For seniors thinking of downsizing, getting rid of stuff comes first

CENTRE WELLINGTON – There are lots of reasons to downsize: the kids have moved out, you don’t want to care for a lawn or house, there is suddenly a health concern, or maybe you’ve decided it’s time to move to a retirement home.

If you glance around your home and are overwhelmed by the prospect of sorting, organizing, packing and getting rid of your belongings, a professional organizer can help.

Colleen Hopkins of Artifact Organizing and Cathy Mendler of A New Leaf Organizers, have been in the business for almost 20 years. They have helped individuals, couples, families and businesses purge their belongings, organize, rearrange and find an easier way to live without the burden of too much stuff.

They work independently and on occasion work together on projects.

“Even if you are not planning to move, you should go through your stuff now,” said Mendler. “Do it while you’re able bodied and with an able mind to do it. Don’t wait until there’s a health crisis and don’t leave it for your children to deal with.”

Retirement homes have various sizes of suites for residents, but they seldom have the closet or cupboard space of a house. And long-term care homes have even less space for personal belongings.

“With health issues, it can turn so quickly,” Hopkins said. “A retirement home is one step, but with long-term care you have to downsize to just one room. A senior can’t spend five days a week working on this.”

It’s not just the physical aspects of the job that make it tough. It’s emotional to let things go. You grieve all over again for the people who have died, the passage of time, the relationships that are often attached to things.

“It’s easier for a client to let things go if they have the time to remember the stories,” Mendler said.

She lets the client take the lead when it comes to letting things go. Talking about an item, remembering where they bought or who gave it to them is important.

“But the overwhelm is the biggest piece. And that’s the part we can help with. We pack it up, take it away, find places to donate, and leave them with the things they really want to keep,” Hopkins added.

“When we’re done the process, they are so grateful.”

Hopkins said they start with the easy things for the client. If purging the wardrobe is easy, they’ll start in the closet. If the kitchen is easiest for the client, then they’ll start there.

Paperwork is often complicated so they save that for the end. Same with photographs and other sentimental things.

Once a space starts to clear out, the client’s spirits are often buoyed. And once the client gets some practice, it becomes easier to let things go.

Hopkins and Mendler can oversee a move-out and be there at the other end for the move-in if that’s what a client wants.

They can set up the space right down to hanging pictures so when the client walks in, it already feels like home.

In terms of organizing, the duo said it’s not important to purchase expensive containers to make everything look pretty when you open a closet or cupboard. The beauty is in knowing what you have and where you keep it, they said.

So measure shelves and closets before buying containers, and then buy only what fits your space. 

“Containers can become clutter,” Hopkins said, adding she goes to thrift stores and dollar stores and usually finds what she needs there.

Hopkins and Mendler are offering workshops at the Victoria Park Seniors Centre in Fergus. The first has already passed but there are three more in the series:

– on April 20 at 1pm they’ll talk about paper, paper and more paper; 

– on May 7 at 10am it’s organizing 101; and

– on June 2 at 10am they’ll talk about navigating life as a senior.

“Just having a little help to get started can be enough for some people,” Mendler said.

“Change is hard no matter what age you are. We try to make it as easy as possible.”

For more information, visit artifact-organizing.ca and anewleaforganizers.ca.