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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 17, 2020 15:14:49 GMT
Admittedly, I haven't read the thread this month. How many towels per person do you have? In thinking about purging and then thinking about being sad that I did. IMHO, if you have an organized manner of keeping your towels and they are not taking up space that should be used for other things, why purge? Get rid of the thread bare stuff & the like, for sure. But, to limit yourself? Is it truly necessary? The thing is...shit happens. When it does laundry isn’t priority. If fact, laundry usually enters the desperation phase. Case in point: I was down with the flu the first week of February. Seriously, I was not functioning from being so terribly ill. I hadn’t washed the towels, because they are weekday wash that I start before work and the Boy shuffles to the dryer. By weekend #2, the linen closet was almost empty. I think there were 4 clean towels and wash cloths left. I’ve had this occurence with different causes multiple times. So, there is no purging of towels for the sake of purging. |
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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 17, 2020 15:20:34 GMT
Home sick today. Flu. Followed by Bronchitis. Followed by the unpleasant side effects of antibiotics.
Thinking of taking down the tree, today. The house needs to be vacuumed, desperately. Working through some laundry.
Trying to decide if I am going to start a new batch of Kombucha today or just hotel the SCOBY until May. The present batch is way to strong for drinking. Might be good for starter though.
Oh, I had been keeping a good cylindrical box. Decided to toss it, as I hadn’t figured out a use for it. Ended up using it for the pens in my nightstand. Perfect size. And, I didn’t need to order a pen case as I had intended. Repurpose that saved money. I call that a win.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 17, 2020 15:44:45 GMT
He started fidgeting and finally said he thinks I'm taking too much over. So, back to the drawing boards. I will have a shed over there--that will be big--but he was looking at the stuff I plan to be in the "room" with me! It's time to draw up a floor plan! Ask your son for the dimensions of the room. Next take measurements of the large pieces you want to move with you. Next you do a scale drawing of the room, cut out the scale pieces of furniture and play around to get a layout you like. That will let you know pretty quickly if you are trying to take too much with you. RoomSketcher.com has some free basic plans that you could try this with. It can also be done by hand, but IMO that takes longer and is more tedious (drew many a plan in my design classes in college in the dark ages). If you need further moving/downsizing inspiration, check out this article written by my friend (and designer for my remodel). She has been through downsizing her mother and mother-in-law. Tips for Downsizing - Move to Senior Retirement Apartment |
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Post by Linda on Feb 17, 2020 16:28:47 GMT
a whole box of photo frames and 2 albums - in the donation box
DH went through the tools under the kitchen sink and organised them this morning - threw some stuff out, added a couple of things to the donation box YAY!
Making progress
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 17, 2020 17:26:10 GMT
Just tossed a toddler training potty. Umm, my youngest is long past potty training.  |
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 17, 2020 23:48:46 GMT
Walk in closet cleaned out (of course some of it went to the spare bedroom).
One bag of clothes to donate one box of shoes to get rid of.
Dh has to do his side.
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 18, 2020 12:36:37 GMT
tentoes Take what you think you want. You can always remove pieces once you have moved in. Place the furniture and spend a little time there, then you might rearrange or eliminate items.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,381 
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Feb 18, 2020 14:24:34 GMT
Well, I had to totally clean out the master bathroom for the renovation work being done this week.
Can I say I am amazed at how much stuff was in there? I have boxes and totes all over the bedroom, with the stuff that I took out. I did toss some things, and will toss more as I put things back in, but it was a shocker to see how much was in that not-all-that-large space.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 18, 2020 14:38:59 GMT
but it was a shocker to see how much was in that not-all-that-large space. One of my super powers is being able to get more stuff into any defined space than anyone else! At times that's a good thing, but it eventually catches up with you! Hence my need to continue this thread for motivation for my downsizing! I'm taking the day off of projects and decluttering to play my monthly card game. It's supposed to get cold again and rain the rest of the week, so I plan to start on the dresser drawers in the guest room. Also need to get serious about the eBay pile in there as well. |
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Post by Linda on Feb 18, 2020 14:45:37 GMT
DD13 pulled another bag of stuff out of her room last night- she expressed amazement at how she keeps getting rid of stuff and yet there is still so much stuff -totally relatable!
I'm scanning slides and tossing as I go - 366 slides yesterday (and associated trays and boxes). Pulled a bowl out of my serving dishes cabinet last night for donation - just one (although I thought it was a pair - wonder where the other is?) but still it's one less thing here.
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Post by Linda on Feb 18, 2020 17:02:42 GMT
sorted through a basket in my bathroom and tossed a bunch of used up lotions etc..
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Post by Linda on Feb 18, 2020 20:38:27 GMT
cleaned out one drawer of my desk...tossed a bunch of papers (mostly ads and fliers), put a bunch in the to-shred bin, found DD13's Duke TIP application (oops - had that for months undone) and went online to complete it - she'll be taking the SAT in June as a 7th grader.
back to slides - 3 single roll packs done, 1 1/2 60-slide trays done...SO many more to go....
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Post by tentoes on Feb 19, 2020 3:42:41 GMT
tentoes Take what you think you want. You can always remove pieces once you have moved in. Place the furniture and spend a little time there, then you might rearrange or eliminate items. I think that is what I'm going to do. I found some ruled paper today that I can scale my furniture on and see what it might look like!! |
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Post by tentoes on Feb 19, 2020 3:50:00 GMT
Today was a very productive day. My daughter is visiting, and together we did a LOT towards my move. I cleaned out the computer armoire and got rid of a LOT of extra papers. I'm giving the computer armoire to my grandson and his wife, but it will be here until I move. I'm sending several (4) tea pots and (about 16??) tea cups home with her for her daughters. I took a huge box full of toys over to my grandsons that live close by. I gave my rolling pin to a granddaughter, and my springform pans to another granddaughter. (she loves baking). I gave a full dish set to my daughter, and a George Forman grill to her. I gave a veggie steamer to another granddaughter, and another rolling pin and cutting board to her too. Things are coming along! I gave a big garbage bag full of kitchen towels to another daughter!
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Post by JoP on Feb 19, 2020 7:53:45 GMT
Can I join in?
I decided it was time to go through my wardrobes and drawers yesterday. Three bags to go to the charity shop. I was hanging onto clothes that were 2 or 3 sizes too big.
I then challenged myself to sort my boots and shoes, only two pairs made it to the charity bag, but it’s two pairs less.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 19, 2020 14:07:36 GMT
Can I join in? I decided it was time to go through my wardrobes and drawers yesterday. Three bags to go to the charity shop. I was hanging onto clothes that were 2 or 3 sizes too big. I then challenged myself to sort my boots and shoes, only two pairs made it to the charity bag, but it’s two pairs less. Of course! The more, the merrier is our motto! It's a great feeling to get rid of all the clothing that doesn't work for you. Makes getting ready much easier because you know what you pull out of the wardrobe will fit. |
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Post by tentoes on Feb 19, 2020 14:48:35 GMT
He started fidgeting and finally said he thinks I'm taking too much over. So, back to the drawing boards. I will have a shed over there--that will be big--but he was looking at the stuff I plan to be in the "room" with me! It's time to draw up a floor plan! Ask your son for the dimensions of the room. Next take measurements of the large pieces you want to move with you. Next you do a scale drawing of the room, cut out the scale pieces of furniture and play around to get a layout you like. That will let you know pretty quickly if you are trying to take too much with you. RoomSketcher.com has some free basic plans that you could try this with. It can also be done by hand, but IMO that takes longer and is more tedious (drew many a plan in my design classes in college in the dark ages). If you need further moving/downsizing inspiration, check out this article written by my friend (and designer for my remodel). She has been through downsizing her mother and mother-in-law. Tips for Downsizing - Move to Senior Retirement ApartmentThanks so much. My daughter is visiting and we did the floor plan last night. To me, it looks like it might fit in ok. I'll share the sketch with my son when I see him on Sunday. Of course, when you see it all in the room, I might have a different opinion!! Thanks for the resources.
With my daughter here, we did a LOT to get ready for the move. She helped me remove all the stuff from the upper cupboards and closets. None of them want me on a ladder while I'm here alone, so this was a big help!! She's been here since Monday afternoon, and leaves after lunch today. I'm so grateful for the help!!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 19, 2020 15:07:37 GMT
Thanks so much. My daughter is visiting and we did the floor plan last night. To me, it looks like it might fit in ok. I'll share the sketch with my son when I see him on Sunday. Of course, when you see it all in the room, I might have a different opinion!! Thanks for the resources.
With my daughter here, we did a LOT to get ready for the move. She helped me remove all the stuff from the upper cupboards and closets. None of them want me on a ladder while I'm here alone, so this was a big help!! She's been here since Monday afternoon, and leaves after lunch today. I'm so grateful for the help!! I'm so glad that your and your daughter gave the floor plan idea a try. It's very difficult for most people to envision what will fit in a space, much less how it will look. Those scale floor plans really help. I suspect your son will come around when you show it to him. Really, the worst thing is that if you get it all over there and don't like how something looks, then you remove it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Ya'll are really making some serious progress on clearing out your house. How fortunate that your family is being so helpful! |
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Post by tentoes on Feb 19, 2020 15:33:50 GMT
Thanks so much. My daughter is visiting and we did the floor plan last night. To me, it looks like it might fit in ok. I'll share the sketch with my son when I see him on Sunday. Of course, when you see it all in the room, I might have a different opinion!! Thanks for the resources.
With my daughter here, we did a LOT to get ready for the move. She helped me remove all the stuff from the upper cupboards and closets. None of them want me on a ladder while I'm here alone, so this was a big help!! She's been here since Monday afternoon, and leaves after lunch today. I'm so grateful for the help!! I'm so glad that your and your daughter gave the floor plan idea a try. It's very difficult for most people to envision what will fit in a space, much less how it will look. Those scale floor plans really help. I suspect your son will come around when you show it to him. Really, the worst thing is that i f you get it all over there and don't like how something looks, then you remove it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Ya'll are really making some serious progress on clearing out your house. How fortunate that your family is being so helpful! Last night when we made the drawing of the rooms, we did decide that I'm not STUCK with anything I do take over there--I can get rid of it from there, or since I have 3 grandchildren that will be married by that time, I'm sure any furniture I can't use will be used by one of them!! With that in mind, it's been easier to get rid of things. While my daughter and I were going through things this week I was able to pick out specific things tailored to each of her four girls personality. Things I thought they would enjoy. That actually made it easier to get rid of!
Yes, I'm so grateful for all four of them--and their spouses! They have all been such a huge help since their father died. Sometimes I forget THEY lost a father because they have been so supportive of me losing my husband. I hope they have been able to grieve themselves. My daughter and I took some flowers to my husbands grave site on Monday. That is the first time she'd been there since the marker had been placed. I don't go often--even though it is quite close by. I know he's not "there" and I can "talk" to him better from home, but Monday with my daughter there with me, it was more meaningful for some reason. She was emotional. So I do see her grieving.
Most of the time my kids don't show me their emotions because they don't want to "get me going" I guess. I know we all grieve differently. I grieve every day. I'll see something that brings memories, and I remember being together. I miss that, but try not to dwell on it. I sure don't want to hamper my kid's grieving at all though!! I remember losing MY dad when I was 13! I never saw my mom grieve--back then, I guess it was "unbecoming" to show your emotions when anybody was around. She kept her sads to herself, and tried to keep the sads from my sister and I. Maybe she thought if she cried she'd upset us--I don't know!! |
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Post by JoP on Feb 19, 2020 21:03:26 GMT
Hubby saw my bags and decided to have a mini clearout himself, another two bags added to mine 😃
Just need to keep plodding along
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Post by tentoes on Feb 20, 2020 2:55:57 GMT
My daughter left today. I was so tired after everything we did that I took a nap--which i something I hardly ever do. Hope to get back on the get rid of stuff wagon tomorrow. Well, we DID get rid of some things before she left. We went in the back yard and pulled weeds for about 2 hours--so yes, we did get rid of some stuff!!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 22, 2020 17:19:00 GMT
It's Saturday! Hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend!
Yesterday I spent a few hours cleaning and organizing my sewing room before I start my next project. My fabrics are double deep on the shelves, so I rotated winter to the back and summer to the front. Quilt fabrics were moved to the shelf below. As I went through, I pulled fabrics I'm no longer in love with and added to a bag I will give to my housekeeper's mom. I moved all my 12x12 project boxes to one shelf, freeing up a bottom shelf for other fabric storage.
I brought two under bed boxes down from the top shelves. One box holds scraps from the clothes I made DD when she was young. A quilt from these is on my to-do list for 2020, so better accessibility in crucial. The other one holds all of DH's old shirts. I cut them apart, save the buttons, then fold up the pieces for use in projects. His shirts are custom made and the fabric is top quality cotton. Will try to find better sized boxes for those fabrics and store them on a lower shelf.
That freed up a top shelf so I moved all my machine embroidery supplies from under my sewing counter to that top shelf. I'm not doing much embroidery at the moment, so it's a good spot for them. Bonus is that it freed up leg room and looks neater under my counter! Now the only things under the counter are sewing machine & sergers in cases.
All my notions are kept in clear shoe boxes. I went through the ribbon boxes, put a good amount of them into the bag of giveaway fabrics, then consolidated the boxes. I'm now down to 9 boxes of notions on the top shelf. My goal is to get that count even lower this year. There are still 2 of those large pattern boxes at the back of that shelf. At some point this year I want to go through those and incorporate them into my large pattern drawer. When we remodeled, I had them make the depth of this drawer deep enough to hold Vogue patterns. I'd like to have all my patterns fit in this drawer (it's 36" long and 24" deep).
Today's project will be to finish going through the last fabric shelf. It's mostly decorator fabrics that I've collected over the past 20 years or so. The local design center used to donate leftovers to my thrift store and I've gotten some top designer fabrics for pennies on the dollar. Several pieces are going to end up donated or listed on eBay. Only things that I love and will work in my home will be allowed to stay.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,635
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Post by amom23 on Feb 22, 2020 17:31:05 GMT
I finally got my donation pile dropped off. I haven't reorganized the basement yet because it's been so cold here and since it's an unfinished space it stays cold too, but it really isn't that big of deal. Otherwise I really don't have any other spaces to work on in the house. We are maintaining what has been decluttered. I've also been challenging myself to a no/low spend year which means not much coming into the house other than food.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:40:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2020 17:47:59 GMT
Jean recycling made easy!!! bluejeansgogreen.org/"Mail your denim Thanks to Zappos for Good, you can mail in denim for free. Just box it up, print the shipping label, and send it our way. We’ll make sure it stays out of a landfill. Free Mailing Label" |
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Post by Linda on Feb 22, 2020 18:19:35 GMT
**GypsyGirl** - sounds like HUGE progress in the sewing space - well done! I'm down to just 5 boxes in DD19s room (from my mum's house) - it's not all put away in permanent homes because a lot of it needs scanning first - but papers to be scanned are mostly in project boxes or on shelves in the family room (my crafting/office space) and the slide boxes are in there also as I'm actively working on those. The boxes that are left are going to be a bit harder. I have two boxes of artwork - I have a plan for one painting and an idea for another. The rest is for DH (posters I think) to deal with. I have one box of stuff - it's meaningful, it needs to be photographed, it needs to be stored safely until I can come up with a display plan for it - combination of clothing items, military memorabilia and stuff like that. One box has a few bigger framed photos that I need to figure out how to digitise and then store or display (my grandparents' wedding portrait for instance) and some paintings my mum did - one is framed, the others need to be. And one box of papers, yearbooks, notebooks of writing etc...that needs to be scanned/transcibed etc... I think I can make the contents fitin my project cube unit I have another bag for donations - DD13 is still working on her room plus the books I read this week are in there and a couple more random things - hoping to make it two bags by our Tuesday evening drop-off. And I'm still working on slides - 30 boxes left (each one hols 60-140 slides) and I've already scanned 1300+ slides - I'm not keeping them after they are digitised. This is the first time I've ever looked at slides in my almost 50 years - I knew mum HAD slides but she never showed them to us - and I don't see us looking at them as slides in the future. So they are leaving as I digitise them
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Post by tentoes on Feb 22, 2020 19:35:35 GMT
And I'm still working on slides - 30 boxes left (each one hols 60-140 slides) and I've already scanned 1300+ slides - I'm not keeping them after they are digitised. This is the first time I've ever looked at slides in my almost 50 years - I knew mum HAD slides but she never showed them to us - and I don't see us looking at them as slides in the future. So they are leaving as I digitise them I SHOULD do this, but can't make myself part with them. My husband digitized them a few months before he died. They are all from when my kids were small. I keep thinking they will come up with BETTER quality stuff in the future. But since I'm moving in July, to a much smaller place, I really SHOULD just dump them. I have about 30 boxes too. I guess I need someone to tell me it's ok to get rid of them!! That someone isn't here anymore. I have to learn to make decisions I guess.
I've cleaned out 6 drawers today, and am getting rid of quite a bit of the stuff. The rest of the stuff will be organized and put with like items. None of the drawers were organized, so held a bunch of odd stuff! I hate drawers like that!! I was going to get rid of my 3 swim suits, but where I'm moving (my son's house) has a pool, so maybe I'll use them right?? Do I need three?? Maybe I should try them on. I've lost about 50 pounds since my husband died, so maybe they don't even fit. I have such a hard time just dumping stuff.
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Post by Linda on Feb 22, 2020 19:58:11 GMT
tentoes - you have my permission to dump slides if they are digitised. Maybe ask the kids if they have any interest in them? I asked mine and the unanimous vote was for tossing once they were digitised. Swimsuits - yes - try them on. If they don't fit, don't keep them. If they do fit - are they in good shape or have they seen better days? I like to have two suits if I'm swimming regularly - so one can be handwashed and hung to dry and I can wear the other. of course I had such a hard time finding ONE that mostly fits so I only have one that I hate right now but I also don't swim often so... It IS hard getting rid of stuff - especially when it has a lifetime of memories attached. ((((Hugs))))
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Post by tentoes on Feb 22, 2020 20:10:14 GMT
tentoes - you have my permission to dump slides if they are digitised. Maybe ask the kids if they have any interest in them? I asked mine and the unanimous vote was for tossing once they were digitised. Thanks. I think I will ask the kids first--then dump them. DH wanted to get rid of them after he spent all that time scanning them, and I wouldn't let him.
Thanks for the hugs too. I just threw out the swimming suits. They are much too big for me!! I guess that is good. Geeze I'm a mess!!
eta: I've asked ONE of the four of my kids about the slides, and she says dump them. She's the most sentimental of the bunch--so will still run it past the others.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Feb 22, 2020 20:18:26 GMT
tentoes There's an exercise that is used in your situation: touch every single item and keep moving through them, making your decisions as you go. If you have the energy and time for it, plan for a few days with your slides, a cup of coffee or tea, music or a podcast playing in the background or a patient friend sitting with you. Go through all of the boxes, pulling each slide and make a definitive compilation of the very best. Set yourself a limit (1, 2 maybe 3 boxes) and start the tough love: which of these slides are you willing to carry the burden of keeping just in case better technology comes out? If you find that you are struggling with each slide, you may want to stop the torture after an hour or so. But if you find that you are able to start separating your very fave pictures from the rest, keep going. It would be a wonderful way to find a compromise: at least 90% of the slides will be gone in the end, focusing solely on the pictures you may want to blow up should technology get significantly better.  In case you just needed someone else to tell you that it's ok to let go of these, I'm joining Linda in letting you know you should allow yourself to let these go. Double-check you have the photos backed up a couple of times, including on a secure cloud (or two) to give yourself the peace of mind and then release yourself from those 30 boxes. A healthy declutter process is a long process. It requires taking your time and not rushing through it (you'll form regrets, impulse buy to replace and become even more hesitant to get rid of something in the future). Yes, you should try the swimsuits on to see whether they fit. That's the logical step. It's annoying, takes up time and energy but if you tackle it bit by bit, you'll get there. Just keep working at it daily. Mark down 30 minute power declutter sessions + clothes try-outs in your planner 6 days out of the week (and give yourself one to just kick back and relax!). It is possible. You've got support here! Please check in whenever you feel like it or need it.
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Post by Linda on Feb 22, 2020 20:24:19 GMT
The boxes that are left are going to be a bit harder. I have two boxes of artwork - I have a plan for one painting and an idea for another. The rest is for DH (posters I think) to deal with. I have one box of stuff - it's meaningful, it needs to be photographed, it needs to be stored safely until I can come up with a display plan for it - combination of clothing items, military memorabilia and stuff like that. One box has a few bigger framed photos that I need to figure out how to digitise and then store or display (my grandparents' wedding portrait for instance) and some paintings my mum did - one is framed, the others need to be. And one box of papers, yearbooks, notebooks of writing etc...that needs to be scanned/transcibed etc... I think I can make the contents fitin my project cube unit okay typing that out made me go back in and see what I could do...The box of clothes and military memorabilia is now temporarily in a cube in my cube unit until I come up with a better plan and the box of papers etc.. has been neatly put in the cube unit also - unit is now full. Hopefully I can get the two artwork boxes emptied and hung over the weekend So just the one box of framed photos and art to figure out a plan for.... back to slides...26 boxes to go.... |
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