Whether you are moving a loved one into a smaller senior facility or cleaning out after a loved one has passed away, downsizing and decluttering don’t have to be chores. Remember, you are getting rid of stuff, not love or memories. And, if your loved ones are still with you, Removing clutter can reduce the risks of trips and falls significantly.
1. Have a plan: Pick a date and time, what room will you start with, and who will be involved. Family members need to pack their patience for this journey. A lifetime of stuff is a lot to go through, both emotionally and physically.
2. Make it enjoyable: Tell stories, laugh, play music, and record the stories that go with some of the items but also keep an eye out for important documents and valuable items as you go through things.
3. What is most important: If the person downsizing is still with you, let them start by picking out a few things that mean the most to them and they will keep. Hold on to items that reflect their current lives and needs. Certain items are important only to the person themselves. Group these in a container; when the person is gone, it can simply be thrown away.
4. Make a secondary pile: These are things you will hold on to for three months then reassess. Put it in sealed boxes. If no one remembers what is in the boxes three months later, you don’t need the stuff.
5. Important to you: These are the things you would like to take but make sure you really need or want the item(s) in your own home. Again, you don’t love someone any less if you don’t want their stuff.
6. Immediate family: Ask what items are important to them, and tell them they have seven days to pick them up or they go in the pickup pile.
7. Relatives and friends: Same ask and same rules, pick it up in seven days, or it is gone.
8. Everything else: Have a garage sale (if you must) or give it all away to someone it might benefit like a domestic violence survivor or someone just starting out.
9. Arrange for pick up: For everything that is left after seven days, schedule a pickup company such as the Salvation Army or 1-800-GOT-JUNK after that seven-day deadline.
10. Learn a lesson: Clean out your own stuff. You don’t need 200 books, 3 sets of china, 7 black sweaters, and 5 spatulas – and – stop buying more stuff. Put that money in savings instead – it adds up fast for a nice rainy-day fund for you later.
Helpful links:
Scan Café: Digitize all your photos and videos https://www.scancafe.com
800-GOT-JUNK: Arrange for pickup https://www.1800gotjunk.com/us_en
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: Read the book https://amzn.to/3Q7mIp8