A huge part of decluttering is passing your unwanted goodies onto a place you feel comfortable taking your unwanted gear off to. Most times, this is a charity like Life Line, The Salvation Army or St Vincent De Paul (aka: Vinnies here in Australia). Other places can take your unwanted things as well, such as your local community centre, RSPCA or animal shelter or vets and the local retirement home as well.
I know some of them won't take certain items. I draw the line at donating underwear. I just don't think it's nice for a place I have chosen to want to deal with my knickers when I don't want to deal with them either. So, I just toss them in the rubbish. That goes the same for socks and lingerie... if you wouldn't buy it at a charity store, don't expect people to take that kind of thing off your hands.
But I have found the best things to furnish my home at charity stores.
I know this is a blog to help declutter a home. However, if you're in the market to replace certain items of clothing, furniture or kitchenware, a charity is your best bet. This is especially if you're aiming to make your home have a certain feel to it.
Personally, I have aimed to have a very 1970's feel to my home, so it feels cosy as well as retro. I have all the mod-cons, without it feeling too high-tech, and yet there's a lovely Chiswell dinner table I sit at, a credenza and a very 1970's style upright piano against the wall. Now, I scored the dinner table on Gumtree for almost $400 (untouched; and well worth the bother), the credenza was given to me by some family friends and piano was inherited from my late-Grandmother and really suits the feel of home. I do love that the credenza fits all my cassette tapes and vinyls in it as well as books and other great little items. And yet I have all the comforts of my high-tech television set and dvd player not three feet away, which funnily enough fit right in as it's sitting in a very old-fashioned, early 1990's television entertainment unit from Super A-Mart (when they actually made furniture to last). I was given this piece by my Uncle a year before he passed away; and I adore it! I don't ever wish to let it go because the longer I have it, the more it looks as though it belongs in my house. The best thing is that it's on wheels and I can move it on my own if I need to.
That's the thing with second-hand stuff and furnishings, though. It's been preloved and is gorgeous to look at. It's got all the scuffs and dents in it from the previous owner... it's got history and has had a life before getting to you. And that's the absolute pleasure of owning something preloved.
So, when you drop off some of the bags to your charity store, stop and window shop (no, don't buy anything yet... just look) and see what's available to you for when you are ready to replace your worn out things in your home. Once you have your house all cleaned out and sorted, only then do you start looking through the op-shops at furniture.
I know some of them won't take certain items. I draw the line at donating underwear. I just don't think it's nice for a place I have chosen to want to deal with my knickers when I don't want to deal with them either. So, I just toss them in the rubbish. That goes the same for socks and lingerie... if you wouldn't buy it at a charity store, don't expect people to take that kind of thing off your hands.
But I have found the best things to furnish my home at charity stores.
I know this is a blog to help declutter a home. However, if you're in the market to replace certain items of clothing, furniture or kitchenware, a charity is your best bet. This is especially if you're aiming to make your home have a certain feel to it.
Personally, I have aimed to have a very 1970's feel to my home, so it feels cosy as well as retro. I have all the mod-cons, without it feeling too high-tech, and yet there's a lovely Chiswell dinner table I sit at, a credenza and a very 1970's style upright piano against the wall. Now, I scored the dinner table on Gumtree for almost $400 (untouched; and well worth the bother), the credenza was given to me by some family friends and piano was inherited from my late-Grandmother and really suits the feel of home. I do love that the credenza fits all my cassette tapes and vinyls in it as well as books and other great little items. And yet I have all the comforts of my high-tech television set and dvd player not three feet away, which funnily enough fit right in as it's sitting in a very old-fashioned, early 1990's television entertainment unit from Super A-Mart (when they actually made furniture to last). I was given this piece by my Uncle a year before he passed away; and I adore it! I don't ever wish to let it go because the longer I have it, the more it looks as though it belongs in my house. The best thing is that it's on wheels and I can move it on my own if I need to.
That's the thing with second-hand stuff and furnishings, though. It's been preloved and is gorgeous to look at. It's got all the scuffs and dents in it from the previous owner... it's got history and has had a life before getting to you. And that's the absolute pleasure of owning something preloved.
So, when you drop off some of the bags to your charity store, stop and window shop (no, don't buy anything yet... just look) and see what's available to you for when you are ready to replace your worn out things in your home. Once you have your house all cleaned out and sorted, only then do you start looking through the op-shops at furniture.
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