As I shared with you in my blog "Space Saving Tips for Empty Nester's", after you've completed the Surface Clean-Up, you need to begin to initiate the Deeper Purge. Instead of having your eyes all over the room as you did with the Surface Clean-Up, you need to now mentally divide your space into separate sections; the activity/entertainment section, the corner area, the closet, etc. Begin with the area that is the least cluttered. Set up four separate boxes labeling them Garbage, Returns, Donate and Sell. As you go through each room and each item, deciding what to keep and what to discard, ask yourself these questions.....
... Have I or anyone else in my home used this in the last year?
... Does this still fit my needs?
... Is this still in style?
... If this is a sentimental item, does keeping it bring me happiness or would a photo of it work?
... Is this the room that it belongs in?
... Do I want to continue to clean this item constantly?
If you cannot answer YES to at least THREE of these questions, it's most likely time to put it into one of the four boxes. If the item belongs in another room, then put it in the box marked RETURN. If it's in good condition, but you cannot answer YES to one of the questions, then put it into either the DONATE or SELL box. Don't forget that for everything that you donate, you can receive tax credit. You need to decide if the money that you will make spending an entire day/weekend holding a garage sale, is the best way to spend your time for the amount that you will make. If it is not in good shape, then it goes into the GARBAGE box.
Your Next Step is to arrange what is left. You should notice that you have much more space at this point. If the room is still crowded, you probably did not do a deep enough purge and will need to purge deeper. It's time to play hardball and really do a deeper sweep.
Once you have totally cleaned out all of the clutter and rearranged the room, you should take a photo. This can help you to remember how your room should look. When the room begins to feel cluttered again, you'll have a good idea of what's out of place and what you have to say bye bye to. Its sort of like when I lose weight. When I feel those pounds starting to pile back on again, it time to call in the cavalry.
If you are lucky enough to be discarding items that are in salable condition, start to take really good pictures and begin posting on Ebay, Etsy, Craig's List, Letgo, Facebook Marketplace, etc. Now you can repeat this process in every room in your home. Thinking about all the money that you can make on line may give you all the motivation that you need to continue .