At The Millionaire’s Daughter, we’ve been in the business of helping people consign their furniture for 6+ years! Whether your downsizing, moving or just looking to cleanse your home we could all use a little advice on how to de-clutter. For that reason we’ve asked our friend Susan Toth, owner of Found It! Organizing Solutions, to help us learn a bit about the process. PLUS we’ve got a FREE Printable Checklist available for download that will help you start de-cluttering your home today! Here’s Susan to share some organizing tips and click HERE to download a FREE Printable Checklist | De-clutter your Home Room by Room.
Have you been asking yourself – where do I start? Then keep reading! We all know that being organized helps us live easier and with less stress. The ‘less is more’ theory is the key to managing your home, no matter the size. Start today by mentally & emotionally making a commitment to yourself & your family. Next will be the physical, hands on and decision-making phase. And know that it gets easier as you go along.
No matter the season or the weather, you can get organized at any time; all you need to do is set aside a time frame – this coming weekend or next week. Once you have set the date, create a game plan then put it into action. Start with writing down your goals and dream for your home. Visualize what you feel would be ideal in your home. Where things should live, what would make items used daily have easy access and how much lighter would you feel if certain items you never use have been removed. Less is more. Remind yourself of this. Only having the items you need, use and love will make for a smooth flowing home.
BEFOREAFTER
The basic rooms in our homes – bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room, are all highly used areas that can sometimes get cluttered due to our busy lives. Many times a major life event can knock us off our routine and things backlog. Priorities shift. Here’s a few examples: moving away for College/University; getting married or divorced; a birth or death; blending two families; moving to new home and simply aging. If we look at all the possibilities on how our lives change, it’s no wonder we can get overloaded and be unsure how to keep up with maintaining our home.
Once we accept that a change in our lives has happened, embrace it. Now it’s time to rethink, renew and revamp how we do things daily. Change is good. It’s a fresh start!
The printable check list below will help you on this journey. Yes, it is a journey! Ask yourself the questions listed as you walk through the rooms and look at the items. Some items will be easy to make decisions on, others will be more difficult and that’s ok. Focus on the ones you can make decisions on first. Start with grouping like items together – like with like. This is a very important process because now you can see all the items – the toys or shoes or dvd’s, etc at one time to be able to make clear and strong decision without hesitation. If you don’t have all ‘like with like’ you may end up holding back on making a decision because you know there are more to look at before you can decide.
I know this may sound easy for some of you reading this and to others it’s a scary thought to attempt to do this. As a Professional Organizer, I help my clients, people just like you, to gain control over the ‘stuff’ in their homes. Being a third party, unattached to the items, I help you gather and group items and guide you through the decision making process. My services also include setting up systems – where to put the items that are staying in your home as well as taking away the items you no longer use/need/love. It’s always easier for the person that doesn’t have an invested interest or attachment to the items to make decisions… I’m sure you have said to your friend – “oh, just get rid of it” or someone has said this to you! Some of those items are perfect for consignment and some are perfect for donation to a charity. I have found that working with the amazing team at The Millionaire’s Daughter has been smooth and easy. They know what their client’s want to buy and what items will sell. You can always take a snap shot and email it in to ask if your once precious item has a market value today. It really is simple and helps lighten your load.
Refresh, renew, revamp your home today!!
– Susan Toth
Susan Toth is the Owner & Principle Organizer of Found It, a full service whole home Organizing Solutions company. Found It offers many solutions including decluttering & organizing, move management and downsizing. Contact Susan today for a free phone consultation. 416-418-1884 www.found-it.ca[email protected]
