Category: Home improvement

Decluttering your home with minimalism

Minimalism does not mean getting rid of everything, it merely helps make room for what brings you joy. Photo: Sandra Cruz

Minimalism is a way of living that has become popular in recent months and for good reason.  Our living spaces can get packed with unnecessary clutter and minimalism is the concept of living with less. This does not mean getting rid of everything, but rather, keeping what is important to create a more meaningful and less stressful life. Minimalism is unique to everyone because we all have different definitions of what constitutes an “important” item. There are no set of rules and it is not about depriving yourself; it is simply choosing to live with less to make room for what counts. If minimalism is a lifestyle that interests you, I would like to share some ideas that have worked for me.

Get rid of anything that is broken or no longer works. If it is torn, stained, or defective, it is time throw it out. I do not like giving up on anything, so sometimes a fresh coat of paint can save an old table.

Purge your closet. Begin with anything you have not worn in a year. Some of us have been working from home, so this is not so clear cut. Simply put, if you do not like how you look in it, or it no longer fits, just get rid of it. If clothing is gently used, you can donate it to someone who might need it. This applies to shoes too. Hello ladies! Yes, I am also guilty of having way too many shoes. Keep only the essentials.

Pet supplies.  This includes everything from snacks, food, leashes, towels, and clothing. If your animal companion ended up not liking something or you have too many, pass it on to a family member or friend whose companion might benefit from it. As a last resort, check with your local animal shelter or rescue group to see if they take donations.

Expired food. It is easy to forget canned goods in the back of the pantry, so if you come across any that are expired, just throw it out. Donate anything that is still good but you know your family will never eat.

Kitchen appliances. If you bought a fancy gadget and used it only once and you probably forgot about it, it is time to pass it on. I once gave my sister our quesadilla maker because we rarely used it and I know she loves to make quesadillas on a regular basis. It was just taking up space in the garage and someone else got a nice use out of it.

Toiletries. Donate any extras you have. We used to travel frequently so we amassed trial size bottles of everything; so one time when we had guests over, we put together a nice welcome basket for them. Same goes for hair dryers, curling irons, and the like. I bought a straightening iron and only used it once, so I gave it to my niece who forgot hers while on a trip. Expired medications should be disposed of properly by taking advantage of a local medicine disposal program. We tend to forget that make-up has a shelf life too. Replace or throw out anything that is more than a few months old.

Knick knacks and other decorations. Keep only what you love and cannot part with. Otherwise, it will just be collecting dust and in the end, there will be less to dust.

If your “must keep” items are too many and are still cluttering your home, consider getting a storage unit. If you live in the Lewisville, Tx, Dallas-Forth Worth metropolitan area and surrounding areas, consider Yes! Moving & Storage. They are a moving company and also have climate controlled storage for items you cannot store at home.

With years of experience in residential and commercial moving, planning, packing, and moving, Yes! Moving & Storage goes the distance. They treat your home and possessions with care and respect. When moving your belongings, they strive to be on time, efficient, quiet, and professional and as a guest in your home, they promise to treat it like their own. Their other services include residential moving, commercial moving, apartment moving, long distance moving, labor only, delivery services, senior moving, and piano moving.

When a senior family member needs to downsize from a big house to a smaller home, apartment, or specialized care facility, Yes! Moving & Storage can help. Their company has pride in being the best choice for senior relocation. With utmost care, they pack, unpack, and organize the move so that the relocation is safe, easy, and stress free. Not only do they load and unload belongings, but they also assist with packing, decluttering, and storage.

Helping seniors downsize and move is just one service Yes! Moving & Storage offers. Photo: Yes! Moving & Storage, used with permission.

Moving pianos can be a challenge because they are heavy and bulky. Piano Movers Dallas understands that pianos are not only expensive and delicate, but they can often have sentimental memories attached to them. Because of this, their priority is to keep them protected throughout the move. From spinets, uprights, and grand uprights, to baby grands, concert grands, and all types of organs or pianos, Piano Movers Dallas moves them all.

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Conservation tips for Earth Day 2021 and beyond

Taking care of our planet is something that can be done any day of the year. Photo: google

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries. While it is exciting to participate in Earth Day activities once a year, you can make a difference every day of the year by doing small things to help protect and preserve the environment.

Plant a tree. This is usually done around the world on Earth Day but the act of planting a tree any day of the year has a variety of benefits. By doing so, you are creating a new habitat for wildlife, helping to clean the air, and replacing resources that have been used. 

Start a garden. Gardening not only benefits you, but it also helps give back to the earth by cleaning the air. Growing your own food helps you eat sustainably and organically and gardening is even proven to help reduce stress. You can even share your bounty with friends, family, and neighbors who are in need. Buy local and frequent your local farmers’ market to reduce the distance from farm to fork.

Join a clean-up. There are numerous Earth Day activities that involve cleaning up parks, beaches, river and stream banks, and more.  One way to do this every day is by plogging – picking up trash while jogging.

Go on a hike/walk. Spending time outdoors is not only good exercise, but it is a constant reminder about why it is so important to celebrate Earth Day and protect our planet.

Go dark for a day. This is an excellent way to celebrate Earth Day: commit to unplugging from electronics and all non-essential appliances and devices for a day. Get back to basics and participate in Earth Day activities that are completely environmentally friendly. On any given day, save electricity and turn off the lights when you leave a room.

Build a home/office recycling center. At home, organize your garbage disposal area to easily sort recycling. For work, get permission to purchase the supplies needed to create a recycling station and encourage co-workers to participate.

Cut back on plastic. Most disposable plastics at home can be replaced with reusable options, including reusable water bottles, grocery bags, and other containers. If possible, buy products in glass or paper. Glass products are easily reused and paper is a much friendlier product to the environment. When I used to pack my lunch for work, I always carried a portable travel fork/spoon set in my bag as well as reusable straws. Remember the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Educate yourself. Read a book, subscribe to a blog, watch a documentary, or attend a seminar to help you learn about environmental issues and why they are so important.

Practice sustainable fashion. We all have usable items lying around the house that have been forgotten. Clean out a closet and donate gently used items to local charities to give them a new life.

Get rid of unwanted junk. This is another excellent project for Earth Day. Get the family together to clear out the junk around the house and then go with professionals like Junk Queen TX to haul it away. They are a junk removal company serving the homes and businesses of the Collin County area. If you are looking for same day affordable junk removal to remove furniture, debris, trash, garbage or rubbish from your Texas home or business, they are one of the most experienced hauling companies in the area. If you need trash removed, furniture picked up, or rubbish cleared away from your home or business, check out, Junk Queen TX.  They will remove single items as well, including beds, dressers, sofas, mattresses, couches, refrigerators, and even pianos.

If after all that clean up you need dumpster rental service, consider dumpster rental Collin County.  They offer dumpster rentals for multiple days so you do not have to feel rushed and you can fill it up as much or as little as you want or need. Why hire a national company to do a local job? Junk Queen TX has been in the dumpster and trash removal industry for decades, and they put their reputation and customers first. You can rely on them for extremely low, fair pricing, on-time, reliable dumpsters, service, and friendliness. They follow Texas law and best practices with disposing of your trash. You can take your time, knowing you have multiple days to fill up your dumpster before they come pick it up, without ever having to stress or rush your process. Most importantly, they recycle because it is environmentally focused, locally responsible and financially wise because recycled products are worth more than a landfill. Junk Queen TX recycles and disposes of debris, waste, furniture, plastics, wood, metal and other materials common in dumpster trash disposal services.

Photo: Junk Queen, TX, used with permission.

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Make Spring cleaning at home easy and efficient

Spring cleaning also helps to declutter and organize around the home. Photo: Sandra Cruz

Spring is just around the corner and with it comes the annual rite of spring cleaning. With some people still spending more time at home due to the pandemic, now is the optimal time to get organized and finally declutter your home to create a more relaxing atmosphere. These useful tips can help whether you decide to clear out one room or the entire house. If it seems too overwhelming, start small and work your way up. A cleaner, more organized home is one way to create a worry-free environment that the entire family can enjoy.

Use boxes. If you want to start small, try this quick trick. Get three boxes and label them: trash, donate, keep. Pick one room and place items into one of the boxes. Not only  will you get rid of items you really do not need or use, therefore reducing clutter, but this is an opportunity to put them in the correct room. (dishes in the kitchen, books in the library, etc.)

Clothes. This is where organizing gets real. Too often, we have clothes that no longer fit or we just do not like anymore. Start by putting them on the bed and sort them into four piles: keep, donate, store, and trash. Keep anything you have worn in the last few month, donate the ones you never wear, store off season clothing at the back of the closet or boxes, and throw out anything that is torn, mismatched, or stained beyond repair.

Dead technology. Technology has come a long way and music has gone from eight tracks and cassette tapes to online streaming. During our last move, I personally realized how many items we unnecessarily keep. This is a good time to throw out old phone lines, outdated phones (both cell phones and landline phones), even CD and tape players, unless you still use them.

Books. I have an extensive book collection, but every now and then I purge it. Get rid of any duplicates or any that you have read but do not have sentimental value. Pass them on so someone else can enjoy them. Currently, organizations such as libraries, schools, and nursing homes are not taking donations due to COVID, so it is advisable to call ahead. If all else fails, recycle them.

Duplicates. Hoarding alert! We are all guilty of this. How many glasses, coffee mugs or spoons do we really need? Take inventory of what you have and how many of each you need. You will be surprised at how much space you have after you throw out that broken blender you have already replaced.

Paperwork. With more people working from home, the home office has seen better days. Aside from important documents like birth certificates, marriage licenses and diplomas, most paperwork can be stored digitally. Sort paperwork into shred, file, or recycle. Physical files can then be stored in boxes or filing cabinets.  

Sentimental items, collections.  If you have a DVD collection that you use often, sell or donate any extras. Same goes for your CD collection. Sentimental items such as old toys, mementos, and pictures can be difficult to part with, so choose one item that reminds you of a specific person and put together a couple of photo albums filled with your absolute favorite pictures instead of keeping hundreds of them. That is, if you still have hard copies of pictures.

One in, one out. After all the time and effort put into organizing and clearing the clutter, it is tempting to fall back into old habits. This is one tip that has worked for me in the past: one in, one out. For every new item you bring into your home, get rid of another. Make it either something that should be trashed, or, if it is still useful, pass it on to someone who needs it. I never like to throw out anything that someone else might need.

Do not buy containers or organizers until you purge. Once you have cleared out all the clutter and duplicates, you know for sure what kind of organizational tools you need. This tip can save you time and money by making sure you only buy what you need.

If items such as jewelry, watches and handbags are in good condition and can be sold, why not consider a service like Chapes-JPL. Chapes-JPL has been in business for over 40 years and is an alternative to banks and traditional pawnbrokers because they provide low interest loans on gold, diamonds, jewelry, watches, and other valuable assets. With offices in Atlanta, Georgia, they service over 18,000 customers nationwide. They conduct business by appointment only in private, upscale offices like an attorney, CPA or doctor’s office in a safe, comfortable, and discreet environment. Whether you want to sell your jewelry or receive gold loans online in Atlanta to cover accidents or hospital expenses, divorces, need fast cash to cover rent and car payments, or are a business owner in need of money for these tough times, Chapes-JPL can help.

Photo: Chapes-JPL

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Make your next move go as smoothly as possible

Whether moving across town, another city, even another state, moving is never easy. Over the years, my husband and I have moved several times, the most recent being last July from San Antonio to Los Fresnos, and with each move, I learn a new trick that makes the next one easier. Planning and organizing goes a long way, but always make contingency plans because if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Allow me to pass along some of these ideas to make your next move go smoother.

Create a checklist. Even before you pack your first box, make a checklist of everything you need, from packing materials to boxes. Once you know what you need, make an inventory list of what you have so when you go shopping for these materials, you do not buy duplicates or buy unnecessary items, therefore saving you time and money. Decide on a plan of action for each room and the equipment you will need, for example, how many dollies, if you need a moving van, how big, etc. Writing everything down will not only organize your thoughts but will bring you peace of mind.

Begin packing as soon as possible. This one may be a no-brainer but countless times I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time only to be rushing at the last minute. Packing up your belongings takes time so start off with off season clothing, seldom used appliances, and rooms that are not used daily. Procrastination is your biggest enemy and will only result in hastily packed boxes which will lead to confusion once you get to your destination.

Photograph room setup and computer/electronic setups. Now that we are finally organizing each room in our new home, it occurred to me that I do not remember exactly how the living room was set up. If you are like me and prefer to have everything the same, take a picture of each room so that you will have a visual to work with. Another tip I picked up when moving my computer equipment from the office to our home office when transitioning to remote working due to COVID – take a picture of the back of your computer so you will know how all the cables should be connected.

Do not take clutter with you. Very often you hear about this tip when spring cleaning or decluttering your home but it also works when preparing to move. Start off by labeling boxes or bags as keep/throw/donate and filling them accordingly. It is easy to just throw everything in boxes and wait to tackle the clutter later, but this will save you time in the long run as well as money when you realize you do not need as many boxes or a bigger moving van.

Moving boxes. It is important to have different sizes of boxes because they each serve a purpose. Use the small boxes for heavy items such as books and big boxes for lighter items like bedding, towels, and pillows. Remember not to over pack them; instead, put lighter items between heavier items to make sure they do not rattle around and possibly break. Most of all, always label boxes according to room, this will make it easier to unload, especially if others will be helping.

Keep important items handy. Once you are on the move, store important items such as moving documents, keys, receipts, phone chargers, and snacks together in one box or bag. Keep that box/bag with you so they will be handy when you need them.

If you decide that doing the move on your own is too much, consider hiring movers. One moving company to consider is Our Truck Moving. In business since 2015, Our Truck Moving provides top-notch apartment and home moving in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex and surrounding areas. A family owned and operated business, they guarantee fair prices, superior quality, and exceptional customer service. As a full-service moving company, they are professional, timely, and always make sure you are satisfied with their services, which include local and long distance moving, full service (labor and delivery), labor only, delivery only, and packing.

They are Labor movers Garland TX & Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding area, and they will take extreme caution when handling your belongings. While other companies just do the heavy lifting, their movers are available to help with any packing and unpacking during your move. They also provide a truck, boxes, and tape if needed, and will label and organize boxes and deliver items safely to your new location.

Without a doubt, moving is never easy and can be stressful, time consuming and overwhelming. These tips worked for me and made my last move easier and despite some setbacks, it went smoothly. Not all of them will work for you and like everything else, it is a matter of trial and error and finding out what works. Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire movers, it is all worth it in the end.

Photo: Our Truck Moving, used with permission.

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