3 STEPS TO A TIDY HOME – CHIC & UNIQUE ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS FOR THE NEW YEAR!
The Challenges - Let's Get Real. Can You Relate?
So – here we are in 2020! It’s official – we have moved into the new year and starting fresh all over again. I always love when the seasons change – and when a new year starts – because it really does serve as a reminder that we need to re-visit our goals – or ambitions – our dreams and vision for the future and for the upcoming year! It’s a great time to assess next steps – look for new ways to improve and enhance our lives – and oh yeah – maybe that also involves clearing out some things that we really just don’t need anymore – figuring out what clothes we haven’t worn in over a year and really sorting through all of that “stuff’ – yup – you know what I mean – there is a lot of “stuff” that many of us tend of have hanging around – gathering dust – not being used – maybe a few too many eclectic pieces that are on display? It could be a number of things that fall under that oh-so-familiar category – and even though there is no official label on those items – no official label that just…plain and simple…says “stuff” – I think we all know inherently when something just isn’t necessary anymore or just doesn’t really serve a purpose in our lives. This is where the work begins.
The Challenges - Let's Get Real. Can You Relate?
I always find the next step to be the hardest – the most challenging step of all – the step that really requires you to prepare mentally! Figuring out what needs to go – it is usually pretty easy – but picking it up and actually sorting through it can be the true challenge. Each item usually has a memory associated with it – whether it is a toy from our childhood or your grade 8 school project that put a huge smile on your mom’s face (back in the day) or maybe it’s that birthday card that your friend gave you in grade 3 – that just meant so much to you back then – but that you literally haven’t looked at in about 20 years – whatever those items end up being – you can often still have that connection with them. This is where you have to try to bring ‘logic’ into the picture.
STEP 2: Time to Use Logic
When you can actually step back for a minute and use logic to assess whether something is worth keeping or not – the decision becomes pretty simple. It is when ’emotion’ comes into play – that things start getting a little messy (literally). I like to use a five second rule that I find to be pretty effective. What I essentially do is countdown from five – out loud – and once I hit ‘one’ – I either toss the item into bag #1 (keep) or bag #2 (trash/giveaway). The one thing that you have to keep in mind at this point – is to avoid going ‘back’ into the bag and changing your mind. You have to treat that ‘decision’ – that you just made – as if it was truly final. Try telling yourself ‘Final Sale’! What I also find helps, is to look at this process as if you were walking across a really high bridge – and all you want to do is get from one side to the other without looking down – because you know that looking down – will ultimately stop you in your tracks, potentially make you regress or just simply put you at a standstill and really hinder the process overall. That goes for organizing as well – just “Don’t Look Down“!
STEP 3: Let's Look At Things One More Time & Call for Help if Needed
I definitely want to emphasize how important step 3 is, because I feel that this is a step in the ‘organizational process’ that often gets missed or that isn’t actually included in a lot of books and online sources re: cleaning up – but looking at things one more time – is really important. Because those decisions can be so difficult in Step 2, we often don’t always make the right decision – or shall I say the ‘best’ decision when it comes to which bag we tossed certain items into. The ‘Keep‘ bag usually ends up being quite full – and we all know that we don’t need to keep ‘THAT‘ much. This is also where it might be helpful to start looking outside for resources and businesses that can actually come in, and help you make those decisions. Like anything in life – having a third-party get involved can really add ‘clarity’ to the process and can help you get through this step more effectively.
Susan lived in the Downtown Toronto core – in a 1 bedroom apartment with no furniture, but let’s just say that there were boxes, food cans, pop cases, old newspapers and a pile of plastic bags. Statistically, as the number of Canadian seniors now outnumber children (for the first time since Confederation) – as shown by a 2016 census – more seniors are living alone and are as a result, much more susceptible to hoarding.
To give you sense of what Susan’s kitchen looked like – let me describe that in a bit more details. The washroom had piles of towels laying around – some that honestly had not been used in 20 years. The 3 closets in the apartment were actually full – with stacked up garbage bags (each filled with blankets) and the bedroom hosted loads of oversized coats and boots that used to belong to her late husband – lying all over the floor and piled on top of a single mattress. The site was not a pretty one – but on that also told a very real story. Susan’s situation was not unique – she is one of many seniors that struggles with hoarding and living alone.
Adam – who runs God’s Cleaning Crew – wanted to come to the rescue and really make an impact that would change Susan’s life – and her outlook towards life. Adam is available to deal with these issues 24/7 and he made himself available to take care of this as soon as possible. His company specializes in crime and trauma scene clean up (operating in Toronto and the suburbs) – but have also been getting a number of request for assistance with ‘hoarding’ – which they are great at!
Finally – to tie up this ‘tidy’ story – the great news is that once Adam and his team finished up at Susan’s apartment – things were extremely clean and organized. She was crying – but purely out of joy because she couldn’t believe how organized everything really was – and how fresh her place felt. She now had so much hope for her future and was really looking forward to creating new memories – and really taking new steps in life.
New Lease on Life - Happy 2020!
If you’re looking for a new lease on life – a new pep in your step – and well – just a new fresh start to 2020 – then start looking to clean up things and tidy up your life in chic & unique ways, that will really change your perspective on things overall! One last tip that I wanted to share with you all – was the idea that once I did my full clean up at home – I started looking into furniture pieces that I thought really helped me keep the space tidy – organized – had drawers and other effective methods of storing my ‘keep’ stuff – so that also really helped me with upkeep! I didn’t want to really ‘mess’ with the new look and how streamlined (and ‘zen’) everything felt – so these new pieces not only inspired me to start decorating my space with other fun touches and personalized design elements – but to also just think twice before I decided to ‘keep’ something! Happy Tidying Up and Happy New Year!
