July Part 3 - Glassware & Everyday Dishes

Week Three

Most of my photos come from magicalstock.art. However, this week my photo is by Vidit Goswami on Unsplash.

Welcome to Part 3 of July’s focus inside The Simplified Year! This week, we’re tackling glassware and “everyday” dishes.

It might be tempting to skip this one. These are the dishes we use every single day, surely they’re exempt from the decluttering process, right? But what if I told you this is where some of the sneakiest clutter lives? The kind that hides in plain sight and chips away at your time, your space, and your joy.

Every week in July, we’re looking at a different slice of the kitchen. This week, we shift focus to the dishes we use daily, and to the ones we never use but somehow still own. From glasses and mugs to bowls and plates, we’re making space not just in our cupboards but in our minds and routines.

This Week, let’s get real:

You use these items all the time, so it makes sense to keep them, right? Yes—and no.

Are you actually using what you love? Or just what’s there?

Because “everyday” shouldn’t mean “meh.” And “nice” shouldn’t mean never-used.

Let’s make your “everyday” beautiful, functional, and clutter-free.

Why This Week Matters (Mindset Reset)

So often, we keep dishes we don’t even like because they were free, gifted, or once upon a time they were expensive. And even more often, we tuck away the dishes we do like because we’re afraid to break them.

But what are you actually saving them for?

A visit from the Queen? A fancy meal even though you haven’t hosted in sixteen years and don’t enjoy hosting? Or some other undefined “someday” that never quite shows up?

This mindset of saving the good stuff and tolerating the rest is part of a deeper pattern. A belief that we don’t deserve beauty and pleasure unless it’s earned or rare.

And I call BS.

Your life is happening now. The people you love are eating meals with you now. YOU are nourishing yourself, daily, and that matters.

Use the dishes that make you happy. Let go of the ones that don’t. And if you genuinely love keeping a set of “nice dishes” for hosting that you actually do? Great. But let it be intentional, instead of inherited guilt.

You might be surprised how much of a difference a mug that makes you smile has on kickstarting your day.

Every item you own takes up space in your cupboards and in your mind, therefore impacting mood, spare time, and energetic capacity. Choose wisely.