Purge & Declutter Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Loose Ends Archive

The Big Black Bag

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | February 7, 2012 at 8:33 pm , by CarlaRae Arneson

For some reason I get so excited when I watch my clients purge all of their useless, unwanted junk.While I usually have a big smile on my face, they are not so enthusiastic about the process. Here’s how it usually goes: I hold the donation bag open while my helpless...

Collections of Corks, Coins, and Cookie Cutters

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Get Organized!, Keepsakes, Purge & Declutter | November 14, 2011 at 10:45 am , by CarlaRae Arneson

What do you collect? Coins, baseball cards, antiques, bottle caps, beer cans, comic books, miniatures, postcards, hats, spoons, stamps, thimbles, cookie cutters, teddy bears, frogs, action figures, concert tickets, magnets, or PEZ dispensers… the list goes on and on. Whatever the collection, I’ve seen it all! Some are very valuable...

But, I Might Need It One Day

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | November 7, 2011 at 12:27 pm , by CarlaRae Arneson

I hear this phrase more than you will ever know. And yes, I’ve even said it myself a few times! Everyone fears tossing something out only to realize that, one day down the road, we shouldn’t have. Keeping things around “just in case” makes people feel safe. Here are a...

Get Rid of Your Phone Books… For Good!

Posted in: Everything Else..., Get Organized!, Home Office, On the Web, Paper Piles, Purge & Declutter | October 5, 2011 at 5:49 pm , by CarlaRae Arneson

While helping people declutter their homes, I tend to have a “love-hate” relationship with their piles of phone books. Why do I love them? Well, phone books used to be one of my biggest forms of marketing for my business! Before internet search engines were the trend, people used to...

Lisa’s Story

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Get Organized!, Kitchen, Paper Piles, Purge & Declutter | August 30, 2011 at 12:10 am , by CarlaRae Arneson

Meet Lisa… a 37 year old woman from New Jersey. I read about her a few years back in my favorite magazine, Real Simple. Lisa and her husband, Alex, moved into their 1920’s Colonial home about seven years ago. The outdated kitchen with minimal shelving and no pantry created chaos....

Stuff, Stuff, Stuff

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | August 2, 2011 at 7:26 pm , by CarlaRae Arneson

Here is a fun poem a client gave me about stuff. Maybe by the end of it you’ll get so sick and tired of the word “stuff” that you’ll be inspired to purge some of your own! With the coming of fall, I start stirring my stuff. There is closet...

I Married a Pack Rat

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | June 21, 2011 at 12:01 am , by CarlaRae Arneson

Did that title get your attention? No. While it would be quite ironic, I did not marry a pack rat. Mary Roach, a writer and columnist, wrote this funny article about her husband who she claims is a pack rat. He’s definitely not as bad as most. But sometimes it’s...

Don’t Let This Happen to You!

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | October 11, 2009 at 2:20 am , by CarlaRae Arneson

By David Smith “I’m a pack rat, which means I collect what others consider junk. For years my wife hounded me to do something about the mess, but I just keep putting it off, even after she threatened to take matters into her own hands. One day I was looking...

Trust Me: You Won’t Fix It

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | August 12, 2009 at 11:09 pm , by admin

So many of my clients have piles of things they want to fix. Things that broke months, even years ago. These are more piles of what I call good intentions! I’ve come across broken shoes, torn clothes, broken knick-knacks, even books with binding in need of repair. Each person was...

Gifts and Guilt

Posted in: Get Inspired!, Purge & Declutter | July 14, 2009 at 10:47 pm , by admin

Fill in the blank… “If I get rid of _______ that so-and-so gave me, I’ll feel guilty.” We often feel so responsible to be good stewards of things that we’ve been given or even inherited from a loved one. Getting rid of a present feels like disrespecting the giver. But...