I just did this due to moving cross country, and reeeeally needing to downsize to save moving costs, so it was ruthless.
I did the first round about a month before moving, one garbage bag for the bin, one for the op shop and one for the buy/sell page. Went nuts for the week and then left it for 2 weeks, and went back and did it all over again. I found that stuff I was doubtful about or could find a sentimental reason to keep, went in round 2. It was much easier the second round to get rid of things knowing I had not used them during that period.
If they can easily be borrowed/replaced/sourced second hand later IF I need them, they went. And straight to the op shop the next day. No mess, no fuss, and whilst I got rid a MASS of things I *could* have sold on ebay or gumtree and made some money, it was soooo much better for my head space to have them gone straight away and out of the house.
I am having the removalists come in the morning with all our stuff, and will be culling again, round 3, while unpacking and I am sure I can get rid of a third of it.
I am a bit of a hoarder, so I need to do this every year or so to get rid of it all.
I hate hoarding! As a result I have been ruthless all my life at giving things away or donating to the salvos or just throwing stuff out. This has resulted in regret on several occasions when I've thought later on when I wanted something "why the hell did I throw that away"!!! Now I am a bit more selective since we have our own house and we have space to store things. Doing it this way means that we have the big plastic containers with handles and wheels and we have a label maker so everything is clearly marked and easy to find again and it feels tidy. I also hear you on wanting to get rid of it straight away once you've decided. This is why I rarely give to friends. If it's not good enough for the salvos it's in the bin there and then. This way I can drop it off to the salvos as soon as I have my pile. Mind you I have offered things to friends but I always give them a date by which they need to pick it up, if they haven't collected then it's off to the salvos.
Have fun with the kitchen, I did mine a couple of weeks ago and it's great! I bought loads of containers half price at big W and went through my pantry too.
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