When it starts turning Spring many of us start thinking about Spring projects in and outside of our homes. The warm air and flowers blooming, I believe, contribute to our feeling of trying to "renew" and make things "fresh". NBC News recently reported that consumers are taking a pause on big home improvement projects; and, concentrating on the small stuff. This Spring, I can tell you that I fall into that bucket. (If you remember last year, I documented my husband and I re-building the deck on the back of our house). This year, my Spring project is primarily focused on decluttering my home. While it's not a small project, I certainly am not investing a lot of money. It will primarily be sweat equity and organizational skills that will get us through this year's Spring project.

We don’t have collectibles and a lot of tchotchkes, I have never believed in collecting stuff that collects dust and needs continual cleaning. With that said, we have had three parents die within a five year period; so, we find ourselves with sentimental items and collectibles that wouldn’t have been our choice. Then there’s the sentimental items like my wedding dress which my daughter says she’s not interested in. By the way, did you know there are tons of posts online on how to part with sentimental items? It's nice to have a "go-to" process to help take the emotion out of parting with a sentimental item. Even quality brand-named furniture like Ethan Allan is hard to donate these days to charitable organizations. Everyone wants new which I understand to a point.

There’s no easy way to get through the decluttering process; so, I am turning to the old-school way of doing things by identifying each item as keep, donate, or trash. Plus, I added a category for consignment shops (whether it's for antique pieces or designer clothes) that no longer fit our lifestyle.

My goal is to be completely done before the first day of summer! Wish me luck and cheers to you and your Spring project too!

This is an upclose & personal post from JC e-newsletter March 2024, #17 . Like to be added to the monthly e-newsletter, just email me at sonya@jarvisconsultants.com.

Sonya Ruff Jarvis is a Business & Marketing Consultant; Content Creator & Connection-Maker; Thought Leader & Industry Expert and Book Author & Entrepreneur. Areas of expertise include: Retail; Marketing; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); and Human Resources. Sonya has been a part of the B2B retail industry for more than 30 years. Interested in Sonya’s books? They can be found on Amazon or get an author autographed copy at www.jarvisconsultants.com.

Let’s talk about your next project and how Jarvis Consultants can support your initiatives; email sonya@jarvisconsultants.com.

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