About Susan and A Less Cluttered Life
When I started A Less Cluttered Life in 2018 my goal was to help women declutter the excess stuff from their homes. Over time, I realized that one of the groups of items that they had the trickiest time sorting through was the stuff that they’d inherited from parents, in-laws, grandparents, and other relatives.
Some women told heart-wrenching stories of packing everything into boxes…and then never looking at the contents for 10, 20, 30 years.
It was clear that people wanted to know how to sort through the thoughts and emotions that clung to items as much as they needed to know how to work through the physical objects.
And so, I’ve pivoted A Less Cluttered Life away from general decluttering, organizing, habit forming, and productivity articles to providing information that can better help people empty out their parents’ home without filling up their own.
You may be here because you have a month or so to empty out your parent’s home before the lease is up on the apartment or before you must pay another month of utility and tax bills. Maybe you’ve been in the throes of sorting through your parents’ estate for a while.
You could have found this site because years ago you filled your garage or an extra bedroom or a rented storage unit with the things from your parents’ home and every time you think about going through this stuff you get a sinking feeling in your stomach. Or you stay up at night thinking about what you’ll be faced with when your final parent passes.
Here you'll find tips on rehoming their possessions; sorting through paperwork both personal and practical; figuring out what heirlooms and sentimental items are important to you; sharing your memories of your parent; as well as offering yourself self-care and compassion throughout this overwhelming endeavor.
Don’t worry, I won’t tell you to get rid of everything! But I also won’t suggest that it’s okay to leave things in boxes for years. Those boxes of stuff will weigh on your wellbeing. And keeping things tucked away in boxes doesn't really convey that those items are important to you.
Sorting through a parents’ belongings can feel like a never-ending task, but it doesn’t have to be.
Some women told heart-wrenching stories of packing everything into boxes…and then never looking at the contents for 10, 20, 30 years.
It was clear that people wanted to know how to sort through the thoughts and emotions that clung to items as much as they needed to know how to work through the physical objects.
And so, I’ve pivoted A Less Cluttered Life away from general decluttering, organizing, habit forming, and productivity articles to providing information that can better help people empty out their parents’ home without filling up their own.
You may be here because you have a month or so to empty out your parent’s home before the lease is up on the apartment or before you must pay another month of utility and tax bills. Maybe you’ve been in the throes of sorting through your parents’ estate for a while.
You could have found this site because years ago you filled your garage or an extra bedroom or a rented storage unit with the things from your parents’ home and every time you think about going through this stuff you get a sinking feeling in your stomach. Or you stay up at night thinking about what you’ll be faced with when your final parent passes.
Here you'll find tips on rehoming their possessions; sorting through paperwork both personal and practical; figuring out what heirlooms and sentimental items are important to you; sharing your memories of your parent; as well as offering yourself self-care and compassion throughout this overwhelming endeavor.
Don’t worry, I won’t tell you to get rid of everything! But I also won’t suggest that it’s okay to leave things in boxes for years. Those boxes of stuff will weigh on your wellbeing. And keeping things tucked away in boxes doesn't really convey that those items are important to you.
Sorting through a parents’ belongings can feel like a never-ending task, but it doesn’t have to be.
About Susan
Hello. My name is Susan. And it took four 30-yard Dumpsters, countless trips to the local donation center, a yard sale, a bunch of private sales, and giving away things to people we knew to clear out my parents’ 800-square-foot house.
I got caught up in wondering why they treated family heirlooms in the same manner as their stash of broken toasters, but that only sent me down a groundhog hole of questions and doubts. I tried to second-guess their intentions behind keeping every bill and bank statement going back to 1964, but that only sent me straight to the wholesale club-sized bags of peanut M&Ms.
I was sad. I was angry. I was baffled. They’d been unable to identify what was important and I was a bit resentful that these decisions fell to me. I did a lot of emotional crocheting.
But with each decision I made, I learned that things weren’t memories. I concluded that storing all but seasonal items in boxes was a disservice to the objects, the memory of my parents, and a drain on my wellbeing.
And the big realization…curating your parents’ belongings shouldn’t take over the rest of your life.
Follow me on social media for tips, guidance, and encouraging quotes (I've collected quotes for years).
Sorting through my parents' stuff encouraged me to make decisions about minimizing my own possessions (for most of my life I followed mom and dad's 'keep everything for someday' philosophy), which ultimately encouraged me to become a professional organizer so I could help others.
I got caught up in wondering why they treated family heirlooms in the same manner as their stash of broken toasters, but that only sent me down a groundhog hole of questions and doubts. I tried to second-guess their intentions behind keeping every bill and bank statement going back to 1964, but that only sent me straight to the wholesale club-sized bags of peanut M&Ms.
I was sad. I was angry. I was baffled. They’d been unable to identify what was important and I was a bit resentful that these decisions fell to me. I did a lot of emotional crocheting.
But with each decision I made, I learned that things weren’t memories. I concluded that storing all but seasonal items in boxes was a disservice to the objects, the memory of my parents, and a drain on my wellbeing.
And the big realization…curating your parents’ belongings shouldn’t take over the rest of your life.
Follow me on social media for tips, guidance, and encouraging quotes (I've collected quotes for years).
Sorting through my parents' stuff encouraged me to make decisions about minimizing my own possessions (for most of my life I followed mom and dad's 'keep everything for someday' philosophy), which ultimately encouraged me to become a professional organizer so I could help others.
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