Decluttering progress

I've made some big strides over the past couple of days. The basement bedroom that was wall-to-wall-and-floor-to-ceiling boxes and furniture is half empty.

We seem to have accumulated a huge number of Rubbermaid plastic storage bins, so I am trying to consolidate like-with-like and store stuff together. For example, I've gone through a lot of our Christmas stuff, donated the things that we no longer use, and put the remainder in a couple of bins. Same with linen. Tablecloths that are the wrong shape or size for our tables are gone. I have whittled our sheets down to a couple of sets per bed, a couple of guest sets, no more poly-cotton blends, no more ugly and/or torn comforters.

I am also going through all the boxes that never got opened in our last move (ahem). I've found ice-skates that are at least five years old. Light fixtures that were purchased for a house that we lived in six years ago. Beach chairs. Cappucino machine. Sigh. Why did we drag this stuff around through two international moves? Okay, the cappucino machine will get cleaned up and used. But I despair at my sloth in not dealing with all this stuff years ago.

Now I'm off to figure out where I can dispose of the two dozen cans of paint that the previous owners left in the basement. She asked me if I'd like paint for touch-ups and I said sure, thinking, five cans of paint, tops. She has left me paint from probably 15 years of painting projects. Paint colours that are no longer in the house. Bits of paint in glass jars. Arghh. I'm pretty sure there will be a hazardous waste depot somewhere in the city.

Tomorrow I'll make a Goodwill/paint disposal run. But it is freeing to actually get RID of stuff.