Decluttering Archives - SOS: Simple Organized Solutions LLC

Recycling Locations Around St. Louis MO

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2019-05-29T18:02:50-05:00 May 29th, 2019|Categories: Decluttering, Recycle|Tags: discard, donation, MO, recycle, St. Louis|

Whether you have curbside recycling or take your recyclables to a facility, some items are not allowed in the bins. Your service provider typically provides a list of items that they will accept. Some bins have stickers on them to show the acceptable items. There are items however, that need to be discarded but are not on the list of accepted items. Donation to a favorite charity is always an option for recycling for gently used items. You want to be a good steward of the earth and keep as much out of the landfill as possible, but may not [...]

Clearing Your Digital Clutter

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2019-05-22T18:43:31-05:00 May 22nd, 2019|Categories: Decluttering, Organizing Tips|Tags: electronic files, email inbox, purge, smart phone|

Clutter is clutter whether you can actually touch it or not. Our minds get cluttered with information that we no longer need and when we sleep, our minds purge the excess. When our homes become cluttered, we typically go on a purging spree. But what about our digital clutter? We are living in the digital age and a lot of information that we rely on every day comes in a non-physical form. We can touch the electronic devices where this data resides but we can’t actually touch the data itself. These devices can become cluttered very quickly with data we [...]

What Approach Should I Use to Begin to Declutter my Home?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2019-04-10T18:09:54-05:00 April 10th, 2019|Categories: Decluttering, Organizing Tips|Tags: declutter, downsizing, organizing process, storage, strategy|

This is a common question I hear from new clients. The answer is not simple. There is no one size fits all answer to this question. In fact, there are very few scenarios in life where one size fits all. The approach you use to declutter your home will likely be different from anyone else. Your situation is different from others so your approach will have a different strategy. Not everyone needs a whole house declutter. Some just have areas that are clutter magnets and need some tweaking to existing solutions. Others may need to declutter their home from top [...]

How to Clear Out a Home to Sell After a Death

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2019-03-27T18:19:33-05:00 March 27th, 2019|Categories: Decluttering, Organizing Tips|Tags: accumulation, after a death, grief, plan, sell a home, team|

Have you ever had to clear out a home to sell after a death? If so, then you know how much there is to do. You also know that it’s an emotional journey. We learn things about our loved ones that we didn’t know as we cull through their things. These things are small pieces of their lives that live on through the memories they leave behind. Several years ago, I had to clear out a home to get it ready to sell after my aunt passed away. I was her caregiver, although I didn’t live with her, for 8 [...]

Storage Unit – To Rent or Not to Rent

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2018-06-27T14:37:38-05:00 June 27th, 2018|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Storage|Tags: decluttering, discard, downsizing, purge, storage|

In the U.S., 65% of self-storage renters have a garage in their home, 47% have an attic, and 33 percent have a basement. This suggests that Americans have more things than their homes allow them. ~Brute Storage There are a lot of situations where people have a need to rent a storage unit. Some of those situations are temporary, or transitional, while others may be to put a band-aid on a much larger issue. The statistic above says a lot about Americans and their love of things. Renting a storage unit doesn’t always mean there isn’t a need, however, a [...]

Swedish Death Cleaning is More About Decluttering Than Cleaning

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2018-06-11T18:35:21-05:00 June 13th, 2018|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Home Organization, Seniors|Tags: decluttering, discard, downsizing, seniors|

Swedish Death Cleaning, what is it? I’ve been hearing a lot about this lately and did some investigating, this is what I learned. A woman named Margareta Magnusson wrote a book called, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter. She wrote this book after she had to deal with the possessions of her parents and her husband after they passed away. The Swedish culture has a practice called döstädning - dö translates to death & städning translates to cleaning. The idea is not so much about cleaning as it [...]

Purging Holiday Decorations

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-12-11T12:52:31-05:00 December 13th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Holidays|Tags: donate, holiday decor, purging, recycle|

The holidays are upon us and there is much to do. From creating menus to shopping for gifts to putting up holiday decorations. The earlier we start on our to-do list the better. Decorating is one of those things that can be done early. We may not think about purging as we decorate but it’s a great way to reduce the amount of decorations as well as creating more storage space. Not everyone decorates for the holidays but many of us enjoy showing our holiday spirit in this way. We accumulate many decorations over the years. We acquire holiday decorations [...]

Should I Sell or Donate Unwanted Items?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-09-27T15:23:59-05:00 October 4th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Recycle|Tags: donate, organizing process, purge, recycle|

During the purge part of the organizing process, I’m often asked if an unwanted item should be donated or sold. This is a great question! The short answer is that it’s an individual preference. In my experience, most people know what mechanism they want to use to discard unwanted items. There are some items that have been in families for generations, and the current owners think they may be of value, but they’re not sure. For those items, I recommend getting an appraisal to determine value. Then decide whether to contact other family members to see if they want the [...]

6 Tips to Organize Your Thoughts

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-09-12T12:54:50-05:00 September 12th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Focus, Productivity|Tags: brains, mental clarity, multi-tasking, organized, reframing|

Anything can be organized, even your thoughts. We say that we can’t help the way we think, but we can! There may be things in life that we have no control over, but our thoughts are not one of them. When a thought comes to mind, you make the choice to accept or reject that thought. Your choice may be conscious or subconscious, but either way it’s your choice. Our brains function basically like computers. They are constantly processing information; incoming thoughts and outgoing actions. At times, so many thoughts are floating around in our heads that we can’t keep [...]

Where to Donate Your Treasures

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-06-05T13:30:58-05:00 June 7th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Recycle|Tags: charities, donate, purge, recycle, tips|

I’m often asked, ‘where do I donate _______?’ (fill in the blank). When I’m asked this question is typically during, or after a purge session. Whether it’s spring cleaning, or time to downsize, you may come across items that are not trash-worthy. These items still have mileage in them and you don’t want them to end up in a landfill. The obvious solution is to recycle them. Recycling has a variety of meanings; send to a recycling facility, repurpose/reuse, sell or donate. This post focuses on where to donate specialty items. There are many charities that accept donations. The [...]

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