Decluttering Archives - SOS: Simple Organized Solutions LLC

Clearing Out My Dad’s House

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2022-12-22T12:11:39-06:00December 28th, 2022|Categories: Decluttering, Grief|Tags: categorizing, emotions, lessons learned, memories, organizing process, professional organizers, project, purging, task|

This past summer my dad passed away and we all miss him terribly. After a loved one passes away, there are many things to do, typically in phases. To understand these phases I wrote a past blog post to explain them, and you can read it by clicking on this link. This post deals with what my brothers and I went through when clearing out my dad’s house. First of all, as you can imagine, or maybe know, this task or project is a very emotional undertaking. This is the house where my brothers and I grew up, so the [...]

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Commit to a Weekly Discard Session

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2022-09-13T14:43:39-05:00September 14th, 2022|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: categories, clutter, commit, donate, mindful, recycle, strategy|

In order to keep clutter from piling up, try this strategy – commit to a weekly discard session. The thought is to keep your belongings proportionate to your living spaces. Discarding can mean trash, recycle, or donate, which is a type of recycling. A weekly discard session doesn’t have to be a major undertaking. This strategy can be tailored to the amount of time you have available, being mindful that the amount of effort you put into this strategy determines the results. The idea is to choose a room, area or category each week and focus your available time on [...]

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Storage and Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2022-05-09T10:02:33-05:00May 11th, 2022|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: disposal, downsize, organize, recycle, safety|

Helping people downsize and/or organize their homes always includes managing household hazardous waste. This is something that most people don’t think about often, or maybe not at all. These common products used to maintain our homes, yards, and vehicles can cause damage to humans, pets, wildlife and the environment if not stored or disposed of properly. In and around St Louis, Missouri, we have 2 facilities where we can safely dispose of household hazardous waste. If you live elsewhere, I’m thinking there may be a facility near you. I encourage you to do some investigation to find one. If you’re [...]

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The Cost of Getting Rid of Things

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2021-11-17T09:57:10-06:00November 17th, 2021|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: cluttered, donated, downsize, organizing process, recycling, trash|

As I help clients to downsize their belongings, the biggest part of the process is decluttering, or getting rid of things. Decluttering comes in various forms such as donation, recycling - which can be a form of donation, returning borrowed items, gifting, and trash. Some things are in good condition and can be donated. Other things that are not worthy of donation, that can be recycled, go into the recycle bin. Then there are things to discard that are just plain trash. Getting rid of things can be expensive. I’m not talking about throwing out things via your weekly trash [...]

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Focus on Safety First When Decluttering

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2021-09-07T16:00:53-05:00September 8th, 2021|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: clutter, decluttering, focus, organizing process, solutions|

Decluttering is the first part of the organizing process. You may think that only applies for older adults, but no, safety first applies to all decluttering projects for all ages. Not only is clutter a safety issue, but as mentioned in many past posts, it causes stress. During the needs assessment consultation, the client is asked about every area to be organized. We discuss what works and doesn’t work, and potential organizing solutions for the areas that are not working so well. As we walk through their spaces, I’m focused on safety first as I think about solutions. As you [...]

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Organizing Your Desktop Icons

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2021-01-27T14:45:16-06:00January 27th, 2021|Categories: Decluttering, Organizing Tips|Tags: categories, declutter, digital clutter, organizing|

Does your computer have so many desktop icons on it that you can’t see the background image? If so, it may be time to do some decluttering and organizing. These unused and unneeded icons equate to a form of digital clutter. This post pertains to PC’s since I’m a PC girl, not Macs, but here is a link from Apple Support that may help Mac users organize their desktop icons. Many people download files to their desktop for various reasons. Those files then become desktop icons. Some may be temporary and then get forgotten after they have served their purpose, [...]

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Those Mysterious Keys – Where do They All Belong?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:09-06:00October 21st, 2020|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: distractions, downsize, purging, recycling|

We all have mysterious keys that we find in our homes that we don’t know what lock they belong to. This happens a lot while we are purging. Perhaps we decide to downsize for whatever reason, or we are clearing out the home of a loved one that passed away. Finding mysterious keys tucked away in drawers all over the house derails us from our purging to contemplate which locks they belong to, it’s a distraction. We can’t get rid of them if we don’t know what they unlock, or we may never be able to unlock, or start something [...]

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Medications Disposal & Medical Supplies Donation Options

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:10-06:00September 23rd, 2020|Categories: Decluttering|Tags: disposal, donation, expired medications, options, supplies|

There may be times when you end up with expired or unwanted medications for various reasons. Likewise, with medical supplies and equipment. Perhaps someone you’re caring for no longer needs these items. Or maybe you are clearing out a loved one’s home after they have passed away. In any scenario, you need options for medications and medical supplies disposal. There are ongoing discussions about the environmentally safe way to dispose of items to keep them out of landfills. The terms reuse, recycle & reduce pertains to disposal items. Obviously, we can’t reuse medications or supplies, but we can do that [...]

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Creating a Staging Area to Downsize For a Move

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:11-06:00September 2nd, 2020|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing|Tags: donation, downsize, move, recycling, stored|

So just what exactly is a staging area? Here is the definition according to the Merriam Webster dictionary – ‘an area in which participants in a new especially military operation or mission are assembled and readied’. Of course, downsizing for a move is not a military operation, however, some similarities can be drawn. A staging area is a designated area, and the participants are actually items that are stored until they can be removed from a home. The first step in the downsizing process is to designate space for a staging area. As mentioned above, this area is where [...]

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How Cardboard Boxes Easily Become Clutter

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:11-06:00August 27th, 2020|Categories: Decluttering, Storage|Tags: clutter, downsize, move, organization, storage|

Cardboard boxes are great tools for temporary storage. Notice how I used the word ‘temporary’? They are not designed for long-term storage for obvious reasons. At some point over time, their stability comes into question due to the environment in which they live. Cardboard boxes have other temporary uses as well. They work great for moving your things from one home to another, or when you are downsizing to take donations of home goods to a local charity. Most don’t really like to buy cardboard boxes for the temporary uses as described above. That’s understandable, so when the need arises, [...]

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