Do I need this item?
Do I use this item?
Does this item work?
Does this item fit into my plan?
Do I want to continue to have to organize, clear, maintain and manage this item?
Do I really want this item?
A “no” to any of these questions means “go” – get rid of it!
Are you an entry way dumper? Does your kitchen table become a landfill, piles everywhere with car keys and sunglasses buried under those piles? Put the wall of your entry way into service. Install decorative hooks to hold coats and handbags. Install a shelf above the hooks to hold other essentials. Purchase an attractive tray to hold mail, flyers, keys and sunglasses.
If you have a closet in your entry way, transform it into a drop zone with kid-friendly lockers or cubbies that can hold all your come & go items. A bench with storage is a great way to sit, take off your shoes and tuck them away as well as a convenient space for the sports stuff.
Store two sets of sheets for each bed in the closet. Save a few sets of older sheets for protecting plants, paint projects, etc. but don’t store them in the linen closet. Fold towels and sheets so the folded edge shows on the shelf. Now you might have room on a shelf for your bathroom pantry… purchase an open container for these items so they don’t tip over and fall creating a mess, simply pull down the container and choose the item you need. Simple.
One client went from over 3,000 square feet to an urban condo… here were her pre-project comments: “stuff just clutters around us!” “it’s all the kid’s stuff!” As much as she tried to cull the clutter, it just moved from room to room, but moving put a new perspective on things.
That’s when we got busy… sorting into categories, move, donate, sell, toss… the over 50 pre-retirement dress shirts of the husband’s went to charity, the dresses worn 15 years ago at the kid’s weddings – gone… the chair buried in the basement which was always going to be re-upholstered… won’t fit in the condo…get the idea? Room by room, item by item, a fresh new start began. Moving day the van arrived, the big pieces were in place in the condo, the pared-down belongings arranged, artwork hung. Retirement to be enjoyed. Zen.
