Yesterday I was prepping for guests, making the bed, and as I put the pale sage fitted sheet on the queen bed I noticed how worn out the fabric was looking.  (That was right after I found that not one, not two, but three of our pillow cases had tiny holes in them. )

All of our sheet sets are probably 10 years old, gotten when we married.  Not only were they just worn from age, but this particular fitted sheet had a color-removed stain on it.  (I’d say bleach but I don’t use bleach).

Hmmm, not quite something you’d be delighted to sleep on if you were a guest, eh?  So I swiped the sheet back off and took it up to my hubby, and asked if we should just keep these for use on our own bed.  After all, people can still sleep on a stain, right?  Isn’t it wasteful to throw it away?  Then my hubby asked, “Being wasteful to toss it? Or…Hoarding?”

I kind of wanted him to say, “Eh, no big deal, we can use them on our bed.  It’s good to have second set of flannel sheets anyhow!”  That would have made it easy.  I could have put them away and been content.  But no.  He had to point out that it was decision time.

 He’s the original minimalist in our family, y’all.  Like when I met him he had an entire house and no furniture other than dining table, computer/office chairs, and an air mattress.  So his “what we need” opinion is whack, right?!

Guys, it’s like I have a bag lady on one shoulder and a monk on another or some such ridiculousness going on in my head.  Bag Lady says “Don’t waste anything!” and Monk says, “You need little to be happy.”  And their opposing viewpoints make it so not-zen in my noggin!

So while my little shoulder peeps were arguing, I dug out my circular cutter and cutting mat and made a deal with myself.  I could not bring myself to throwing the sheet away.  It’s not good enough to donate, but I still felt it was useful, ya know?! So I struck a bargain.  I could spare myself the guilt (yes, that is what I experience) of throwing away something useful if I made it into something else useful–disposable cleaning rags.

(Because I could throw them away after cleaning the bathroom and not feel guilty.  Somehow vastly different if I threw the sheet away bit by bit rather than all at once.)  But ONLY IF I cut the sheet into rags RIGHT AWAY. Clutter is delayed decisions! (I’ve learned a few things in my time. Thanks, Clutter Fairy on Youtube!)

So zip zoom, that rotary cutter took 5 minutes.  (I would NOT have agreed to this deal if I had to use fabric scissors–too tedious, and would likely have been tucking the sheets in a far corner of a drawer, telling myself they will be useful as painting drop cloths, and forgetting about them.)

So I shoved those new disposable bathroom rags in the sink cabinet and went back to realize…Dang.  There’s that top sheet.  Ugh.  I do NOT want to cut another whole queen sized sheet.  But I couldn’t toss it, so I wadded it up in my vintage Hoarder Mary Poppins’  Bag of Delayed Obligations (filled with “fix-it-eventually-maybe-because-I-can’t-bring-myself-to-toss-it items).  I love the bag but hate looking in it.  It is always full.  Because I’m a hoarder of stuff that’s “still useful” but not nice enough to give away or donate.

Anybody know how to make me less attached to stuff like this?  Send help.  And new sheets, please.  (Just kidding, I do like shopping. But they are expensive aren’t they?  Have you noticed you have to get at least 400 thread count for them to last well?  Ten years is a good run, eh?)

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