DOWNSIZING & DECLUTTERING
How do we know what to keep or let go when we are in the process of downsizing or decluttering? There are several concepts that help us place items in the keep pile:
- Expiration dates
- Useful life
- Treasure versus trinket
Expiration dates apply to household cleaners and chemicals, paints, makeup, medicines, food and drinks. These are low-emotion items and are often an easy place to start decluttering.
They are usually found in our kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and basements. Pick one place, like a bathroom cabinet or closet shelf. Take out all the medicines, and set aside the ones that are expired.
Pro-tip: for decluttering medicines, find your local medicine drop-off to keep medicines out of our land fills and water supply!
The useful life of an item refers to whether or not it is still in active service to you. You can downsize the items that are no longer in your routine use.
For example, if you are downsizing to a condo or apartment from a 2-story home, the holiday dinners with 20 family members will likely be held at someone else’s house. Time to pass that torch! Thus, you no longer need that gigantic turkey roasting pan and the 20-place settings of china. Pass them on with that torch!
- If you haven’t skied in 5 years, those old skis in the basement are past their useful life.
- If you’re no longer making wood shelves, that planer is past its useful life.
- If you’ve had a lawn service for the past 3 years, that lawn mower is past its useful life.The sparkly dress you wore 15 year ago on that Alaskan cruise had its day in the spotlight and you looked fabulous! It is now past its useful life.
You get the idea. The same applies to all clothes, shoes, towels, bed sets, china.
Avoid the useful life what ifs. (What if I need it some day?) If you haven’t used it in 5 years, it is well past its useful life.
Growing our decluttering muscles on expired items or belongings we haven’t used in years helps prepare us for assessing our treasures. How do we know if something is a treasure versus a trinket?
Treasures should be able to fit, all together, on one table. (Unless the treasure IS a table!)
- The ring your mom passed down to you on your wedding day is a treasure.
- The coffee mug from a Vegas work trip is a trinket.
- The vase your daughter made in the art class that launched her pottery career is a treasure.
- The rock you picked up on some hike you don’t remember is a trinket.
Work those decluttering and downsizing muscles on the low-emotion expired items first. Then move on to the more challenging useful life assessments. Now you’re ready to face the treasure versus trinket question!
Denver Downsize & Declutter Can Help!
