Organize, Purge and Pack – What Stays and What Goes

Get Organized:

Put on your favorite music and decide which room you want to start first. If it’s too daunting,
start with a smaller room and then go to the larger rooms once you get more into it and feel
that euphoric sense of accomplishment.

To help you organize and see beyond the clutter, first begin your project with 4 boxes or
storage bins. These boxes or bins should be marked:

Keep – these items will ultimately go back into the room or closet that you are cleaning

Trash (*and Recycle) – to be disposed of and should be placed in your garbage can
immediately (*if you have a recycle pick up, you can have a box specifically designated for
recycling)

Donate (or Sell) – if being donated, place immediately in your car to drop off to charity. If
selling, you can drop it off at a local Consignment store, sell on eBay or Poshmark or have a
yard sale. For these items place box in garage, attic or basement for easy access.

Store – these boxes can go into the room’s closet, garage, attic or basement. Best to write a
brief description of what is in the box to look at in a year to see if it is still something worth
keeping.

Purge – Time to rid yourself of the Clutter

We all know immediately some of the items that we can easily dispose of that have started to
become piles of “rainy day tasks” or the dust collectors. Here is a list of additional items to
also think about letting go:

• Clothes and shoes – now’s the time to donate the suits that no longer are in style, weed
  through the shoes that were only worn for 1 holiday party but pinch your toes, your
  husband’s wide tie collection, t-shirts to wear when painting, the size 6 dress but you
  are now a size 10, and the baby clothes you hung onto despite knowing you will not be
  growing your family since the 2nd child turned 8.
• Old towels and linens – time to sort through all the towels that are stiff as a board,
  shredded wash cloths, twin bed sheets you no longer have the beds, pillow cases that
  have a few moth holes
• Awards and trophies – keep one or two but weed out the 3rd prize ribbons or the medal
  for the 5k walk 10 years ago
• Collections you’ve outgrown – the frog and unicorn collection, excessive holiday
  décor, Back Street Boys posters, VHS tapes, movie DVDs
• Cosmetics, toiletries , medicines – how many wrinkle creams you bought that you no
  longer use, red lipsticks that are half used now that you wear pink, empty bottles of
  perfume, expired aspirin, old drug prescriptions
• Cords and cables – to electronics, audio visual aids, tvs that you no longer have
• Unfinished projects – craft projects, un-refinished furniture, paint by numbers
• Boxes from the last move that have not been opened
• Magazines and books – no need to keep 5 years of House Beautiful, the battered beach
  books from vacations past
• Expired food – go through the pantry and throw out all expired cans, spices, rice,
  pasta, flour
• Toys, board games – your kids are now in high school and it’s time to donate the
  stuffed animals, Monopoly that no longer has all the game pieces, puzzles with missing
  pieces, Rubix cubes
• Tupperware – yup, all the containers and no lids
• Additional sets of dishes, glasses, baking pans because you no longer entertain
• Gadgets that have never worked – juicer, bread machine, hotdog cooker, slow cooker,
  panini press
• Exercise equipment that has become dust catchers – thigh master, pilates ball,
  exercise bike, doorknob exerciser
• Costume jewelry – one earring, tangled necklaces, old tie clips, the gaudy brooch
• Boxes of photographs because everything is now digital and you will never use your
  scanner, photo albums that have turned yellow, year books, class or club directories
• Paperwork – old tax receipts, expired insurance policies, medical records, old bills, pet
  paperwork (*if you have a shredder, suggest shredding these documents as too much
  personal info that could get into the wrong hands)

It no longer works: Time to toss the broken weed-wacker, the travel steamer that no longer
holds water, the bagel toaster that only toasts one side and the desktop computer your son
wanted to dissect for a project two years ago.

The 80/20 rule: Get rid of the items you don’t use 80 percent of the time and keep the items
that you use 20 percent of the time. This is particularly true with clothes, as well as books,
computer games, cooking utensils, and toys.
When was the last time you actually used it: You have boxes and boxes of items in the garage,
attic and basement. You might now come across it and say, “Aha I’ve been looking for that”.
But obviously you really didn’t need it because you didn’t know it was already in your house,
packed away. Easy pitch!

When was the last time you actually used it: You have boxes and boxes of items in the garage,
attic and basement. You might now come across it and say, “Aha I’ve been looking for that”.
But obviously you really didn’t need it because you didn’t know it was already in your house,
packed away. Easy pitch!

Test how often you really use an item: For the next year, when you wear an item, hang it up
or place in your drawers in the opposite direction. Same with books, cookbooks, etc. You can
then see what was used and what wasn’t.

“Do I really love it”: Yes, you spent $500 for that handbag you just had to have but it’s not
functional with your lifestyle and you never use it. This is a good time to consign it or sell in a
yard sale. Same for the modern art painting you got at the art fair that you were talked into
but no longer like and it never fit in with your décor. It’s okay to let things go.

The Junk Drawer: We all have one, in the kitchen, office, laundry room, bathrooms and
bedside tables. Easy to just tip the drawer into a plastic bag and vow to never open it. But
now’s the time to weed through all the items. Get individual small ziplock bags or plastic
containers for paper clips, rubber bands, plastic ties, batteries, coins, pens, chargers, Qtips,
lipsticks, etc. Separate paperwork such as menus, receipts, business cards and decide what
you want to keep and what you want to toss. Clean down the drawer and place the (saved)
items back neatly.

Create a System: One great thing about clear storage bins is that you can see in them without
having to unpack a box to look what is inside. While you are purging, maybe this is a good
time to sort your items into categories: Holiday, Seasonal, Photo Albums/Yearbooks, Blankets,
Emergency Equipment, Important Papers, Beach Items, etc. It’s a win-win – organizing and
decluttering!

Buy and Toss: Make a rule that if you buy a new pair of shoes, you have to get rid of a pair.
This goes for all rooms in your home; If you buy something new, you replace it by throwing
or donating something else already in your house. Stops clutter – or from buying something
you really may not need (ie: the 5th pillow for your bed).

Keep the memories in your heart: If you are downsizing to a smaller house or apartment, it’s
not always attainable to bring everything you had in your bigger home. Some of the toughest
and hardest items to purge are the items that hold memories. The first love letter, the high
school yearbooks, the box your decorated to hold all your special trinkets when you were 10,
the collections of Playbills for the shows you saw over the course of 5 years, and the
scrapbooks of past vacations. You must tell yourself that these items are to remain as
memories in your heart as you cannot physically take them with you. They are always there,
just not as tangible items.

Congrats – You did it! You have all your boxes labeled and secured; what a cathartic and
accomplished feeling! Time to go to the next room or if you have completed your whole
house:

Are you still feeling too overwhelmed and stressed
to tackle this job?
If you think this is just too daunting and you really need help to
Organize, Purge and Pack
so you are ready for your big move day, do not worry;
Golden Key Concierge is here to help you!
Visit us online to schedule your free no-obligation estimate or
call us at (310) 713-1807.