All Blog Postings by Mary
De-Cluttering for Widows
Archive notice: This is a historical post from Mary’s years of blogging. Some older posts may mention products, courses or shop items that are no longer available, as Mary now focuses her time and energy on supporting widows inside her private Facebook community. The guidance and stories remain here as a free resource for widows.
For current ways to connect with Mary’s work, you can:
- Read her book on Amazon .
- Request to join her private Facebook group for widows .
When our husbands died we often felt that things were out of our control and some things are. However, de-cluttering for widows is when we take control over the “things” that are in their space.
It’s important that we take control where we can. Control gives us hope, hope that we will come out of the dark tunnel of grief and be able to create a life where we can be happy again.
Here are a few de-cluttering for widows tips:
Kitchen – get rid of all those extra dishes that are rarely used.
Brighten the kitchen up with brightly coloured dish towels. Throw out all the old ones.
Refresh your cabinets with white paint and new knobs from the hardware store.
Keep only what you use daily on your countertops.
Use plastic stackable bins in your pantry. They are the perfect size to use space.
Use a magazine holder to hold all your hair tools. If you have extra’s that you are not using then donate them.
Tension rods installed upright in one of your kitchen cabinets to eliminate cabinet clutter and maximize storage for cutting boards and serving trays.
Keep an open shopping bag on your closet floor - fill up with items you no longer want.
Install cork board on the back of your closet door using Velcro. On push pins hang scarves, belts and jewelry.
Organize your closet by hanging clothing across the curtain rod from shortest to the longest. This will give you an open space on the floor directly under the shorter items. If you have not worn something in a year than its okay to donate or resell it.
Keep dress shoes in the clear plastic shoeboxes you get at the dollar store. Stack them and you can see inside to see repeat styles and colours.
Clean out your linen closet by getting rid of mismatched sets. Time to make some rags out of old towels and facecloths.
If you have had a book for a while and it doesn’t trigger immediate interest, consider giving it away. Try to get your book collection down to 30 or less. If a new book is a keeper, then another book has to leave.
Start your de-cluttering project by making a list of tasks from easiest to hardest. Start with the easy ones and by quickly crossing them off your list you will be motivated to keep going.
Clutter makes life feel chaotic, but by simply tidying up you get a sense of control. De-clutter and empower yourself.
Mary Francis, The Sisterhood of Widows
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