June 2007 Issue

Conquer the Clutter

Clutter.

 

It's the stuff George Carlin makes jokes about, Goodwill needs in order to stay in business, and most of us have way too much of. Especially when we're trying to get rid of it.

Although experts agree that it's liberating not to have to snake your way through piles of magazines in the family room, or squeeze by boxes of clothing stored in the garage, they admit that attaining a more organized life can be overwhelming.

"Generation by generation, we have more stuff than our parents and grandparents did," says Sue Lyons, managing director of Home Organizing Angels, a Streetsboro-based company that helps savers deal with de-cluttering, which often means lending a hand over the Hefty bag. "The reasons are that, on average, our houses are 30 to 40 percent bigger than our parents' home was, we have more discretionary income then they did and we live longer, which means we have more time to accumulate."

Not surprisingly, Lyons says, people who don't know how or where to begin are often stuck in neutral when it comes to sorting and purging. She cites her mother as an example.

"Like so many of us, mom had the proverbial junk drawer that everything got lobbed into –– including scissors, paper clips and that big ball of mushed-up rubber bands," says Lyons, remembering her mother's attempts to clean out the drawer. She'd take everything out, lay it over the countertops, look at it - then shrug her shoulders and in frustration shove it all back in.

"I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy helping people turn chaos into order," Lyons adds.

For starters, the home organizer advises developing a game plan in writing in preparation for getting ready to work the room.

For example, don't write "clean out the guest room," on your to-do list. Instead, break the space down into five to 10 bite-sized projects: clean out the nightstand, clean underneath the bed, clean out the closet, clean out the dresser. "That way," she says, "when you've accomplished three out of seven, you can look at it as ‘I'm almost halfway done,' rather than ‘I didn't get the guest room finished yet.'"

Ginny Shimrock, director of Senior Transition Services, a Columbus-based company offering relocation services, says many of her clients are stymied by the amount of paperwork they've accumulated over the years.

"Paper is the No. 1 contributor to clutter," Shimrock says. "I say that if you have more than two file drawers of personal records, there's a good chance you're saving too much. Many people save papers out of plain old fear because they don't know how much to keep or how to dispose of it. So the file drawers spill over into boxes and the boxes spill into piles on top of desks and counters."

The solution, Shimrock says, is to enlist the help of a tax advisor or accountant to determine what records need to be kept and what can be tossed. Also, make it a habit to peruse bank and billing statements when they arrive to make sure payments have been posted. "Unless there's a balance being carried forward, why keep them?" she advises.

For Shimrock, there's nothing as rewarding as seeing reformed pack rats get a new lease on life as their new or existing house becomes shipshape.

"People literally see their homes in a new light," she says. "It looks bigger and fresher as space opens up. It becomes a source of pride, not only in how the house looks, but also in the fact that the stuff you've never taken the time to deal with before is finally gone."

Measure for Measure

In December 2004, Mike and Sydney Howard said good-bye to the 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom ranch home in Farmersville they had lived in for 32 years and headed for the picturesque Otterbein retirement community located along the shore of Grand Lake St. Marys. Here, Mike can easily indulge in his passion for fishing and Sydney can engage in the volunteer work that's such an integral part of her life. The two-bedroom, 900-square-foot waterfront home was too good to pass up when it unexpectedly became available, so the couple had to swing into action quickly in order to make the move within two months' time.

Biggest challenge in de-cluttering:

"Learning to think in a new mind-set," says Sydney, 67. "We're both savers. In the past, when something didn't work any longer, we didn't dispose of it because we had the space to put it. Now, it's a different story."

"In retrospect," adds Mike, 68, "it was probably an advantage not to have a whole lot of time to think about what we were doing. We were in a reactionary mode, so we had to get moving."

How they decided what to keep and what to discard:

"We looked at each item, and asked ourselves if we needed it and if we would use it," says Sydney.

"The big question," adds Mike, "was ‘Will it fit?' We measured every room in the new house, and then we looked at the furniture we already owned. Since we now have two bedrooms instead of three, we got rid of one set of bedroom furniture. Everything else fit in place."

Clutter-busting system:

"I had three different sizes of clothes and I hate to say how many pairs of shoes I didn't wear," Sydney says. "It felt good donating them to a battered women's shelter, knowing someone else would get use out of them."

Item that was hardest to part with and how the dilemma was solved:

An avid bird lover, Mike had three Purple Martin houses that attracted approximately 60 birds to his back yard in Farmersville. "Since we don't have those birds around here, I was able to pass the houses on to a niece," Mike says. "Now she's got the Martins."

Must-have:

"Our fishing boat," says Mike. "We couldn't park it in the driveway or side yard at Otterbein, so we rented a garage for a housing unit that wasn't being used. I knew it would be a close fit. I only had an inch and a half to spare in order to be able to shut the door."

Charities that received donations:

The American Legion and Goodwill.

Advice for those getting ready to de-clutter:

"Don't wait for a defining moment –– like a move –– to come along before you start getting rid of stuff," says Mike. "Of course, that's easier said than done."

The Zone Approach

 

Last year, Sue Mooney, 64, moved from the 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom colonial in Clintonville she lived in for 34 years to Westminster-Thurber, a continuing-care retirement community in Columbus. Her new 1,300-square-foot apartment has three bedrooms.

Biggest challenge in de-cluttering:
"I had gone on the waiting list for an apartment in September 2005, thinking I had about a year to get ready to make the move," Mooney says. Instead, an apartment became available seven months later. To make the process easier, Mooney divided her home into 12 zones, "including one zone for the living room, one for each bedroom, and five for the basement because it was so bad. I'd spend an a hour a day working in a zone so it didn't become too overwhelming."

How she decided what to keep and what to discard:

"I kept the same thought in front of every cupboard and shelf I stood before," says Mooney. "I had three boxes beside me: No. 1 was a throwaway box for things that were broken or hadn't been used for 20 years; No. 2 was a box for I-don't-want-this-but-somebody-in-my-family-might items; and No. 3 was for things I wanted to take with me to Westminster-Thurber."

 

Mooney placed the items that had been relegated to No. 2 boxes on a Ping-Pong table and on the floor in the basement. She then asked family members, including her two sons and their wives, to take anything they wanted. "It was fascinating to watch them make decisions," Mooney says with a laugh.

Item that was hardest to part with and how the dilemma was solved:
"A beautiful, big secretary that had been my great-great grandfather's," Mooney says. Her son came to the rescue. "It looks wonderful in his big old house, and I'm thankful I didn't really have to get rid of it."

Must-have:
"My father raised Brown Swiss cattle, and had a leather satchel in which he kept the pedigree of every cow that passed though our farm," Mooney says. "I just couldn't part with it."

Charities that received donations:
Goodwill, Volunteers of America

Advice for those getting ready to de-clutter:
"I really discovered that I could put a lot of terrific memories into small spaces," Mooney says. "My mother kept a scrapbook for me... I went through the material, and saved only those items that were significant, condensing it down to only what would fit into a Ziploc bag." 

 

 

Last July, Don and Fran Courtright moved six miles down the road, from a 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom ranch house with den in Toledo, to a 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment with den in Mayberry Village, an active-adult community in Sylvania. "I enjoy the downsizing," says Don, 88. "There's absolutely nothing I have to do. They even change the light bulbs."

 

Biggest challenge of de-cluttering:
The Courtrights lived in their home for 51 years. "I found out I had things I didn't even remember," laughs Fran, 85. "You accumulate an awful lot over the years."

How they decided what to keep and what to discard:
"It's amazing to realize how big your house is when you move to an apartment," Fran says. "We didn't bring too much because I didn't want to overcrowd it." A love seat, two chairs, a couple of tables, a television, lamps, a dining-room table and a china cabinet made the move to the new home.

Clutter-busting system:
Timing was on their side. The Courtrights put their home up for sale in April 2006, and it sold within two weeks, which left them about a month to move. "That really made us get into the job of downsizing," Fran says. "We had to do it in a hurry, but I think that's good. You don't want to linger over it too long." Bedroom and living-room items, as well as dishes and silverware, were
sold at auction and at a garage sale.

Item that was hardest to part with and how the dilemma was solved:
The Courtrights love to travel. Their journeys have taken them to foreign lands around the globe, and over the years they had compiled 20 photo albums, which had to be pared down when they moved. "Don went through all the albums and took out two pictures from each country and put those into one album," Fran says. "We hated to get rid of them, but that sure saved space."

Other valuable items also had to be downsized.

"We did not bring any of the good china, glassware or silver," Fran says. "We're not entertaining; we use the practical stuff in the kitchen." Those items are still in the family, however. Their daughter, Debbie, has them. "She's enjoying it and I'm enjoying seeing her use it," Fran says.

Must-haves:
"We brought back something from every country, including porcelain from Hungary, crystal from Czechoslovakia, and pottery from England," says Fran. "Those items were too precious to discard."

Charities that received donations:
The Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries.

Advice for those getting ready to de-clutter:
When downsizing, make your own decisions. Don't put your children in a position where they have to go through your things and make tough choices. "We only have one daughter and I didn't want to have her come and take care of all that. That was our one desire: to make it easy," Fran says.

 

Last year, Terry and Rita Moran sold the three-bedroom 2,000-square-foot North Olmsted colonial with basement they lived in for 34 years and moved to a single-family, two-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot detached cluster home –– sans basement –– in Pioneer Ridge, an active-adult community in North Ridgeville. "We didn't have far to go, but it wasn't easy getting there," laughs Rita, 66.

 

Biggest challenge in de-cluttering:
"Getting our four children to come and take mementos from their childhoods," says Rita. The closets in their old rooms, the attic and basement were filled with trophies, track shoes, yearbooks and school projects. "When the kids came to visit, they got involved in other activities, and would never take the time to go through the memorabilia. So Terry and I decided we would just bring the boxes to them. Whenever we'd visit, we'd make a detour through their garages and deposit a box or two in the corner," she says.

How they decided what to keep and what to discard:
Items that were worn, out of style, or didn't fit the Morans' new color scheme were easy to pitch. However, "Rita is more sentimental than I am," says Terry, 65. "I wanted to throw out a lot more stuff than she did. In terms of furniture and household items, there was nothing I felt I absolutely had to have. Which gives right to my wife calling me cold-hearted."

Clutter-busting system:
"I wasn't shy about asking friends and family who were great organizers for help," says Rita. "We're blessed with a lot of nieces and nephews whom I figured might like a few of the items we were planning to discard. I e-mailed pictures with descriptions of each item to them, and noted they were 'looking for a good home.' The phone calls came in and the furniture and household goods went out."

The remaining items were put on the tree lawn for trash pick-up and neighborhood perusal each week. "It was great fun watching the cars pull up," Rita recalls. "We were amazed at what people wanted. We started taking bets on what would go first. Most of the time we were wrong."

Item that was hardest to part with and how the dilemma was solved:
"I inherited a beautiful, 60-year-old pearl canister set from a great aunt. I couldn't part with it, so I took it to our new home," Rita says. "It didn't take long to see that it doesn't work at all here. I boxed it up and gave it to a niece."

Must-haves:

Oil paintings created by Rita's mother.

Charity that received donations:
The American Cancer Society's Discovery Shop in Fairview Park.

Advice for those getting ready to de-clutter:
"Don't be like Scarlett O'Hara and say you'll think about it tomorrow," says Rita. "If you do, it will become a big, big problem you'll start having nightmares about."

"It worked out very successfully for us, and it's a relief to not have to worry about the process," adds Terry. "Our son is what I call a minimalist –– he prides himself on not collecting things or 'stuff' as he calls it. After having gone through this whole thing, we're rapidly moving into his camp."