FAQs
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
Every year my wife and I go through our home to downsize and organize our belongings. We start in the attic and end in the basement. In the attic we check through all the containers and remove items to be donated or trashed. Being empty nesters, this is also a time we have our children go through some things they have storing there and promote their donating and trashing as well. On the bedroom floor, our tasks include deciding what clothing (from all seasons) from drawers and closets we will donate and reducing the size of our dvd and cd collections on the basis of which ones we have actually been watching or listening to. It's also proven to be a good time to update our medicine cabinet and first aid supplies. On the first floor, on the grounds of not holding onto more books than the bookcases will actually hold, we make decisions on what books to donate. In the kitchen, through a concentrated effort, we look through every cabinet and drawer (as well as the refrigerator) to remove items we will donate (because someone else will benefit from items we're not using) or trash (because the items don't work or are beyond their expiration dates). In the final area, the basement, is where we spend the most time downsizing. We go through our collection of indoor and outdoor tools and supplies to toss worn out items. We find that removing and then restoring all the items in the basement utility room provides an opportunity to make that space more user friendly. Since the basement also includes our office, I take the time to go through all our paperwork. Working from a master document of what paperwork we've retained, I take the opportunity to discard items that have become redundant and sometimes reorganize items that we continue to retain. In addition this is a good time for me to make adjustments in how I organize the paying of our ongoing bills.