Declutter Dilemmas

One of my retirement goals is to declutter accumulated things from the past that I no longer have a need for.  This includes clothing, kitchen items, books, photos, etc.  I was so excited about having the time to do this but it has, in fact, brought me some angst.

I started with books first.  I have 3 book shelves filled with my books. This does not include the two bookshelves filled with over 100 cookbooks in our kitchen.  The Husband has 2 bookshelves which I will leave to him, as only he can decide what books are dear to him.

This project was fairly easy for me. There were many books I had read once and if after 20 or more years I hadn't decided to re-read them, into the donation bag they went.  I also have been carting around with me for FORTY years textbooks relating to my minor and major that I guess someday I thought I might need for reference. I didn't!  What to do with all of these books was the next hurdle.

I took all my novels, non-fiction, and travel books to a second hand book store in town that gives credit for books and then when you buy a book from them they use your credit and give you half off the price of your purchase.  Let's just say we have a lot of credit on their books that will take some time to use up.  They had no interest in some of my books, including the textbooks which I just packed up and gave to Goodwill.  Perhaps there will be some recreation or psychology student who would like to read some outdated notions in their particular disciplines.  Anyway, they are gone from my house which is all that matters.

Next project I decided to tackle was dishes.  This is where I am having some anxiety.  I started collecting tea cups when I was a young girl, perhaps in 6th grade. I wrote about this in an earlier blog here. I know exactly which one was my first but I love them all.  The thing is I never use them. I am lucky to have a built-in china cupboard in our house but most likely will not have this space when next we move.  Not only do I have all of the china and glassware, we also have an entire set of dishes and silverware from my mother-in-law we must eventually deal with.

So the reason for this particular blog entry is to get some feedback from anyone who has gone through serious downsizing.  What should I do with my dishes? Any thoughts will be appreciated.