Lose 100+ Pounds (of Clutter) THIS WEEKEND
Last weekend, I helped a family shed literally HUNDREDS of pounds of clutter from their basement to completely transform the space. In fact, I do it all the time.
This blog is loaded with organizing hacks to make that happen in your home, straight from your local Delaware home organizer…
Here’s how it started (shared with consent):
My client booked her FREE discovery call via my website, and this was her dilemma. It was promising to me that she was presenting with readiness to purge—the number one key to success in a storage space IMHO.
On the discovery call, I take notes and highlight to the client what’s stood out. In this case, it was 3 things:
“Our basement feels unmanageable.”
[When I’m in the basement, it is] “overwhelming and overstimulating and just yucky”
“I like working out, I want to be super strong and … I want to put a home gym in the basement.”
So we booked our session, and I sent over the contract and prep. With basements/garages/attics, etc., the sheer volume of items to be discarded (tossed, recycled, donated, etc) means that in no time flat we are overfilling your trash and recycling bins. I talk to people in advance about
alerting your waste management company to a large pickup
considering curb alert which is an incredibly effective way to swiftly ditch a ton of big/awkward-shaped items that take up too much space in my car, etc.
developing plan for safely disposing of electronics recycling and hazardous household waste via www.dswa.com
and naturally, how I will—at no extra cost—Tetris a TON of items into my humble Subaru Crosstrek to take away after our session for donation—instant relief!
Driving to their home early Saturday morning, confident that her mindset of “I’ve got to let go” will help us bust through the clutter, I was H Y P E. I know for sure with clients like this that we can and will achieve those goals in a massively satisfying way, with sustainable change!
You can imagine my delightful surprise her husband showed up with THIS:
We filled the pickup truck bed with dozens of bags of clothes, and the trailer was packed with trash to the dump. SO MUCH JUNK…GONE!
Here’s the BEFORE pics of the large basement:
We start by focusing on the floor and moving out BIG items, “low-hanging fruit,” trash, recycling, obvious donations. Widen pathways to make for safe maneuvering, get smaller items onto a surface for better body mechanics, etc.
Next we do a rapid-fire first pass of the surfaces/shelves—paring down by more than half, and move all of these items out.
We’ve immediately carved out plenty of space to work, there’s a noticeable dent in the clutter, and my clients are becoming increasingly confident as they can see their goals coming to life.
We move the many, many gray bins of sizes-too-small clothes outside where wife sorts while I go through smaller items with her spouse. She’s loading up bag after bag of clothes she’s finally ready to part with, and he’s ruthlessly cutting clutter on his shelf.
We are finding items to relocate to the main areas of the home, using a broken laundry basket to contain them, and once full, one of them will take it upstairs and put those belongings away (trust me, you do NOT want to save this job for the end).
We keep going through every nook and cranny until every items has been inventoried, decided upon, and acted on. This is another chance to revisit something deemed worthy in the first round, but now is definitely NOT important to keep—clients let go freely and with ease.
And then we have our mostly blank slate. We have SO MUCH SPACE.
We get to work, setting up the home gym equipment—she bought quality pieces that are versatile and will last a long time. We space planned, we talked out logistics, we swept the floors before putting down the mats and heavy equipment.
We created clear zones for everything else, keeping like with like, and focusing on accessibility, visibility, and ease of returning items to where they belong.
It was a total knockout; we were thoroughly exhausted. I typically recommend couch time and takeout afterward. Here’s how I left them:
That’s not where the story ends, though. See, a lot of times, after I leave, my clients are REVELING in their reclaimed spaces, and it unlocks a creativity to take their organization to the next level. I received the following updates THE. NEXT. DAY!
Seriously? My heart exploded.
I can’t even believe this is my life, that I get to help people in this profound way.
She was quick to post a 5-star review, and we’ve booked another session for their garage! Let’s GOOOOOOOOOO!!!
“What she gave us is so much more than an organized basement; it feels like a huge burden lifted and has genuinely been life-changing for our family.”
What happened next? I sent personalized follow up and I remain available via text/email for free accountability—that’s the magic that so many clients need and love.
If you are ready to ditch the excess, I’m your girl. Promise to make it fun, keep you on track, and give you rest breaks. It starts with a free call.