Home Organizing

13 Lesser-Known Places to Donate After Decluttering

January 1, 2023
by Brittney Morgan and Trisha Sprouse
from apartment therapy

 

Decluttering your home is just plain good for the soul. For starters, getting rid of any superfluous items tends to bring more harmony into your space, since it leaves you with a more curated collection of belongings that you know you need. But there’s a more meaningful benefit as well.

That purse or bag you no longer want could be the very same one somebody else has been coveting but couldn’t afford. Same goes for the blazer that helped you ace an interview in the past. Purging your possessions presents you with the opportunity to pass your belongings onto someone else who may need and appreciate them more.

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I Love My Clutter, Thank You Very Much

December 26, 2022
by Burt Solomon
from The Atlantic

 

Blame my childhood, but I find it cozy and comforting to be surrounded by stuff.

A confession, first: I love clutter.

The horizontal surfaces in my family room are covered with newspapers, magazines, books I’ve started, books I intend to read, books I want to read but never will, erasable pens, a sweatshirt or two, a soccer ball, a bucket of toy cars, and wayward Legos that gouge my stockinged feet. In addition to a computer, two telephones, and a TV remote, my desk at home is strewn with notebooks, folders, loose papers, birchbark, a modem, scraps of paper with notes to myself, photos of my wife and kids, flash drives, nail clippers, pens, coins, a stapler, a thesaurus, shopping receipts, a hand-grip strengthener, a blood-pressure cuff, two- and three-dimensional likenesses of Abraham Lincoln, four baseballs, three baseball caps, two 1909 baseball cards, two flashlights, a pair of AirPods, a miniature boxing glove my father gave me before I can remember, one Pokémon card, and two Tibetan bowls.

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15 To-Do’s to Prep Your Kitchen for the Holidays

You’ve survived Halloween, and now you’ve got Thanksgiving and the December holidays coming: Yayyy…and yikes, right?! It’s definitely our favorite time of year, but also the most daunting. There will be a lot of decorating, cooking and eating, guests, music, setting up and cleaning up, leftovers, wrapping and unwrapping, garbage and recycling, washing, drying, and folding. Oh my! But all so, so worth it because it’s also the time of year to see and enjoy all the special folks in our lives as we partake in festivities and traditions! Your kitchen will be the most used room in the house for the next two months. To help you out, we’ve got some great to-do’s to prep your kitchen for the holiday season.

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Downsizing For Retirement: A Step-by-Step Guide

by Rachel Christian
September 23, 2022
on RetireGuide.com

Downsizing for retirement takes planning, hard work and time. It involves organizing your current home, donating unwanted items, putting your house up for sale and moving to a new location. Some people hire experts to help, while others rely on friends and family for support.

Millions of older Americans are choosing to go small in retirement.

According to a Zillow report, 46 percent of baby boomers who sold homes in 2017 were in the process of downsizing.

Downsizing is a major decision, influenced by unique financial and emotional factors.

Decluttering a large home is no easy feat. Selling your house, finding a new one and moving your belongings adds further complexity.

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All the Attic Cleaning Tips You Need to Know

by Jamie Forbes
August 22, 2022
on RedFin Blog

Attics are the perfect place to store things you might need someday, especially if you live in a large house in Nashville, TN, or a fixer-upper in Las Vegas, NV. Regardless, all attics can become too full. If yours is similar to most, it’s probably full of boxes, old furniture, and other items you no longer need or use. When did you last take the time to clean it out thoroughly? 

If it’s been a while (or if you’ve never done it), now is the time. Here’s an expert, step-by-step guide with all the attic cleaning tips you need to help you get the job done….

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What is Minimalism?

by Christine Platt
July 10, 2022
for The Los Angeles Times

Op-Ed: Minimalism is about more than downsizing. It’s about living with intention

Every so often, I smile as I reflect on the random Saturday morning when I found myself faced with a common clutter conundrum: Do I need more baskets and bins? I had to laugh as I asked myself: Are you really about to buy more stuff to hide all the stuff you don’t even use?

That was the day I first acknowledged that storing things, OK, hiding things, so they’d be out of sight and out of mind wasn’t a solution to my overconsumption. It was time for a change. It was time for me to change. Every online search that day centered on how to live with less stuff, and they all yielded the same results: become a minimalist.

If there were a contest for the woman least likely to succeed as a minimalist, I surely would have won. Much like my piles of clothing, home goods and knickknacks, the odds were stacked against me.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Decluttering Your Fridge

The end of the summer is a perfect time to declutter your fridge. All those impromptu barbecues, ice cream parties, late night fast food runs, TikTok recipe experiments, and leftover vacation foods have probably filled your refrigerator with all kinds of random items. If a funky, unidentifiable odor is emitted each time you open the fridge door, it’s definitely time to do some clearing out. Follow our step-by-step guide and in a few hours, your fridge will feel spacious, clean, and fresh. Just in time for the busy holiday season that is just around the corner!

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7 Must-Do’s for an Organized Home Office

Your home office should be a space where you can get a lot of work done. That “work” may be for your job, for your household, or both. In any case, you’ll want to work in an area that is conducive to productivity and efficiency. However, if your home office is chaotic and disorganized, then read on for these must-do’s to get your work space decluttered, comfortable, and calm.  

1. Organize your paperwork

Set up a paper organization system so your paperwork isn’t in multiple piles that are impossible to find anything in. Get a filing cabinet system, or a desktop paper organizer—and tackle those piles. Color code when you can, use that label maker, and shred/recycle as needed. Not sure what to keep and what to let go? Our Paper Retention Guide will help you out. Imagine how much easier it will be to find what you’re looking for once you’ve got this set up!

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Top 8 Ways Decluttering Saves You Money

You may have heard that decluttering is beneficial to your mental and emotional health. An extra bonus of decluttering is that it can actually save you money, and in some cases, even earn you some. All that extra stuff in your cabinets and closets, counters, shelves, hallways, garage, attic, and storage unit is potentially money in your pocket. Read on and feel inspired to save by paring down your things and getting organized.

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How Cleaning and Organizing Can Benefit Your Mind and Body

by Elizabeth Bacharach
April 7, 2022
from Shape.com

Dusting, disinfecting, and decluttering on a regular basis can boost your mood, increase your focus, and double as low-intensity cardio. Read on to learn the secret to scoring these perks.

There’s nothing quite like coming home (or maybe just closing your laptop) after a long day of work and…cleaning.

Yes, you read that right.

While some people may exercise to destress or turn to meditation when feeling overwhelmed, I channel my inner Monica Geller and get to work dusting, discarding, disinfecting, and reorganizing my apartment. But I don’t need to be in a mental funk to start reorganizing my kitchen drawers with enthusiasm. I’ve actually been very into cleaning and organizing since an embarrassingly young age. Only now as an adult, however, have I realized that it’s actually my favorite form of self-care.

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