Sorting through stuff
Nancy Menefee Jackson
Contributing Writer
If you're selling the four-bedroom house and moving to a home more suited to an active-adult lifestyle, you'll have to purge all the junk you've accumulated.
But how?
Cindy Bernstein, owner of Aim 4 Order, says the best way is simply to decide: What do I love the most? What is the most important?
Ask—firmly—What am I not using, loving or needing right now?
"Go room by room, and start with the child who isn't living at home," she says.
It often helps to hire a professional organizer who is impartial and won't want to save the paper from eighth grade that earned a check-plus.
"They need somebody with them coaching them through it," she says. An organizer also can help find innovative solutions. Bernstein recalls one client who wanted to keep Little League trophies from when he was 10, and she suggested taking photos of all the trophies for a scrapbook. It's also easier to part with something if you know it's going to a good cause; for example, donating those athletic trophies to an inner city league that can't afford them.
It's important to focus on the goal: You want to start fresh with a beautiful, clutter-free home, one where you can find a jacket in a closet without having a squash racquet fall on your head, and one where it's the car that actually goes in the garage.
Tell your kids to come get it or it's going
If your children are older and left the stuff they couldn't bear to part with in your house, it's time to make a phone call. Tell them to come and get it or you'll toss it or give it away. Digital cameras make it easy to take pictures of art and science projects and then toss them.
It also helps to buy one box, label it a memory box and keep just that one box—rather than roomfuls.
Invest in an inexpensive shredder and shred old financial documents, canceled checks and ancient tax returns. Many charitable organizations will send a truck to pick up furniture and larger items. A rainy day can be a great time to sort through family photos, and save the garage for a cool, pleasant day.
If you're even thinking about downsizing, Bernstein suggests, start now—even if you don't have firm plans. "Start five years ahead," she advises. "If it's even a glimmer in your eye, start with just 15 minutes a day."
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