Many parents feel that once their children have moved on to the next chapter of their lives they are obligated to keep everything exactly how it was including childhood memorabilia hanging on the walls.
Parents feel guilt when they want to change the space to an area in their home they can enjoy.
When the kids leave they generally leave behind what they don’t want. It is up to you to purge and refresh the space and make it a place both you and your adult child will enjoy.
Purge, Sort and Label Memorabilia
Invest in clear containers, purge items that you no longer need, sort what you are keeping and label the container so you will know what you have.
Update the Room With a Fresh Coat of Paint
A fresh coat of paint will make the space feel new and even your adult child will appreciate a bit of sprucing.
Purge the Closet and Use the Space as Extra Storage
Remove everything out of the closet and only put back what your child will need and utilize when they are home. Use the remainder of the space to store travel items or off season winter clothing. Make use of the space don’t memorialize it!
Purge the Bathroom and Keep Just the Essential Items
Once they are off to school it is a good time to do a thorough cleaning by removing expired items including medications and keep only the basic essentials they will need when they come home.
Invest in New Linens
If you are going to going to keep the room as a bedroom invest in new linens in a neutral color. You can add a desk and utilize the space as a small home office.
Instead of looking at this time in your life as empty look at it as a new beginning. Take the time to purge and make the necessary changes for yourself and your home.
The new school year is almost here and now is the time to start new habits to keep you and your family organized.
When you are setting up an organizing system in your home remember to keep it simple. The more complicated the more clutter.
These are five simple tips to start a seamless back to school year.
Purge last years school supplies.
Start the year with a clean slate. Purge anything that you don’t need or use. Recycle old notebooks and papers from last year. Toss the pencils without erasers, broken crayons and dried out markers. Make the time to start the school year with a clean slate.
Create a parent station.
This is important if you want to make your mornings run smoothly. Keep pens, notepads, stapler, scissors, labeled folders, tape and post-it notes in one place. You want to be able to sign papers, write notes, keep schedules and other items close at hand.
Create an area in the pantry to pack lunches and after school snacks.
Keep all lunch items and after school snacks in labeled containers. This one step will help your children be able to pack their lunch or grab a snack on their own.
Keep school supplies in one area and keep like things together.
Keep all supplies together so everyone knows where to get what they need. Sort crayons, flash cards, colored pencils and other items in clear labeled containers.
An easy system inspires everyone to stay organized.
Start a file box for each child.
The easiest way to keep your children’s school memorabilia organized from year to year is to start afile box. Label the front with your child’s name and each hanging folder with the school year (ex: k-5).
When something is brought home that you want to keep drop it in the appropriate file and at the end of the year purge and keep only what is memorable from that year. It’s simple an inexpensive.
An organized beginning will help to make the school year run smoothly. For more back to school tips go to the top of my page and click video.
Welcome to the Neatly Designed blog, where I share my favorite organization tips, and must-have organizing products.
Sentimental clutter is by my far one of the biggest issues I deal with when working with clients. There are different types of sentimental clutter but each one has the same emotion attached to it GUILT!
These are the five types of sentimental clutter I see the when organizing homes. Do any of these sound familiar?
Items You Have Inherited
These are things you did not necessarily ask for but were given to you. Some you may want but most of the time I find these items boxed up in garages or in closets just taking up space. They can’t bare the guilt they would feel getting rid of them, even though they don’t want them and don’t have the space in the their home to store them.
Most people think their children will want them so they hold onto them and from my experience they never do! Don’t love Grandmas china? Keep one piece and sell the rest here. Items you inherit should not cause you clutter and stress.
Photos and Videos
Old school photos and videos are still an issue even though photos are digital now. Storing and organizing photos can be overwhelming and the easiest way to organize photos is sort, date and label.
What to toss? Doubles, out of focus photos, pictures of people you don’t recognize and all photos that you no longer want! The thought process is the same when organizing photos label and keep it simple.
Children’s Memorabilia
This type has definitely become a bit easier because of the computer but there are still items they bring home from school, sports and various activities that you need to stay on top of. A simple way to keep track of your kids memorabilia is keeping labeled containers.
I like to use file boxes with hanging file folders and label each file by school year. When they bring something home you date the back and drop it in the folder. If you are already overwhelmed and everything is mixed together in one big pile start by purging and then sort each child’s item in labeled containers. Its like playing cards pick one up and put it in the appropriate container.
What to keep? In my opinion anything with hand or footprints and any notes they have written to you. You can have albums made of all their art work at the end of the year or frame them in frames that can be changed frequently like these. Take a photo of the rest and let it go.
Keeping every single thing from your child will eventually lead to unwanted clutter.
Personal Items That Were Given to You by Friends and Family
An example of these items are notes that were written to you, concert tickets or sentimental trinkets from important times in your life. If it means something to you display it!
Frame a handwritten note and every time you look at it it will bring back wonderful memories. Keep all notes and cards in a decorative containeron a book shelf. When you receive a note that is special to you put it in the box.
One rainy afternoon you will grab that container and read the history of your life. Don’t hide the memories display them if they are important to you!
Collections
I have seen more collections than you can imagine and everyone thinks theirs is worth a lot of money.
Some items may have value but you need to do you homework to find out. There are many resources available to sell and consign your items. I always mention to my clients make sure its worth the amount of time it will take and the headache it may cause for the amount of money you will receive. Sometimes its just easier to let it go!
Keeping things out of guilt is robbing you of space in your home that could be used for something you will really enjoy!
I know this may seem overwhelming at first but once you get rid of the guilt you will get rid of the clutter.
