Things you own that others might consider clutter, but you wouldn't get rid of...

[ltlmrs]

I remember chatting with a friend who was absolutely flabbergasted that I don't own a food processor (since then I've gotten one of those hand held blenders that came with a tiny food processor bowl that I do use on occasion but could still live without).  We get by without a vacuum cleaner (I use a non-electric sweeper), a microwave, a mop and are seriously considering getting rid of the computer and if we move and there's no dishwasher I'd be absolutely fine.  I don't consider myself a minimalist, but compared to most people we own very little.

Nonetheless, as part of Lent I did some decluttering and I realized that there are some things that someone more minimalist than I would have gotten rid of, but so long as I have space for these things I'll be keeping them long term because they make my life so much easier.  For me:

1) My pasta bike.  Yes, I've made pasta by rolling it out by hand and cutting it.  Yes, I make pasta only once a month or so.  But, I love my pasta machine and Ladybug and I have so much fun using it!

2) My yogurt/kefir cheese strainer.  I never bought a yogurt maker, I make it in a cooler.  I resisted getting this strainer for a couple of years and did just fine making cheese with muslin.  But, oh this is so easy to set up and clean up! I stick it over a bowl, pour the kefir in, when it's done I wash it with the dinner dishes and it's ready to go for next time. It takes up valuable space, but I make cream cheese so much more often now because I know that I don't have to mess with trying to rinse and then wash my cheese cloth on top of doing the dishes.

3) My swedish dough whisk and clay bakers.  This has revolutionized my bread baking.  I don't even really remember how I used to bake bread free form or when I had to knead it.  Now I mix the dough up in the evening and bake a loaf of bread in the morning.  No kneading & a perfectly shaped, crusty loaf of bread.  If I absolutely had to (like for an across the world move), I'd downsize without my pasta bike and the strainer (though I would be very sad and miss them terribly), but I would never leave my bread baking supplies behind.

So, I'm curious, on this board of people who want to get rid of more and more things: what gadgets can you not live without that others might consider completely unnecessary?

[philomom]

I love my waffle iron. I have a blender that I use twice week for smoothies. My food processor should go to a new home.. I don't use it but twice a year for my big parties.

[clutterwarrior]

Anything art/craft related...some might consider I have too many supplies, but I love my supplies!

China, and other vintage things which I like to display.

Cookery books, I have a huge collection but I love looking at these books.

When it comes to kitchen gadgets, I use them all except maybe the mixmaster, maybe I should have stuck with using a bowl and spoon for making cakes, but my DD is thinking of using it soon so stay tuned!

Oh and perhaps I should have tossed the pie maker I bought years ago and have never used, but I still plan to try it out, probably this winter... err hopefully...

[clutterwarrior]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philomom 

I love my waffle iron. I have a blender that I use twice week for smoothies. My food processor should go to a new home.. I don't use it but twice a year for my big parties.

I think twice a year is fine, if you have a purpose for it on two set occasions per year, then keep it.

[MiniMum]

What's a dough whisk? I got intrigued about your bread baking. I like to bake bread too.. What kind of dough do you make that you leave it overnight? I'd love to bake those yeast free breads that are a little bit "sour".

[ltlmrs]

MiniMum, Everything you ever wanted to know is on breadtopia.com  Basically it's a very wet either whole wheat or whole spelt no knead dough made with a sourdough starter.  I don't use the recipes on breadtopia, but I love their instructional videos and that's where I got my dough whisk, the clay baker I picked up at a flea market.

Philomom, once or twice a year I think about getting a waffle iron.  DH and I talk about it, I look them up online, and then we put it off till the following year.  Maybe when we have more kids, it will make sense to get one.

Clutterwarrior, I totally sympathize with the cookbooks.  I don't often get recipes online, I like looking through cookbooks, but I'm thinking of putting all my recipes from books that I don't use very often on Plan to Eat and then getting rid of those books and only keeping the ones that have either reference or sentimental value (I hardly ever use Julia Child's The Way to Cook anymore, but it's the cookbook I learned how to cook from when we first got married so I'm not getting rid of it).  As it is, I've limited myself to one shelf of cookbooks and if I get a new one, I must get rid of at least one old one, sometimes two or three depending on the size of the new book. 

I realize I should have titled this the "we love our stuff thread" :)

[goinggreengirl]

Our DVD collection. We have hundreds and I know lots of MDC mamas do TV free so it would be clutter for them. Just before we moved last we were able to get rid of about 30 or 40 but since we've moved we've probably added almost that many new movies. We don't do cable but watch a lot of movies.

My craft supplies. I have containers full of material, yarn, thread and notions. I don't have as much time to craft since DS is super interested whenever I turn the sewing machine on. But, I haven't had to go to a craft store in almost a year because I had everything until last week when I had to buy more machine needles (I broke three during one project- majorly annoying!)

And don't get me started on my kitchen stuff... I have lots of things that people would consider clutter but I love to cook so I like to have it all! Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my food processor. I got it for Christmas and have used it several times every week since then. I really don't know how I survived without it!

If we were doing a move to the other side of the world we would let most of these things go, but since we have the room, why not keep them??

[Ellien C]

I borrowed my neighbors waffle maker, which I thought was brilliant! It was for a slumber party for a girls birthday and she was too happy to lend it. She was like - I made waffles this weekend so I certainly won't use it next weekend. I think there needs to be more of that sort of thing! 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Mine would probably be kitchen "gadgets".  I know a lot of mamas don't consider it to be worth the time/energy/clutter, but I can, freeze, and dehydrate a lot of produce and other foods.  So...  I have a hand-cranked food mill, an apple peeler/corer/slicer, big canning kettle, smaller pressure canner, canning utensils, lots of jars and lids, dehydrator, and FoodSaver vacuum sealer.  Of course, then I have to store all that produce as well, so I have a set of 4' x 8' pantry shelves in the basement, plus an upright freezer.  It all takes up a ton of space in my little 1100 sq ft house, but I love making my own food, and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

[ArtsyMomma]

We currently live in very limited space, so while there isn't a lot of clutter there are certainly things that others would consider clutter.

1. The Ice Cream Ball (it takes up a lot of space, it can be a hassle to use just to make a pint of ice cream, but the kids love when we do it)

2. Waffle Iron - we only use it once a month

3. Blender - again, used infrequently but I'd miss it.

4. Books (They are everywhere...)

5. Yarn. I have a huge stash of yarn - and I stash yarn everywhere. I have two 9 cube closetmaid storage units full, a cedar hope chest full, and a few large wooden fruit crates full....plus the spinning wheel and bins of fiber....plus the baskets of knitting projects. To me, it's not clutter. Others would wonder when I'm going to get the time to use it all (I wonder too)

[Juvysen]

Yarn here, too.  We do use our waffle iron, but I guess if it was about the minimalism, we could just go out for waffles.  I also have a kitchen aid stand mixer that I use maybe twice a month... and it has an ice cream maker attachment that I haven't used in ages, but now that we're dairy free this summer, I expect I'll be using it more.

[Aeress]

Our electric griddle, we use it weekly if not more. We used it on vacation and I was able to make whole meals with it, very useful.

I also love my french bread pan, it takes up space but it makes the best bread.

Clothes- we have way too many and I am working on letting go of a bunch, but still, I love buying clothes.

[OkiMom]

A lot of it is being moved from overseas to right now but being shipped or came with us I have:

sewing/crafting supplies- I LOVE to sew and craft but to some people its clutter.

Books- Reading is a passion for everyone here (even my girls love to sit down and look at the words in books even though they don't read) so we have a ton. Im sure a lot of people would say to many.

Kitchen items: pastry cutter (I actually packed it in my luggage, I use it several times a week and for more than just pastry), 3 crock pots (all used at least weekly), bread maker (only used once a month or so to make pizza dough in when Im being lazy), cookbooks (I love to try new recipes and I don't like the computer in the kitchen)

a different shampoo and soap for DH, myself and my girls.. DH won't use what I use and the girls are sensitive so they can't use what I use but I break out if I use what they use so we have 3 different shampoos and 3 different body soaps.. 2 different toothpastes, 2 different mouth wash, 3 different flosses, make-up I use rarely, 2 different types of lotions.. Im sure there is more.

laminator and label maker that I use for organizing and school but Im sure a lot of people would think of as clutter

a LOT of pens.. Probably have 30-40 pens in 6 or 7 different colors.. DH has to have one on him at all times for work, I use the color ones for personal coorespondance and list making but use the black ones for any bills/checks/more business like things.

slippers and robes- a lot of people I know wonder why I have 2 pairs of slippers (I use to have 1 but MIL gave me a second one so I use one for indoors only and one for indoor/outdoors to do things like take out trash/run to get something out of the car etc) and 2 robes (one long one short) but they are used and enjoyed.

I think the thing with clutter if you use it and enjoy it then its not really clutter. It becomes clutter when you never use it and don't enjoy having it.

[ArtsyMomma]

I thought having different shampoos, soaps etc was totally normal! DP only uses very specific things, I don't mind using whatever was on sale or I had coupons for when I bought it in large quantities. I use nicer eco friendly stuff for the kids, organics for the baby....I also have a few different lotions in rotation just for myself, depending on what I want to smell like or if my skin is really dry. We have several different sunscreens, I have a bit of make up and a few hair products for when I want to dress up. I'm fairly low key when it comes to grooming, but we do have a lot of different products.

Originally Posted by OkiMom 

a different shampoo and soap for DH, myself and my girls.. DH won't use what I use and the girls are sensitive so they can't use what I use but I break out if I use what they use so we have 3 different shampoos and 3 different body soaps.. 2 different toothpastes, 2 different mouth wash, 3 different flosses, make-up I use rarely, 2 different types of lotions.. Im sure there is more.

[treegardner]

I, too, thought having different shampoos, etc, was the norm. I have a lot of craft supplies that I could probably do without since I haven't done any crafting in awhile.

 

[clutterwarrior]

I agree that different shampoos and soaps etc for each member of the family is certainly the norm in most households. Actually I alone have 5 different shampoos, one for bringing out blonde highlights, a coconut one I bought just for the scent, another which I like the smell of, and 2 different ones for coloured hair!!  LOL

I have 3 pairs of slippers...one I really should toss as they are nearly dead, but you know what they say about comfy old slippers....very hard to get rid of!

I didn't even think of mentioning books but I have a heck of a lot of them, however we don't have any good bookshelves, yet.....so most are stored in boxes under the house.

We all seem to have pretty similar things in excess, so perhaps we are all normal? 

[Katie T]

One thing I can not live with out is my Bosch mixer. I did a lot of debating since it is a pricey gadget but with baking all our own bread it gets used a couple times a week and lots of time several times a day. Love it and the best money I have ever spent. Otherwise I don't have a lot of kitchen "gadgets" I don't like the space they take up. I do have a crank apple peeler corer but we freeze tons of apples and make home made apple sauce every yr. I have lots of canning stuff but again that get used a lot in the summer and sits in the basement in the winter. 

I need to part with a few more of my childrens clothes from when they were babies but they bring back so many happy memories and I want to keep some for when they have kids...

[clutterwarrior]

Originally Posted by Katie T 

I need to part with a few more of my childrens clothes from when they were babies but they bring back so many happy memories and I want to keep some for when they have kids...
 

Have to admit that the way fashions change so fast and the technology makes fabrics used change also, so I decided to not bother keeping any baby clothes for my grandchildren.  I know the ones my mother passed on to me were way too outdated to use unfortunately.
 

[Katie T]

That is true but some of my favorite outfits for my kids are things me and my siblings wore. We have a couple outfits that we have a pic of every grand child in so far (5 kids total so far) and would like to keep the tradition going. A lot of the baby clothes are gone but I do need to go through again. I find that every time I do I can part with more and more. Someday they will have just a select few made by people that have meaning for the whole family left. lol

[Masel]

My mother has razzed me several times about all my books. A lot of what I have is reference and isn't available online or in my local library. My books are cataloged! They are well behaved and stay nicely on the shelves.