I would buy two nice,new ,coordinating cabinets that you really like. Easier to move,they will weigh less, and you'll have more decorating options (keep them together,in separate rooms,or as a base for a large table when you have a dinner party,etc.) Good luck on whatever you choose!

You are certainly entitled to keep possessions!! Believe me -- there is no one standard for "stuff" --- AND reorganization is an ongoing process. On another day -- at another time --- you just may feel differently! Deal with your stuff today -- and make your room/space work for you.

Buy two new cabinets that simply work better for you!

As for the research in the binders -- can the info be taken out of the plastic binders -- restacked into file folders -- and stored in a plastic bin or two -- labelled and dated?

As for the how-to books -- breathe -- and ask yourself if you can get rid of ONE book? Just one -- right now. Breathe.

And come back to that question when you get your new cabinets -- and put your things away. Then get rid of just ONE more how-to book.

One step at a time.

I read this as "strange" dilemma! I need more sleep, I think.

I vote for two new cabinets. W/ doors, to keep the "visual calm" thing going. Or, w/ partial doors, perhaps, so you have display space above?

See if you can get them from an unfinished-furniture place, and paint them a really great color, maybe?

And since you're getting 2, as Jannie as pointed out, you can decide whether, in your new home, you want them in the same room at all! Or whether you want them next to each other, or separated (if they're in the same room, I vote for getting them identical or coordinating).

As to the how-to books, and even that research, etc.: Getting rid of them means giving up on the image you have of yourself as someone who will actually DO those things.

All my comments on this topic are influenced by my own experience of getting rid of the fabric stash I'd saved for more than 15 years.

I think that when you start to change that image of yourself, it's hard. And you resist. You've invested not JUST time and money in that stuff, but you've invested your personal identity in it. That how-to stuff represents who you thought you WERE/ARE. That's a hard thing to "give up on" (to use less-charged terms, "to update you self-image").

It may be that you're feeling guilty about keeping that stuff because you know you won't ever do those how-to projects, but you just don't want to admit it. If so, then keep it until your knowledge is so strong that it overwhelms the urge to keep it.--until the idea of NOT having those projects around nagging at you is a RELIEF!

But sometimes you realize you really WILL get to using those supplies/directions pretty soon. Keep that stuff till you're sure you won't.

Sometimes you realize you won't get to using that stuff, but you regard it almost as a memento--a reminder of the time when you DID do that stuff. So then, keep it, but categorize it under "sentimental," and re-evaluate it using THAT criteria to decide how much of it to keep and where to store it.

And it may be that you're feeling guilty bcs you're hanging around lately w/ people (here, and in books, and in your own head) who are saying (no, screaming) "DECLUTTER! DECLUTTER! LESS STUFF! THROW IT OUT! GIVE IT AWAY!" There's peer pressure that way, too.

Only you can know.

Perhaps ask yourself this: If those books went out, how would you feel the next day? What else would you put there? If you decided you'd NEVER do anything in those how-to projects again, what *would* you do w/ your time? And how does that make you feel, when you think about it? Relieved? Regretful? Wistful? Panicky?

Good luck!

If you get cabinets, keep us posted.

Well Marie, I think Talley really said everything I was thinking.

I'm sorry this particular "stuff" is hard for you. How about if you just pack it in some nice, hard totes and let it alone for a month or two. Focus on something else.

Gloria

I had organized 1/2 of the cabinet into mostly totes and a couple of boxes. That's what's driving me crazy. I want my garage back and all these are in the way. I just assumed the movers would fix the cabinet and was waiting for that to happen.

I was thinking about what everyone said. There are items in the cabinet that could be easily put into drawers. The best thing for me is to figure out the number of drawers that I would need to have everything put away neatly and be accessible. Once I take care of these items, I will then decide what size cabinet(s) or bookcase(s) I will need. I will include room for my cookbooks that are now in a huge kitchen pantry. I probably won't have this built-in space for them in future homes.

On two of the cabinet shelves, I had organized the paperwork into the various binders I had collected throughout the years. I have been thinking about buying nice matching binders and using those instead. That way everything will be pleasing to the eye.

Does this sound like a plan?

if you NOW have a pantry and it can hold your cookbooks, why not leave them there?

You'd have to have a different plan for a different house, but don't borrow trouble. Maybe in a different house, the bookcases won't even fit. Or there'll be a little bookcase in the dining room. Or you'll decide you only want 4 cookbooks, and you'll fit them into your kitchen cupboards.