Spring always seems to inspire people to “get organized”. If you are interested in decluttering and you haven’t seen it yet – check out Marie Kondo, on Netflix, Youtube or get her book from the library. I have watched a few episodes and it is quite rewarding to see people go from chaos to calm in their homes.   The main premise is to only keep items that bring you joy. 
Organizing and decluttering doesn’t have to wait until a move is imminent. However, this life change is often the motivator to simplify and scale down. Once a retirement residence has been chosen, seniors then start to prepare for their move with the following steps:

• Determine what furniture and accessories you need and want to bring with you to the new location
• Use a scale drawing to see where everything will fit – be sure to consider where outlets are and how to best move around in the new space
• Determine if any new furniture needs to be purchased (often a smaller bed will be required)
• Identify what you will do with the remaining furniture (put a post-it note on each piece to identify where it will go – family, friends, auction, estate sale, donation)
• Sort through possessions and make piles (keep, sell, donate, dispose) 
• Create an inventory of what you are keeping on the outside of their boxes
• Shred personal documents that don’t need to be kept
• Don’t discard un-used medication in the toilet or garbage – it should go back to the pharmacy

Depending on the timing of the move and possible sale of your house, you may need to keep certain items in the home for staging purposes.  Remove as much clutter as possible so that the house shows at its best.  A home inspection prior to moving will give you an idea of any fixing up that you should do.  

Organizing and de-cluttering is a great opportunity to collect together family heirlooms, mementos and important peices of your history.  Consider enlisting family support or you can hire a professional to help you create memory books, videos or other ways to honour your history and share it with future generations. 

Thinking about making the move to a senior living community? Contact us to help you navigate the choices in Calgary, Edmonton and Kelowna.