It Started with a Business Card

Post date: Jan 7, 2017 5:07:12 PM

It Started with a Business Card, Part 1: My Decluttering Adventure

Several years ago my husband came home from work with a gift for me – a business card from Lynn, one of our friends and a recently retired teacher. Mike had just come from a Library Board meeting: afterward, Lynn passed out her new business cards. He handed the card to me and said, “I think you need to call her.” She started a business with her best friend Kathy doing “What Needs Done?” I had recently been diagnosed with injuries to my lower back and scoliosis, explaining the back pain and poor posture that had been making my life more difficult. We began talking about moving to a smaller house all on one level, but I was overwhelmed. Maybe Lynn could help me.

So, in early 2014 Lynn came to our house, walked around with me from room to room, and we discussed strategies to declutter. The first few times she and Kathy came, I was in tears by the end of our work session. I could only handle sorting through things and making decisions about what to sell, give away, or possibly throw away for so long.

At this time we lived in a large story and a half house with a full basement—so we had three flights of stairs. We had bathrooms on every floor, with a large kitchen, a front sitting room, a dining room, two bedrooms, and a family room that overlooked our backyard on the first floor. On the second floor, we had a large L-shaped room which we used for a guest suite. It had its own bathroom, a little playroom or sitting room on the back hallway, and a long walk in closet (about thirteen feet long!) The basement had been divided up into a laundry room, a family room with an old fashioned bar, a back office/store room, and the furnace room, which had a large shelving area, as well as several large closets. We also had a large garage with many tools, a lawn mower, a snow blower, shovels, and all sorts of things for the yard. We loved the house, the location, and our neighbors. And I admit – I had stuff everywhere!

My mother had died in 1997 and I was the one who ended up with furniture, her movie camera, movie projector, carousel slide projector, big reel to reel tape recorder and about 50 boxes of slides, movies, tapes, and photo albums. I also had a few of her clothes, including her wedding dress, which I had also worn to my first wedding, as well as a few of her lovely long dresses, jewelry, a button box, books, and several dozen large three-ring notebooks with her correspondence and writing.

Lynn and Kathy worked with me for the next 14 months and it was amazing: I took carloads of tubs to Stuff Consignment, more car loads to Goodwill, and small boxes of books, magazines, and misc. to put into my “free box” outside my college office. St. Vincent DePaul came for more furniture and household goods with a truck. I donated notebooks, tablets, and pens and pencils to the Trio office out at college, which serves first-generation college students. Another teacher friend took boxes to a fund raiser and to a friend who was an art teacher.

We moved into our big Villa in February of 2015, and Lynn and Kathy helped us pack, move and unpack. We literally could not have done it without them and they still come twice a month to help me with cleaning and seasonal chores. And, I am still decluttering! I’ve gotten rid of the contents of at least six storage tubs and then got rid of the tubs. I continue to go through drawers, closets, and evaluate what we need and who can use the items that I discard. Three years later, I have earned over $3100 from Stuff, where I’ve made friends and become a regular consignor.

Am I totally clutter free? Hardly: but I am better! Some people end up getting a storage unit or two when they move into these lovely big Villas. We don’t have a basement but we do have seven good sized closets and a large garage. I can see the progress; however, I could not have done it with my friends and helpers Lynn and Kathy. And to think – it started with a business card!

Next time -- Part 2. What Have I learned? A Listicle about DeCluttering.

Last Updated December 30, 2016