To Bin or not to Bin

The Perfect Utility Room - not mine!

I can’t stand the utility room any longer. It is a total mess. So I will forego my trip to town this morning and sort the thing out. I’ll take everything off the two shelves, sort them out radically, chuck masses of stuff out, and have one of those highly organised rooms you see in magazines - all white baskets in neat rows.

I’ve put everything in heaps on the kitchen table with the overflow on the worktops. Mmmm, the shower-room handtowels and bathmats will have to stay; so I refold them into their neat little pile and put them back on the shelf - almost where they were before.

All these candles - goodness, they’ve been there for 3 or 4 years! - that‘s because I never use them. Never. But, wait a minute - never? - I’ll probably use them this Christmas. I flap around them with a duster. And put them back. A little further along the shelf.



And this Hallowe'en pottery lantern? Well, maybe one year when the boys are here..? (They haven't been here at Hallowe'en for going on for 7 years). Shame to throw it out, though. Keep.

All these used padded envelopes. Dozens of them. Just can’t bear to throw them out. I can stick labels over those messy addresses, can’t I, and reuse them? You always need a padded envelope, don’t you. The trouble is, they’re gaining on me. I give up the struggle to rationalize this. Back on the shelf.

Two ancient exercise books. Full of sums in a childish hand. I was helping my son with subtraction. It is irrelevant, now. Into the bin. No, I can’t - it would be like throwing my little boy into the bin, wouldn’t it. (Even though my little boy is now a 25year old Chartered Accountant- so my help must have worked, then?). Mmm - I’m sure that spare paper will come in handy - keep them.

I spend all morning on this, and at the end of it I have one small carrier bag of stuff to go into the bin.

And the utility room looks very much the same as it did in the beginning.

Yes - this is the ‘after’ picture - I didn’t think of taking a ‘before’ version - but take it from me , you wouldn't notice the difference.

I should have gone to town after all