Seniors downsizing to smaller homes face the overwhelming task of decluttering. While Junk360 is able and prepared to assist with junk removal and hauling, there are a few actions seniors and their families can undertake to start the process.

A Practical Guide for Seniors Downsizing

 

First, start early. Seniors have a lifetime of things to sort through. Planning a day or a weekend to downsize just isn’t practical and will leave you feeling rushed and overwhelmed. Instead, give yourself a month or two. This will allow you to go through one room at a time, taking breaks as needed.

Know Your Goals. Hopefully, you have an estimated size of your next space. A four bedroom/three bathroom household downsizing to a two bedroom/two bathroom should eliminate two bedrooms and one bathroom’s worth of stuff. Does your new place have a smaller kitchen? If so, weed through a third of your cooking supplies. Additionaly, for seniors downsizing, knowing how much space you’ll have and what you need to get rid of helps alleviate some of the doubt and anxiety of decluttering.

Don’t start with photos. Margareta Magnusson, the master of senior downsizing and decluttering herself, offers this important piece of advice. Starting with photos risks losing yourself in memories and never accomplishing anything. Instead, start in areas with little emotional attachment. The laundry room or linen closet for example. As you sort, make only ‘yes’ and ‘no’ piles – no ‘maybes’ or ‘ifs.’ Get rid of what you can. Especially the duplicates. Seniors downsizing to a one bedroom apartment won’t need five sets of bed sheets. If you’re moving to a place with no garage or office area then everything in those rooms will need to get eliminated. Furthermore, if you collect items, such as football jerseys or glass figurines, pick the two or three that mean the most to you and give the rest away. Yard sales are a great way for seniors to downsize – passing on materials to others looking to make their own memories. Involve the family. Enlisting trusted loved ones to help seniors downsize and declutter can turn a painful task into a helpful heart-to-heart. Maybe your daughter doesn’t want that china set; maybe she wants the rolling pin you taught her to make pies with. You’ll remove items from your home while being able to enjoy passing them onto the next generation, making you happy while lightening the load. Finally, ask for help. Garages, attics, and basements are the most difficult areas to tackle. Not only are those the spaces where we tend to shove our junk, but they’re uncomfortable spaces. Uncomfortable space which run swelteringly hot to bone chillingly cold depending on the season. This is the point of the process where Junk360 can help.  

Junk360 is prepared to assist you organize your clutter, haul away the leaf blower that hasn’t worked in years, clean out the garage, and remove the junk from your basement. With a careful eye, Junk360 can aid seniors downsizing figure out what to donate and what to haul away. As a community orientated, veteran-owned business, Junk360 is ready to help you save memories and remove the clutter.