Wow and LOL! You got some great stuff. I never thought of myself as a hoarder, just a collector. Sold most of the stuff or gave it away to go fulltime RV. That lasted 6 months. Have our single wide stuffed now. Wish I could have a yard sale. We live in the middle of nothing now. Too far away for many people to come too. There's another yard sale that is a few states wide. I always wanted to go to that one.

I'd stash the oven thermometer unless you use it 3x a week. You have a new oven, so you *ought* to insist it be calibrated to be correct, and therefore not really need the oven thermometer. But if it's off by a little bit, then it ought to be off by the same amount every time--at least if your oven has a decent thermostat--so you'll get used to where the dial has to point to get a true 350. And you'll only need the oven thermometer for the odd times you're using a different temperature. Ditto the butter warmer, unless you like looking at the copper pan. And why ladels? I never need more than one at a time. And they're so darn bulky. 2 pots in daily use, plus 20 others? 20 seems like a lot to me. I can see of different sizes--you often use the same size for the same meal (all big pots when company comes; all midsize pots when it's just two to four at table). But you can only fit 4 on your stove, right? I bet you can find which things you don't really want out. (Of course, your kitchen is small, right? And there isn't that much space that's NOT "out," I bet--where will you put these things, if they're not out where you have them now? This exercise might prompt you to decide not to keep some of that stuff at all, or it may lead you to decide that "out" is also storage space.) Good luck. Is there a reason to clear the space, even if you wouldn't use it for something else? Yes. You have to decide whether those reasons are ones you value, though. *cleaning (and time saved) that tile wall makes me cringe. I've mentioned my "greasy utensils in the crock" problem, and I'd envision that space being full of greasy AND dusty utensils I have to wash before I use them. And the ledge over the oven will be 15% easier to clean if you stash the oven thermomenter elsewhere--not only will you not have to lift it up and set it down, but you won't have to wash the thermometer itself. *visual calm I've found that this is really valuable--though I also find that sometimes things look too blank for me, and I get fidgety. Sometimes I adjust to the new 'blankness." We've had posts from people who's said, "I like having a lot of things around me; the abundance makes me feel comfortable." For me, I just remember what a HUGE difference in my soul it made to always have a bedroom w/ straight blankets. And orderly shelves are less anxiety-producing than ones w/ stuff stuck in at odd angles. But also, those are extremes. It's one thing to eliminate lots and lots of messy stuff; of course that'll produce results that are valuable. But when it's not messy, and it's not lots and lots, the "visual calm" payoff might not be as powerful. Though I will also say that I really, really like being able to put my hand on the stapler. And I know that if my kids had to put it away INSIDE anything, they wouldn't. As it is, they mostly put it back.So there are drawbacks as well to hiding stuff. I also find that, the less stuff is stored on the counter, the more I can see the stuff that SHOULDN'T be out. This is really true of the papers in the dining room, but it's also true of the stuff in the kitchen. When DH leaves the knife and peeler by the sink, then it's easier to overlook the stuff shoved to the back that *belongs* in the cabinets.

My favorite is really obvious - an old diaper pin I stick through the hand towel to keep the kids from throwing it on the floor every time they wash their hands. So simple! Old spice jars lining my window sills rooting plants (too cheap to buy them (plants and jars).) Jars of every sort to store rice, beans, sugar, etc. Sheets with those cool clip-on rings as curtains all over the house - give a prize to the one who invented those! Vinyl table cloth on floor in my daughter's art area. Blanket/quilt the movers left behind (they didn't want to come and fetch it) used as dog bed. Two terra cotta pots with a door on them as a table. A pottery chip/dip dish set on a log as a bird bath. Shoe boxes covered with pretty wrapping paper for art supplies. Ditto for photos. A wooden toddler bed used as a window seat - I covered the mattress with an old velvet drape - looks pretty elegant! Old coffee table painted and used as a bench in my entry way. Old cookie sheets underneath used as boot trays. Clothesline and clothespins running down the hallway holding my daughter's paintings. Book shelf turned on its side and used as window seat/toy storage. Video display rack from Walgreen's they were throwing away, got plastic bins, and now a place for the rest of the toys that rolls away. An old rolling metal typing table, painted cute and used as a tea table. File cabinets used as night stands. My dining table is an old conference table. Weighs a ton but takes a beating and looks great. that's all I can think of for now.... Best wishes to all my fellow inventors! Amy

They are 30'ish. If you haven't thought of it yet, you might consider heirlooms, or family hand me downs. I had a friend who at 50 had to drastically downsize and I helped her organize and sort though her enormous household of accumulated belongings. She wanted to toss or donate a whole ceder chest full of linens and a cigar box that had her grandfathers single edge shaver a pocket knife along with some other low priced mantiques that had been handed down and held onto. I told her no no no -don't toss, give them to the kids. She had a son and daughter in their mid twenties, and even though they were both renters, I suggested she offered them to her kids first. She didn't think they would want them, but I convinced her to at least ask them before chucking the lot. For the son, the simple gift felt like a coming of age moment, and the prefect time in his life to connect to his ancestors. The mantiques were small enough he could set them on his dresser, or tuck them in a drawer. I told her that every girl would like at least one nice table cloth and napkins, even if they're only used for a single Valentines day in her lifetime. She had a brunch and invited her daughter and her daughter's friends, where they sipped champagne and pawed through the doilies and table cloths and all the girls went home with something special, while the woman had a chance to tell the stories connected to the pieces. As far as a beginner household, a large matching set of tupperware replaces all those sour cream containers you can never find a lid to fit tightly on. A ladle, for some reason is the type of thing folks buy last like wise a whip. But a really good, heavy vegetable cutting knife always seems like an extravagance once you start shopping for them, so it's another purchase often put-off indefinitely (look for 3 rivet handle). And as simple as it seems, several matching dishtowels (4-6) washcloths (4-6) with matching pot holders make a kitchen look special, even if you are buying them at the dollar store. This post was edited by Lilylore on Sat, Oct 25, 14 at 13:25