Tag: Decluttering

Stuff Management: Moving, Estate Sales, Yard Sales, Downsizing & Organizing

Posted on by Kat Gilpatrick

Moving? Preparing to list your home? Making your space more livable? Just making space?

Whatever it is, it requires a handful of different tasks carried out — or services rendered —  and making sense of it all can be challenging, especially if you’re under the wire to get a job done; if it’s a difficult moment in time or if there are many decision makers involved, etc.

I’ve put together a handy guide for how to manage these projects, who can help, and how to get there.

Why would I be an expert on this? Because, as a Real Estate Agent I help all kinds of people prepare to move, to de-clutter or downsize; to organize for a more streamlined living space or to prepare to put their homes on the market.

I help with move management, coordinating customized services like estate sales, auctions, clear-outs, and of course the moves themselves. In situations where an estate requires a combination of jobs done, (off-site online estate sale item distribution, inventory and donation coordination, movers and clear-out, deep cleaning and storage space decisions) And of course personally, as a consumer of these services and someone who’s been knee-deep in the work myself, I have partnered with some of the best resources in the country to achieve custom outcomes.

When there’s individual or bulk item selling, you’ve got the classic tried and true yard/garage sales; Craigslist listings and Facebook Marketplace to name a few, as well as antique and resale selling for furniture, appliances, home decor, etc.

In any part of the country, there are options and preferred vendors, and it can be dizzying who to choose, how to get started: scoping the size of your jobs and specific needs, etc. One thing remains the same however, one common cry of those in this stage of the game: “I have too much stuff!”

 

What Services Do You Need?

Here are some of the folks who can make your life much easier, and what you need, of course depends entirely on you.

  • Organizing and Decluttering Professionals – There are all shapes and sizes for these kinds of services. One of my favorites in the Bay Area is Rita Rey. Read on for a bit more about what Rita offers below.
  • Preparing for Marketing Your Home Professionals:
    • Declutter and streamline your home
    • Assist with decision-making about what items to keep
    • Arrange for a donation, sale, or disposal of unwanted items and supervise removal
    • Stage home with existing furnishings
    • Arrange for furniture and heavy items to be moved within your home (if needed)
    • Pack and arrange for the removal of items not needed for staging
  • Downsizing – much of the above tasks apply, with an emphasis on removal or rehoming of items rather than staging and listing preparation. This can be DIY of course, or you can enlist some support!
  • Storage Rental or Pods – Knowing what you need and what serves your specific purpose and then aligning with the right contract and combination.
  • Estate Sale or Auction and full service coordination for larger jobs and important transitions – These are incredibly valuable services for those assisting after a loved one’s passing, or extreme downsizing, estate sales being especially useful if you’re able to conduct onsite. If unable to do this, an auction may be the way to go. Folks like Caring Transitions’ Jessi and Ryan, in Phoenix AZ are the gold standard, and the bar by which I measure all the rest. Check out what their services include here, and check out below the reasons why they love what they do, and people love them so much.

  • Yard Sale or Online Selling – Doesn’t need much explanation – but there are certainly pro tips and best times of year depending on your location.
  • Move Management or Movers – I am often surprised that people are unaware that these fully managed suites of services are available, and increasingly popular as a large part of our population is aging into a category who’s best served by folks like The Move Makers, here in the Portland Area.
  • Cleaners – There are regular house cleaners, and there are move-out specialists, and of course other specific services like carpet cleaning, window and gutters, etc. Some companies specialize in whole-house readiness, and this is a phenomenal choice for a one-and-done kind of approach, or for those heftier scenarios. I’ve recently had the good fortune to work with Shawna at Maid to Organize and am loving their work ethic and availability. These fine Portland area folks specialize in Estates, Hoarding, & Generally overwhelming spaces & situations, or as they put it: Professional Organizing, Cleaning & Estate Clearing as a wholistic package offering.

 

When I asked Rita, of Rita Rey organizing in the SF Bay Area, to tell me a bit about what makes her services so special, it really resonated with her passion, and spoke to her compassion:

“I just love to be part of the process of helping my clients achieve a sense of peace and surround themselves with things that make them happy. Letting go can be scary, but less scary than facing the chaos daily. I have not heard one client say that it was not worth it despite being scared to start the letting-go process.”
When I asked Jessi of Caring Transitions, in AZ, to talk about what was meaningful to them in terms of serving their transitioning clientele, she told me:
“Our job is simple: to make sure your lifelong treasures and family heirlooms are cared for in their new home.”
And they do this by featuring a really seamless online auction service, which sets them apart from other packing/moving/estate sale services.
No matter what your project is, it’s yours, and it’s important, and having someone by your side to help or advise you is worth it’s weight in gold. I hope this has been a little assistance!

PORTLAND LIFE: PARING DOWN AS ABUNDANCE MAKING

Posted on by Aryne + Dulcinea

Paring Down As Abundance Making

Whether you follow Marie Kondo or the Swedish Death Cleaning philosophy, decluttering mindsets are all about editing the items, functions, and activities that block, clog, stall joy, and create negativity in your life. The idea of paring down is making more room for the abundance you really look for (time, money, human connection, etc). If you want to pare down and need direction, take a look at this helpful way to start. We also have a great list of amazing home organizers that offer a variety of services. Want to know more? Reach out to us today.

Continue reading “PORTLAND LIFE: PARING DOWN AS ABUNDANCE MAKING”

The 5 Proven Steps to Declutter Your Home

Posted on by Melissa Dorman

The 5 proven Steps to declutter your home – Home Transformation Guide!

 

Why Declutter?

In the beautiful journey of life we own many big and small possessions that can make our home beautiful, stylish, and appealing. These provide us with a sense of pleasure and make our life comfortable.

But due to various circumstances in life we have to manage these valued items in our home. Sometimes we need to downsize when children move out. Other times we simply need to have less things in our home in order to free up some space in our minds.

Decluttering items is not an easy task due to sentimental and emotional attachment . Deciding which items to keep, which to give up, donate, or throw out will never be easy.

But too much clutter in our home can lead to chaos that can costs us money, time, and can even limit our productivity.

Though decluttering can be done at any time, some find it beneficial to do it at the beginning of the year. Thereby achieving a more appealing and organized home.

 

Important Steps in decluttering process

Best practices and techniques to declutter your home…

 

1) Clarity in decluttering goal :

The goal and reason behind decluttering should be clear enough. Clarity of goal provides focus in decluttering activity. In its absence one may start full of enthusiasm but may lose momentum to complete the process.

Setting clear goal and well planned action on the basis of these goals can lead to maximum decluttering.

Don’t just say to yourself that you’re going to organize your closet or sort through your cupboard.

Evaluating total available space and plan how items can be arranged in that particular area.

If decluttering is for shifting to new home furniture, kitchen items have to be set up keeping the new home in mind.

2) Focused execution:

By focusing on one room or area at a time one can effectively begin decluttering. There are many ways to focus your execution.

Some expert suggests cleaning easy items first.

Other suggest to begin with a place that makes you feel most uncomfortable.

Another way is to declutter urgent items first.

Break the job into smaller parts so you won’t get overwhelmed with the task at hand.

Taking it item by item will help you get things done in a short amount of time.

Crammed book shelfs, piles of messy clothes in the dresser, vanity drawers with makeup products etc can be decluttered one space at a time.

3) Trash disposal:

Experts suggests the easiest way to begin decluttering is to start with disposing of old, expired and unusable items first. One may not have many of it but these can be easily discarded.

Expired medicines, broken or expired items, old makeup cosmetic products, damaged electronic items and any canned foods items that crossed expiration dates etc are some of the items that can be discarded.

4) Specific Box assignment:

Experts call it the Four Box Method. For this method four boxes are assigned and named as Trash, Give away, Keep and Relocate. By classifying the stuffs accordingly and placing them in these boxes in organized boxes one can clear many items easily.

After finishing this process and reconfirming,  goods in trash can be thrown away, items stored in give away can be donated to needy or given to friends and relatives. One can sell them for extra cash as well.

Trash: Once the trash bin is full or all that are required to be disposed are collected, it needs to be thrown away immediately before waiting for filling any other boxes or it will again begin to clutter.

Give Away/sell: Items you do not need that can be valuable for others can be donated. A separate box can be used to keep items you decide to sell.

Relocate: The adult children use while they are back at home from college can be temporarily shifted to garage space or basement.

Keep: Items you have to keep with you which you use daily or weekly and that which are providing you some value are to be stored here during decluttering.

One needs to be strict not to include too much of things in this box just as it have emotional value but that do not provide actual value.

 

5) Overcome Emotional attachment:

Items received as gifts, inherited items, items purchased from first earnings etc have emotions attached with them. The items purchased from a family vacation or trip also has memory attached with it.

Even though these things can be connected to a specific memory in our lives, the fact remains that these are still objects, and can create clutter.

Some may be worth keeping forever, but they must be kept on the basis of real value and positive effect  they provide.

Not all the gifts one has received in lifetime are to be preserved. When evaluating an item, determine whether it is really worth keeping.

If you can retain the precious memory without keeping the physical object, then it might be wise to let go.

Few reminders:

After completion, reevaluation must be done to check if the goal has been properly achieved.
Once we are happy with the accomplishment in the organized home, we can plan to make the next home improvement project.
So whatever the reason was behind decluttering; to have a more organized home or to move to new house or other city or for simplified living; decluttering always provides a positive result.
Melissa Dorman is a Licensed Broker with Yascha Group at Living Room Realty in Portland, OR. Follow Yascha Group  on Facebook.