Declutter in the shed…
After Photos
Before Photos
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚! 𝑾𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 3 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 (𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕).” - Client Quote.
On a hot January day, I arrived at my clients home ready to declutter their shed. The couple had a strong desire to be in control of the choices around what stayed and what left, along with an environmentally conscious mindset. We had timed this declutter to coincide with council clean up which was a big help in getting rid of larger items. It was such a pleasure to work with this family who (much like myself), had moved from Sydney over three years ago with a young baby in tow…life is busy with little people! This is extremely common among families in Orange, something I am approached to help with often.
We tackled both spaces over two x three hour sessions and discussed a few things to help in the decluttering process:
What is used, how is it used, how frequently is it used?
If it isn’t being used, what is its purpose in the space and is it serving them?
If the item isn’t theirs, how they can gently have a discussion with family about those items returning to the owners home.
The “70% rule” of only filling boxes or shelving to a maximum of 70% when decluttering. This allows some wriggle room for when additional items inevitably enter the space.
Safety of keeping sharp items and chemicals up off the floor and creating walk-ways without trip hazards.
Placement of items for ease of access. For example, they feed chickens and clean the chicken coop daily, so these items were placed closest to the door of the shed. The mower and spare dining chairs were put at the opposite end near a larger door so they can be easily removed, but also, so they are out of the way when the couple need to access other everyday items.
I delivered two ute loads of donations to the Orange Recovery Centre & hit Bunnings with my clients so they could be involved in choosing shelving. They kept their budget low by using items they already had with just three new shelves & some hooks added to the shed. This appealed to their love for the environment and a budget friendly approach.
The final hour of the second session was spent on a speedy sprint to the finish by clearing out their sun room. We only left two boxes of sentimental items with dates written on top as a deadline for them to tackle in future when they’re feeling more ready for this. It is crucial to allow the time to honour these items and make more heartfelt decisions without time pressure so I may return in future to continue working on this with them.
Finally, we squeezed in time to tackle miscellaneous items in the yard & home to take full advantage of the upcoming council pick up!
There is a significant difference in the functionality of these two spaces now that we are finished and I absolutely admire their dedication to this process, rethinking the items they had stored and if they were really adding value to their lives or not. Now they are able to:
Safely walk through the garden shed and sunroom.
They know every item that is stored in the garden shed and where to find it.
They can access their gardening equipment, items to care for their animals & even created space to store bulky items that were inside the home like the BBQ.
The sun room is visible from their living area so a huge weight has been lifted by having this space cleared and ready for its next adventure.
Are your sheds and garages safe for you to move through easily?
Do they allow you to find what you need efficiently?
Could that space be utilised in a better way?
If you think your shed or garage could be better organised and utilised, get in touch with Heather today.
