Anirtak, I and any number of people I know have been very pleased to buy towels secondhand, so please bootsale or charity shop them!

Almost nothing, germ wise, can survive past a 72 degree wash. As told to my mother by the boss of a specialist laundry which laundered for hospitals. So a pure cotton towel laundered at the hottest wash your machine can muster will be fine.

Old towels are often welcome at pet charities, as may be synthetic duvets they can use for bedding. You could try asking your local places.

Sounds like you were badly overloading your sockets before you got more. I've known a housefire triggered by just a washing machine running on an extension cable, plus I regularly talk to our chief electician on behalf of tenants who are having problems with their electrics and when I ask what they have plugged in and where, it's a nightmare of socket extenders and extension cables, and he has forty-fits over what people are doing. There have been several fires. Sorry if I came over a bit busybody, but I worry about such things.

I feel your pain with your kitchen. Mine is 6 feet square and opens off the living room. I have one run of wall cupboards (2 doubles) above the gap where the fridge is, and a run of counter from the gap to the outside wall, said counter being only 20 inches deep. There's another scrap of counter to one side of the cooker slot; I keep a few jars of pulses, the hot pot stand and utensil pot there and that's all there's room for.

My food prep area is to the left of the cooker and is 23 x 23 inches, although the back of it is shortened by 5 inches as I have a freestanding wooden thingy (£1 at bootsale) with 6 cubbies where I keep the tea caddy and the condiments etc.

Suffice to say, cooking at chez GQ is a tad fraught! Even opening the washing machine drawer is an adventure if you're trying to get the powder out of the cupboard at the same time.

Today's cunning plan won't be featuring decluttering unless you count gardening on my allotment and going to a birthday tea late this afternoon - oh, that counts, small gift and card off the premises.:p

silvasava

GQ - like you I have a very small prep area in my kitchen. I've managed to increase it slightly when I bought a large toughened glass worktop saver in TKM that will fit over my sink. Its been really useful as its fairly heatproof too.

pigpen

anirtak191 wrote: »

ok, im going through my vacuum bags in the draws under the bed, what do you do with things like old bedding, thats still in v gd cond, and old towels (one or 2 may still even be new as they are form sets that i have been bought). i have got a pile that are too good to throw but i know we dont need them as we have plenty, ok we have more than plenty i actually forgot how many towels we actually got. was thinking of taken them to bootsale tomorrow, but my husband said he wouldnt bother cos its something he wouldnt buy second hand.
so whats the best thing to do with them please.

PDSA use loads of towels and bedding to keep their furries comfy Otherwise charity shop them!
Homeless hostels, Sallys army and womens refuges will give them to those in need too.

Try the boot sale!! People do buy them your hubby is being a snob

whitewing

I have washed my net curtains. I hadn't realised how grubby they were. They are whiter than white now.

No real plans for today, except to carry on with picking up random things to leave the house. There is a lot of paperwork all over the place.

whitewing

Gone through my own medicines and chucked out extra instruction leaflets and empty blister packs.

Have filled in a questionnaire to post off.

Collated some more paperwork to post.

Shredded empty envelopes and covering letters, recycled a couple of catalogues. Gathered up the books I am mid-reading. I have 5 on the go. They are now in my bedside drawer so I will work through them. Some are harder going.

1 load of washing is on. I am hoping to line dry them but I may be being optimistic. Having a cuppa and then will have a shower. If I am being good then I will start sorting through some financial paperwork.

pavlovs_dog

another half term, another round of decluttering

spent a LOT of yesterday catching up on sleep (knew I was tired but didn't realise quite how much).

Feel a bit more human today so am generally tidying my way around the house, trying to fill a bin bag as I go. It feels nice to have time to get on top of things. Looking forward to parting ways with a lot more junk this week.

whitewing

A knitting book has been put aside for MIL.

Tiny amount of footcream has been rinsed out from a jar and the jar put in recycling. It has been hanging around so long that you can't even smell the peppermint odour.

I have two skirts in the wardrobe that need sewing up so I should pull them out. DH won't let me wear them like this, even though they are a raggedy design. My aunt is good at mending so I shall see if she feels like doing it.

I also have a button through blouse that is not long enough for me, aside from that it is lovely. I should be generous and give it to my mother. I just need to convince myself that I have had enough wear out of it to justify what I bought it for. Yes, I know I have and that I have enough nice clothes that fit properly.