Featured in: Redfin's blog

Redfin recently featured some of my thoughts about downsizing on their blog, in an article called: Toss or Keep? How to Downsize Your Belongings and Simplify Your Life.

I actually love this topic — on a personal level, I’ve radically changed my relationship to keeping stuff, over the past decade. I used to be someone who had difficulty throwing away anything that still functioned, didn’t have holes in it, or might “one day” be useful. As a result, my apartments and dorm rooms always felt cluttered.

I changed my mindset towards stuff, and now my home is almost always neat. (It’s much easier to be neat when you don’t have too much stuff).

You can read the full piece here with ideas from lots of experts, or here’s just one tip from me:

I recommend that clients identify what it means about them, to get rid of something.

Often, we will feel that it means something bad about our identity if we get rid of an object. For example: Does it mean that they are a bad sister, if they get rid of the kitchen tool their brother got them as a gift?

And for the real juicy question, I would ask: How could getting rid of that kitchen tool make them a good sister? Perhaps they’d feel lighter, and show up more open-hearted to the relationship — or they’d pass it on to someone who could really enjoy it.

If your brain is in the right place, everything else is easy.

Interested in more on this topic of identity and how it can get triggered? Check out this past blog post, as well.

As always, I’m rooting for you. You’ve got this.

Katie