Whether you are or are not planning to sell, there’s something about a fresh start each January. Everyone selling, moving, or staying put can appreciate the peace of mind a clean slate offers. So welcome the fresh start decluttering, downsizing, and organizing gives you or a loved one you are a caregiver to. There’s no better time.

Great Benefits of a Fresh Start at Home

There are three “things” a fresh start at home gives to everyone who pursues this rewarding task: improved relationships, more productivity, and happier, healthier life.

For example, when you come home to clutter, how does that make you feel? If stuff is everywhere, feelings of depression, defeat, anxiety, and irritation usually take hold. Less stuff to push to the side, fewer dirty dishes, and less to trip over makes your home visually appealing and you just simply feel better. And peace of mind is the biggest and best benefit of a fresh start!

Here are some other great benefits you can have when you declutter, downsize, and organize your home:

Money

Simply, if you don’t spend money, you have more money. So, next time you go shopping, if you don’t absolutely love it, put it down and move on. Plus, the less you spend your money on, the less you have to make room for in your home. Storage systems or storage space rentals can cost you a pretty penny and fast.

Space

When you keep only what you need or want to keep, the space you have to store it is ample and sometimes more than enough. And storage space is valuable to the home owner and potential buyer.

Time

The less stuff you have in your home saves time. How? Because you have less to clean and less to clean around. Cleaning stuff takes time. And cleaning around a lot of stuff takes time, too. What about the time you spend just looking for something that you can’t find because there is so much stuff to look past to find it? That’s exasperating! Also, if you’re downsizing, there’s less stuff to pack and move to your smaller home.

Doing What You Love to Do

And that brings us to yet another great benefit of a fresh start. When you aren’t spending valuable time cleaning or unnecessarily looking for things, you have more time to spend doing what you love to do and with those you love to things with.

Stress

Less stuff means less stress. Cluttered homes cause stress, anxiety, and claustrophobia. Clutter also causes feelings of overwhelm, helplessness, guilt, or shame. If your home is a “mess,” how do you feel when someone stops by unexpectedly?

Pick a closet, drawer, one flat surface. Here’s how to get started on your fresh start and a stress free life now. No, you won’t be organized right away. But keep at it, one closet, drawer, or flat surface at a time. And remember, don’t move on to the next project until the one at hand is finished completely. Then before you know it, you’ll be done with your home (or even Mom’s) enjoying more space, time, and peace of mind.

Do you plan to stay in your Brooklyn home or are you thinking of selling? Decluttering, downsizing, and organizing to enjoy a fresh start now also prepares you for a stress-free move later. And that’s another benefit you may not have considered.

For suggestions and referrals for decluttering, downsizing, and organizing, call Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent with Fillmore Real Estate at (718) 253-9600 ext.206. Or you can email him at [email protected].

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 Charles D’Alessandro

Your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent

718-253-9600 ext. 206

[email protected]

by Charles D’Alessandro | Leave a Comment

What is downsizing? It is the concept of living simpler, utilizing space to its fullest. It is having fewer financial burdens, living in a home that requires minimal maintenance. It is getting rid of excess stuff that has been accumulated over time and paring down to basic essentials. After all, how much stuff do we really need to live a normal life? How much living space do we really need? There’s a trendy movement among us called micro-living. Fans of micro-living swear by it, and they are encouraging others in Brooklyn to start thinking big by living small.

Many people live beyond their means and accumulate stuff over time. Living beyond your means creates one or more of the following realities in day-to-day life that must be dealt with, sooner than later:

• Excessive debt
• Too much stuff
• Debilitating stress

Enter the desire for change, the desire for simplicity, the desire for downsizing. Downsizing in Brooklyn can be stressful, but the benefits listed below far outweigh the negatives. Advocates of micro-living say downsizing will:

• Increase cash flow
• Provide more time
• Lower utility bills
• Reduce consumption
• Minimize stress

Downsizing in Brooklyn requires:

• Assessing your actual needs
• Prioritizing needs versus wants
• Getting rid of clutter. (If you don’t need or use an item within 6 months, give, sell or throw it away). (When you come across boxes of items that haven’t seen the light of day for years, get rid of them at once. You don’t need them).
• Donating electronics and furniture
• Moving to within walking distance of work, grocery shopping and downtown amenities

Once your downsizing in Brooklyn is complete, try to stay organized. Be ruthless about what enters your space. Then, relax and enjoy surrounding yourself with only those things that are truly most important to you. You’ll be able to rest a little easier knowing that a move to living a simpler life will be smoother, too.

And, of course, your Brooklyn area real estate agent, Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn real estate agent with Fillmore Real Estate, knows where the smaller and good-quality houses are. I will find you just the right location to meet your needs for downsizing in Brooklyn. Contact me by email at [email protected] or by phone at (718) 253-9600 ext. 206 today.