Monday, April 4, 2011

Simplifying Cups and Utensils

I'm decluttering the kitchen ala The Joy of Less by Francine Kaye, which I shared with you earlier.  Inspired by her use of tumblers instead of 20 different kinds of cups, glasses, wine glasses, margarita glasses, shot glasses, etc., I got rid of the cup crapola (cupola?).
I began with this mess.  Funny how it sneaks up on you.  You start with a nice, new set and end up with this mess.
This is what I have after taking everything out and putting back only what I want to keep.
I love these mugs that came with my Walmart dish set.  I already drink wine out of them.  I don't use wine glasses.
Because I didn't have many glasses that matched, I went to Walmart and bought these glasses for a whopping $8.00 (12 glasses in the set).  Not bad, Walmart.  In a couple weeks, I will go back and fork over another $8.00 for 1 more set.  That way when a few break, I won't start working on another mis-matched set.
The utensil drawer.  Yuck.
And afterward.  You couldn't see these beautiful utensils buried underneath all that clutter, could you?
The plastic organizer is gone because once you take everything out, you will be surprised at how nasty it really looks when it's not lurking in the shadows.
Do you ever find yourself having a difficult time getting rid of things because you could use it, it was part of a set, someone gave it to you, blah, blah, blah?  Well, here's my big tip for you:  Pull it all out and then look at it.  It all looks so much worse and is so much easier to get rid of when you are staring at the mess sitting on the counter in your face.  Better yet, take a picture and then it looks even worse!  Goodbye.
I'm going to admit to you that these are the things I still have a tough time with.  Mugs with my little people.  I know I'm not throwing the actual kid away, but I can't bear to part with them. 

Any advice for me on this one?
Get rid of the nasty ones, keep a couple new ones?
Get rid of it all?
What would you do?

6 comments:

Kristy said...

How about using the kid cups to hold pens/pencils at your desk? To hold markers...from your scrapbooking stuff? I am thinking use them as little storage places, maybe they won't be seen alot but you won't have to part with them either!

Pip said...

Wouldn't they be fun to give them when they get their first home? I would pack them with the baby clothes and other mementos you're keeping for them.

Cheryl said...

Kristy hit exactly what I was going to suggest - use them as storage elsewhere, either desk, craft corner, brushes/combs (I have hairsticks in a cup), etc. That way, you still get to enjoy them - probably even more, since they'll be more likely to be out somewhere that you'll see them (instead of closed up inside a cabinet)

Lisa said...

So glad to hear that someone else uses their coffee mugs for everything! I use my huge ones for my morning dose and I use my smaller ones for everthing else - wine, juice - everything is better in a mug!

simply brookes: said...

LOVE this post. One benefit of Navy moves = taking a good hard look at all the things you own once unpacked. I strongly believe in getting rid of the mismatched and streamlining to one design. No, I don't get rid of the homemade stuff either...goes up on the top cupboard and we bring them out every winter for hot chocolate with the kids. Sad they get used so infrequently, but just can't rid of some stuff too personal.
I do like K's idea of storage...but now I've streamlined my storage (do I need to get a life?)

mary said...

I use old mugs as flower planters. I put a bit of rock/gravel in the bottom and put my rooted starter plants in there (or impatients and put them outside) I've been known to break old mugs so I can use the shards as "rocks" in my big planters. I figure its a better than sticking them in a landfill

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