Articles

By Martha Tobin

With Father’s Day upon us you might be thinking about organizing your basement tool room, your garage or your shed.  But what to do with all the tools you don’t need anymore?

There is a great local organization called the Ottawa Tool Library where you can donate these tools (or on any job with Declutter4Good we can take them there for you).

As well on Saturday, June 28th the Ottawa Tool Library is hosting an Electronics and Battery recycling drop off (10-2pm).  This free event allows you to not only see what the Ottawa Tool library is all about but as well they will provide a safe way to recycle your electronics and batteries.

Everyday on the news we see the damaging effects of climate change (i.e. more fires, heat, droughts and floods etc) so recycling has never been more important.

Our children and grandchildren will be the ones most affected by what we all do now.  At Declutter4Good we are committed to being part of the solution.  

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” (Nelson Henderson)

by Martha Tobin

During the pandemic many people’s guest rooms became indoor storage sheds.  No one was coming over so you could just toss items in there and close the door.

Fast forward to today – people are dropping by again and guests want to come and stay for a few days.

Here are 5 tips for getting into the right frame of mind to declutter your guest room (or any room):

1. Get clear on your vision for this space.Letting go of items you no longer need, use, love or want is always going to move you forwards.  Decluttering opens up physical space in your home as well as life opportunities (i.e grandkids sleeping over, creating an area to scrapbook).
2. Your stuff does not define you.Your possessions don’t tell your life story – your memories and relationships do.  A sobering thought is that obituaries never mention the stuff we owned.
3. Find a place for items to ‘live’ in your home.If an item is worth keeping then it’s worth finding it a place to live in your home. Whether that’s a travel keepsake, a book or an inherited item.  Ending an item’s nomadic journey in your home and finding it a place to live will not only allow you to enjoy the item more but to find it easily.
4. Our stuff takes up space.  Your ‘stuff’ can take up a lot of physical space in your home but stuff also takes up a lot of emotional and mental space too (i.e guilt over half-finished craft projects, shame over underused exercise equipment or regret about clothing purchases, etc), Letting go of such items will also release you from the negative emotions associated with them.
5. Only keep a few of something.It can be difficult to let go of items that are associated with memories. Consider keeping just a few meaningful pieces (i.e a few handwritten letters instead of a whole box, a couple of figurines instead of the entire collection, etc).   Perhaps take a photo of a keepsake to preserve the memory but reclaim the space.
   Living more by owning less is a mindset rooted in creating space so that you can be more present with the moments of your life and more grounded in supporting the person you are now.

“The way you spend your days is how you spend your life.” (Annie Dillard)

By Martha Tobin

When you are decluttering how do you determine what items to keep and what to let go of?

Here are 6 questions to ask yourself about your ‘stuff’:

1. Have I used it in the past year?
2. Would I buy it again now?
3. Where will it ‘live’ in my home?
4. Is this item worth repairing?
5. Is it worth the space it takes up?
6. Would a photo of this item be enough?

Every home only has a finite amount of space in it and when those spaces are maxed out, it’s a good time to do some decluttering.  

Decluttering and organizing your spaces so they’re used efficiently is always going to make you feel lighter and more in control.  So take a look at your old sports equipment, your extra linens, your unworn clothing, your rarely used utensils, etc and ask yourself those 6 questions.

Studies show that decluttering positively impacts our mental and emotional health as well as increasing our productivity and focus. In short, decluttering is where you gain not lose.  

Keep your treasures and enjoy them but let go of those items that have been weighing you down and fencing you in.

“Be a curator of your life. Slowly cut things out until you’re left with what you love, with what’s necessary and with what makes you happy.” (Leo Babauta)

by Martha Tobin

Often I get asked, “where do I even start to declutter?”. I recommend starting in a small area and using the 6 box method to sort items. This is going to make the process easier and faster.

To begin, set up 6 boxes (medium to large size) and label them:

1. Donate/give to family and friends
2. Sell
3. Trash/recycle
4. Memorabilia to review
5. Paperwork to review
6. Maybe items

-Sort all items in this area that you are focusing on into these 6 boxes.

-When you come to paperwork or memorabilia, just sort these items into their respective boxes. I recommend reviewing these two categories are a later date so that you don’t get taken off track from the decluttering process at this point.

-For any items that you just can’t decide on, put them in the labelled ‘maybe’ box and put that box aside for a few days. This allows you the time to think about these items without making a rush decision.

-For items you are having a hard time letting go of (even though you no longer need or use the item), consider taking a photo of the item so that you can keep the memory but let the item go.

-For collections (i.e. inherited china set, books, figurines, etc) consider keeping just one or two of the collection so that you can keep the memory but let the other items go (either by donating or sellin them or giving them to family or friends).

-For those items you do decide to keep, determine where they will ‘live’ in your home and move them accordingly.

Decluttering is always transformational and where you gain no lose. Keep your treasures, feature them so that you can see them often but let go of those other items that have been weighing you down or fencing you in so that you can reclaim that space.

“The more uncluttered I lived, the more joy I found.”

(Zina Harrington)

By Martha Tobin

I read an article called ‘Choose Your Hard’ (by A. Alabi) that resonated with me. In it the author compared many life situations like the ones below:

—Being dependent on someone is hard but being depended upon is hard

—Being employed is hard but being unemployed is hard.

—Being married is hard but being single is hard.

In the end the article summed up by saying that every situation comes with its challenges so pick the path you can be most content with.

I think back on this article when people reach out to Declutter4Good for organizing and decluttering help. Clearly these clients have come to the conclusion that living with their clutter is harder than the thought of finally tackling it.

If you are ready to finally tackle your clutter and gain some space as well as peace of mind, I can assure you that my team and I will make it much less exhausting and challenging than you think it will be. And we’ll do it in a fraction of the time it would take you to do.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” (Ralph Waldo Emmerson)

By Martha Tobin

Time is our most precious resource. In fact it’s the one thing most of us just don’t ever seem to have enough of.

What if this year you gave your mom the gift of less ‘stuff’ and more time?More time to do the things she loves to do like gardening, crafting, reading or spending time with her grandchildren. More time for herself.

Decluttering and organizing doesn’t just clear physical spaces (like crowded closets, stuffed basements and jam-packed drawers), it creates mental and emotional space so that we can focus on those things that matter most.

Give the gift to your mom (or yourself) this year that allows her or you to spend less time managing ‘things’ and more time living. Decluttering is about realigning with your purpose and what matters most to you.

And on any job we’ll take those items you no longer need or want and donate them to local charities.

By Martha Tobin

by Martha Tobin

by Martha Tobin

Six years ago my mom and my youngest brother died twelve days apart and my world fell apart. In quick succession we then had to empty and sell my mom’s home and empty my brother’s apartment.

I ended up with a lot of items that fell under the heading of ‘memorabilia’. For a few months these items sat in a pile in the middle of our living room as I didn’t have the emotional strength to tackle it.

When I did start to go through these items, it was a sad but beautiful experience that made me realize that while I had kept some of these items more out of grief than memory; other items conjured up vivid, powerful memories.

Here are the determining factors regarding memorabilia that I kept (and you may find helpful):

• Does it conjure up a good memory? (i.e. photos)
• Would it be something I would want to display in our home? (i.e. painting)
• Is it something I would wear or use? (i.e. recipes)
• Is it something that I can store but access easily? (i.e. letters)
• Is it relevant generational information for our children? (i.e. old passports)

In the end, I kept some photos, letters, handwritten recipes, a few clothes, a recording of their voices, some paintings etc. And I have found sacred spots for these to ‘live’ in our home.

There is nothing that will ever replace the loss of a loved one but having their energy around you in the form of memories that you can glance over at will bring you joy.

At the end of any decluttering journey there is always a ‘lightness’ that makes life more hopeful and encourages self-awareness so that you can move forward with your plans and dreams.

Keep your treasures….better yet, find them a place to live in your home where they can be enjoyed everyday.

by Martha Tobin

More and more these days, the younger generation is saying ‘thanks but no thanks’ to the items generously offered to them by their parents and grandparents.

Instead this younger audience tends to favour a more contemporary, cleaner aesthetic that doesn’t include fancy dishes, serving platters, china cabinets, boxes of old family photos, VHS tapes or photo albums, old handmade quilts, antique dolls or figurines.

The younger generation are very aware that due to the rising cost of living, their starter homes will be smaller with less storage space.  They also know that most of their parents and grandparents’ furniture and collections have likely depreciated in value. So while these items hold meaning and memories for you, the reality is that these items have little sentimental or monetary value for them.  

Additionally young adults these days value experiences more than acquiring things. Their priorities are travel, flexibility and freedom and they know that ‘stuff’ will only weigh them down.

So what can you do with all of your furniture and collections that your kids have indicated they don’t want?

If you want to sell your items here are a few options:

–yard or garage sale

–post items on online marketplaces

–reach out to an estate or auction company

–take them to consignment stores

If you want to give your items away here are a few options:

–put them on a Buy Nothing group

—donate them to a local charity

–post them on the GiveShop app.

Determining what you want to do with your items well-ahead of time will allow you to start the decluttering process at your own pace and perhaps find someone who treasures your items like you do.  

While getting rid of items you spent money on can be difficult, the burden of ‘clutter’ can be equally costly in terms of time, focus, energy and space.  And it can be costly both emotionally and physically to your kids if in the end they have to do all the decluttering when you are no longer able to do it.  

“If everything is special than nothing is.”

(Ruth Soukup)