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Cleaning Schedule

I've been very lazy about blogging lately but this morning I saw something on Facebook that triggered me to write.  A gentleman shared his cleaning schedule with the world and the big debate now is whether or not it is too excessive...I vote No!! I love it.  What a great way to make sure your home is always in order!!!  You may not want to follow his schedule exactly but what a great Template:

The idea of course being that you have your daily upkeep of your home that takes care of  areas in your home that get dirty or cluttered daily.  Then of course you have your weekly chores and by breaking them up to a different one every day instead of picking 1 day a week to do these chores...it makes it easier to do and to stay on top of.  Now the Monthly I would look at your own home and see if there are items that should be done at least once a month but instead are being ignored...and doing one of the yearly chores once a month is brilliant.  It would keep you from having to do the Spring and Fall cleaning.

As I said earlier, you want to adapt the idea behind this list to your own home.  Giving yourself a schedule should help you maintain your home...However, if you feel that this is too excessive you can always call me to come Organize, Downsize, or Dee-CLUTTER your home...:)

SENIORS - Downsizing, Moving and Organizing

I have been speaking at Seniors Groups about Moving and Downsizing and I thought I would share some of my presentation; as well as, some of the questions and responses I am getting from Seniors.

If you have collected decades of memories and “stuff”:  moving is traumatic.  This is a normal reaction. Even the thought of moving leaves many “paralyzed”.  So you put off moving or put off even creating a plan to move until a move becomes more of a problem than it needs to be.

There are certain experiences in life and moving is one of them that can result in Transitional Trauma which is characterized by anxiety, confusion and hopelessness and these emotions involved in moving can even trigger physical reactions.  If you haven’t moved in 10, 20, 30 or more years and you try to take it on by yourself, if you have no plan and you find yourself surrounded by boxes---you are going to make moving a negative event.

Think about some positives to moving – moving to a smaller space can expand your independence because it relieves you of all the “stuff” that owns you.  It frees you up both mentally and physically to enjoy life Downsizing is like losing a large weight off your shoulders.

Downsizing:

Some Tips for Downsizing:

Start Slowly: As I just talked about do one small space at a time and give yourself some breaks.

Organize: Figure out how much space you will you have in your new home, including storage space in the kitchen, closets and cabinets.  How many dishes, clothes, books, etc will you have room for and plan ahead accordingly.

Ask Do I Really Need This:  old clothes, non-fixable items, old medications, how many dishes, cups, Tupperware, pens, pencils, etc does one person need. Old bills/statements etc…everything is computerized nowadays you don’t need to hang onto all the old paperwork.

As Stated before – Get Help – downsizing can be a painful process, both emotionally and physically, don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

Give Away Gifting – Distribute things to family and friends including family mementos, photos and books.  Save only those keepsakes that mean the most to you. 

Donate – this is for those items you aren’t going to give to family or friends and you will not have room for and are able to part with.  There are lots of organizations around the Lower Mainland that would love to have your items to help those less fortunate.  Shelters, transition homes for women and children, day programs, treatment centers.  There are plenty of places that will make sure your items are given to those in need for free.

Hobbies/Collections:  Hobbies and collecting can be a lot of fun.  People collect all kinds of things: stamps, records, books, etc.  Think about why you started the collection in the first place and what you get from the collection. 

One example I can give you is VHS tapes…I have had plenty of clients with very large movie collections and yet they no longer own a VCR.  However, when I would discuss with them why they were holding on to their collections, inevitably the response was, "Well I spent a lot of money on them and I can always sell them".

So you need to keep up with the valuation of your collection, if that is why you started to collect a particular item.  Things go out of favor, become obsolete, and are just taking up space in your home.  If on the other hand you started collecting an item just because you really like them - think about where you can display them without taking over the home.

Unfortunately, the fact is none of us is going to live forever, and while you may really enjoy your collection of 500 Cabbage Patch kids, that doesn't mean anyone in your family wants to deal with them when your gone.

Collecting can be fun and you can get real enjoyment from discovering a new piece to add to your collection, but think about limiting your collection to a certain space within your house so it is not intruding on your being able to comfortably enjoy your home as well. 

Moving:

Develop a plan for your new residence so you know where your furniture will go and what items you won’t have room for.  If family or friends do not want any of the furnishings you don’t need; there are organizations that will appreciate them.

Bottom Line – The fewer items you need to pack and move, the smaller the moving bill and the easier it will be to set up your new home.

Again feeling stressed, overwhelmed and anxious about moving is natural…As good am I am at helping others downsize and prepare for a move…I freeze when it’s a move for my family…my husband does it all – packing, moving, unpacking and organizing the new home.  However, if you ask for help, plan ahead and allow yourself time…you will reduce your stress and be able to enjoy your new home. 
 

Arg!!! I don't know where to start!!!

One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients is...But I don't know where to start.  They walk into the room, look at their closet or open the garage door...and it hits them.  There is a lot of work ahead to downsize and or organize the space.

So what I tell them is this:  Stop looking at all of it!!!  Pick a small corner.  Narrow your focus.  Tell yourself that the rest of it doesn't matter...your only thing you should be concerned with is one small piece of the area.

The reason I say this is because when most people start even thinking of clearing up a space in their home, they immediatly get overwhelmed by even just the thought.  I would too.  Narrowing your focus is going to help you stay on task.  It is hard to learn but you can do it.  You need to constantly remind yourself that the only thing you are going to do is the one small space you are looking at.

If you can do this it makes the whole job seem much easier.  Once you get through that small amount of items, pick another small area to clear.  You don't have to do it all at once.  Your home, closet, or room did not get cluttered in one day...so why stress yourself out by thinking that it all needs to get cleared out at once.

Practising narrowing your focus makes the job much less daunting and you will soon find yourself able to get through the task and start seeing the organization and space that you want.

The Hidden Storage Wonder in your Home

One of the most underutilized storage spaces in peoples homes is: UNDER THE BEDS!!

Now when I say Under the Bed...I do not mean like when you were a child and kicked everything from your floor to under your bed, before your Mom came in to check on how your room cleaning was going!

I am talking about getting yourself some flat totes that are readily available at your local department store.  These do not have to be expensive, that is up to you.  I am also not saying just shove everything into these totes and hide them under the bed!  I am refering to utilizing the space in a way that makes sense to help organize the bedrooms in your home.

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• Children's Rooms - use for putting away seasonal clothes, storing craft projects, storing their keepsakes, art supplies, etc.  Check how many totes can be stored under their beds and use seperate totes for different items.
• Teen Rooms - put away seasonal clothes, store keepsakes, sporting equipment and uniforms, hobbie supplies, etc.
• Your Bedroom - photo albums, seasonal clothes, keepsakes from your life, keepsakes from your childrens lives, linens, etc.

This is such an easy way to free up floor space, closet space, drawer space and so on...so you and your children can have clutter free bedrooms and it also makes for easy cleanup!!

Heights Laser Centre

If you are looking for the right place to help you to look and feel your best: Heights Laser Centre is the answer.  Dr.  Jaffers and his staff are open and knowledgable about all the skin care services that they provide.  They will help you choose the best options for you.  When you walk in the door they make you feel immediatly welcome, and you quickly feel as though you are part of the family.

They offer such a wide variety of services including but not limited to:safe and medical grade skin care treatments including laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, coolsculpting and so much more.

heightslaser.com

Love, Love, Love Dr. Jaffers and all of his staff at the Heights Laser Centre. Dr. Jaffers is very open in answering any question you have and makes sure you are choosing the best option for you. His staff, especially Lorea and Anna (who I see the most) are amazing, knowlegeable and always make you feel at home. I can't say enought good things about their team and the services they provide.

Check out their website at www.heightslaser.com http://www.heightslaser.com/

Clothes, clothes and even more clothes!!! Part 1 - The Closet!

Yes, folks it is time to look at your clothes closet!!  If you cannot hang new clothes in the closet, if you cannot close your closet door, or even worse, if you are putting some of your clothes in the spare room closet...It is time to downsize and organize your clothes!!!

Now here is where I would like you to start. EMPTY ALL OF THE CLOTHES OUT OF YOUR CLOSET/ CLOSETS AND PUT THEM ON YOUR BED!  Now take a few minutes and enjoy them!!!..ah yes...look at all those clothes.  OK, are you ready.

deeclutter.caOrganize them into piles: dress pants, jeans, casual tops, dress tops, casual dresses, and formal dresses, etc.  OMG, can you believe how many of each type of clothes you have!

Now, pick one of those piles and start asking yourself some questions:  does it fit and when is the last time it fit?  If it doesn't fit and you have not been able to fit in it for a year - put it on the floor (this is a new pile we are starting). If it fits-when is the last time you wore it?  If you have not worn it in a year - put it in the pile on the floor.  Is it raggedy, faded, have holes,etc? - add to the pile on the floor. Is it from the 1970's through the 1990's?  Or is it just plain old ugly? You guessed it - add to the growing floor pile.  Do that for each of the piles on your bed.

Now hopefully you have smaller separated piles of clothes on your bed and a fairly large pile on the floor!  Now it is time to rehang the piles from your bed into your closet and keep them hanging together within their new categories.  You should have all dress pants together, jeans together and so on.  This makes it much easier to find what you are looking for.

I'm sure you are now looking at the pile of clothes on the floor...Well, I am going to allow you to pick 3 items from that pile that you absolutely believe you cannot live without.  As for the rest of those clothes here are the wonderful things you can do with them:

• Donate to a shelter or transition home
• Take to a consignment store and see if they can sell for you.
• Donate to a charity such as Dress for Success (they give 1-2 outfits to women so they can look great for job interviews)
• The clothes that are faded, tattered or just plain ugly...throw out!

Now take another deep breath...and look at your newly organized and downsized closet.  Yes, that's right...It's time to go shopping!!!  Lol just kidding.  If you take the time to do this about every 6 months to once a year, you should find it much easier to keep a handle on how your closet looks and how many clothes you actually need.