Decluttering A Home-Moments That Matter By The Voyage Senior Living

Decluttering, Downsizing & What To Do With Everything | Moments That Matter

What do you do with a lifetime of belongings when it's time to downsize?
In this episode of Moments That Matter from the Voyage, host Melise Oakley sits down with Stephanie Lawrence of 618 Realty to discuss one of the biggest challenges many families face—decluttering a home.

From determining what items actually have value to deciding what to keep, donate, sell, or pass along, Stephanie shares practical advice for navigating the process with confidence. More importantly, she addresses the emotional side of letting go of possessions that hold years of memories.

In this conversation you'll learn:
✅ Where to begin when the process feels overwhelming
✅ What items typically hold resale value—and what doesn't
✅ Options for donating, gifting, repurposing, or selling belongings
✅ Common mistakes families make when downsizing
✅ Why planning ahead makes all the difference
✅ Simple steps you can take today to get started

Whether you're planning a move, helping a loved one transition, or simply trying to reduce clutter, this episode offers encouragement and practical guidance to help you move forward with clarity and peace of mind.

Learn more about Voyage Senior Living:
https://voyageseniorliving.com

Moments That Matter is a podcast dedicated to providing resources, conversations, and encouragement for seniors, caregivers, and families navigating life's important transitions.

#MomentsThatMatter #VoyageSeniorLiving #Decluttering #Downsizing #SeniorLiving #EstatePlanning #HomeOrganization #RealEstate #618Realty #SeniorCare #LifeTransitions #OrganizationTips #FamilyResources

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Moments That Matter is brought to you by Binkley Ross Family of Funeral Homes and by Melise's.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Welcome to the Moments That Matter from the Voyage Senior Living. I am your host, Melise Oakley. Today I'm back with a dear friend of mine, Stephanie Lawrence from Realty 618. And we're talking about something that can feel overwhelming for so many families. Decluttering a home. What do you do with everything? And how do you begin with it? It feels like it's so much. This isn't just about cleaning out a house because with the right plan, this process doesn't have to feel overwhelming. It can actually feel freeing. So welcome back, Stephanie. Thank you. Thank you for having me back. Again, we've talked about this many times of decluttering, downsizing, and what to do with everything. Right. So it's overwhelming. Like you go into a home and just see, like my mom just moved nine years ago, and I go in and all the things it's overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

All her pretties are there.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

It is, and it means something to her. And and and it's emotional and so forth. When somebody does walk into a home full of years or even decades of belongings, what's the first thing they usually feel?

SPEAKER_01 1:33

They don't want to let them go. Or where do I start? I don't want to give this away. I understand. Brian and I also have resources that, you know, we could talk about donating stuff. What's throw away? What's keep? What can we uh do whenever kids want anything, or our kids' kids, you know, grandchildren, do they want any pieces that meant something to them, you know? So I would start there, just sort of seeing extended family or friends if they want anything. And if not, then okay, let's try the next step. Whatever's left, let's have an estate sale, right? That's an option. That was beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

So my mother and father, they had an estate sale and they were alive. So it was really crazy because people were, they've had it publicized and so forth. And people were contacting me saying, Is your mom and dad okay? Like what? And at that time they were, it was wonderful because we went through 42 years of things. And there were things in there like old Bibles. I didn't know what to do with. I didn't know these people. I didn't want to get rid of it. Right. But I wanted someone to take it and and cherish it. But I didn't know those people. So that was my that was my uh takeaway. Takeaway. Like if I didn't personally know them, then I wasn't going, or if it did wasn't something immediately like, oh, I want to take this, then I was gonna put it in the estate sale. And we got to learn a lot, and it was very educational because there was things in there that I had never seen before. Yeah, you unearthed some drill gems, I'm sure. Yeah, you know what I mean? Absolutely. And learned stories. So it's about stories and not necessarily things. Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

So where does someone start with this? Well, like I said, um, you can always contact us or friends and family to see if anybody wants anything.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

And I would just take it one if whatever's left. Maybe one room at a time. Yes, you could do one room at a time if you want to. Yeah, however long it takes you. But yeah, I would just start uh going through things, pitching, purging, uh, what stays, what can you donate, goodwill, you know. Some people would love to have some of those items. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

And it goes to a good cause, too. There's all different kinds and and the resources going back to resources.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

And I think sometimes when um like clients have gone through stuff that they thought that they've needed, and as they've gone through, it's like, oh, I don't need that, you know, and it's um it is freeing. It's like, okay, I can live with this, you know, you're I half of what I have, I can live with this.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

So decluttering though, you have said stuff about when someone is showing a house. Yes. And decluttering.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Kind of go through that. Sure. In a buyer's mind, when you see a buyer coming in, they want to envision their items in the home. Okay. Right? This is where I want my couch and my bed. And if you have a home that is full in every corner, everything, sometimes that's all you can see when you walk in. You can't even see the room for what it really is. And when it's decluttered, it looks more open, more spacious, right? Ah, light and airy. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Different generations, we've talked about that too, because there are some generations that keep everything. That keep everything. And I love my mother, but she had some things like the first time I drew a straight line. A line.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Yeah. And I'm like, and it's great. And it's great. But we don't need to keep all that. We don't we have the memories of it. Seems like it goes in stages with different generations. Our grandparents, our parents, they kept things, right? Because there wasn't a whole lot of that people had.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Well, like my grandmother, she went through the Great Depression. So she would keep everything.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

A can. Everything. And nothing wrong with that. But it's as the generations are going along, I'm starting to see the trend of the minimalist, right? That's really big. Not much stuff. You and honestly, most buyers nowadays want their own furniture. Sometimes they want a piece of mom and dad's and stuff like that, but they don't want a whole house, right? So the the trends are different. Going into a home that's clean, you don't have to have necessarily everything out because you know, to sell a home, but just to have it picked up, a nice, good, clean, where people can envision their items in there, you'll get the most out of your investment.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Because you had even said, like with my mom's house, she has a lot of knickknacks. And you had said, well, maybe if she wants to start showing it, start packing stuff away. Totes.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Organizing it. Organizing it and totes. Absolutely. And if you can maybe put the stuff in a storage unit if you don't really know what to do with it right now. I I don't, you know, I don't know what to do with it right now. Okay, well, if that's a possibility, maybe getting a storage unit to get those items moved out to clear the home to get it up to sell. Because sometimes, Melise, these investments, your home is what's going to carry your your parents to the next size.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

That's right. So then you might need those proceeds to help mom with assistant living or second act of life.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Right. And that's the thing. It is a second act. It is. But we'd also talked about the difference between planning ahead versus waiting. Yes. And in a crisis situation.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Correct. What is your take on that? Well, I definitely think being prepared always, um, having that plan, having the paperwork, having the back end things in motion. Whether it's a will, getting up a setting up a trust, however, whatever that looks like, I think everybody needs to come together and get all of that sort of ironed out or a plan. Because what happens, Melise, is time marches on, right? Oh, we'll deal with it next year. Well, two years have passed. We're all getting older, and something happens. And when something happens, we go, we hyperfocus on the crisis, right? When the crisis happens, your mind starts to get a little clouded. You're making emotional, emotional, sometimes hasty decisions. Quick, quick. It's not, and it's not necessarily the best course of action. So at least if you have this guy in the background, okay, this is happening over here with mom or dad, right? But this is what we we're gonna go by this if something happens here. This is our plan going forward with the home and her items and things like that. So just always better to be prepared. It it'll pivot. You know, it's not gonna go like this. Real estate doesn't go like this. It goes this way, this way, this way. And we just pivot. We pivot, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:18

And if you have a plan, when you do get in that crisis situation, you're more prepared and having your resources and having the people in your court. For instance, I deal with people getting older all the time, and that's my wheelhouse. And when it comes to your own family, it's a whole nother ball of wax. Like, and you know, just getting your team, so having your real estate, having your estate sale, having your um plan, having your your uh attorney, because there could be financial decisions that you think you're doing right, and it could just be the wrong way. Right. And and everybody's mad, and everybody can get mad, emotions get high, and families you're upset with the situation, you're upset that your mother or your father is declining, and that's upsetting within itself. And then you have all this stuff, and then it's just more it just heightens it. So let's try to mitigate that.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Let's try to mitigate that on the onset. That way we have we kind of know what we're doing here, right? Everybody's on the bus here, and we all know.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

And it's never too early to prepare.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

No, friends you're always on me about right. And I need to, I need to do that. We need to do that because not everybody knows. You may have investments that that your family don't know about.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

But the other thing is also making money from what you you can with your estate sales, with um, because that's something, you know, like you said, I liked how you said we're living a lot longer than what we planned to, and people aren't financially maybe prepared for that. Right. Because we're living longer. At the Voyage Senior Living, we're a non-for-profit organization and we are able to help individuals that cannot necessarily afford um uh uh arrangements for assistant living. And so that's what I love about what I do. We may not be a good fit for them, they may not be able to be in our place, but I want to help people, and I think that's also with what you do. You do.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Uh real estate is not just transactions, right? I mean, I look back at some of the things when we started, and you look back after it's all said and done, it's closed. I look back and I'm thinking, oh my gosh. Wow. You know, look, look what that unfolded to. You don't you don't think that in the onset. You're thinking, okay, this, this, this, and oh, you know, you're just trying to get to the finish line, maybe. But man, you look back a year later and you're like, wow, that was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

It's transitioning into a different phase of people's lives. It is the second act. And it doesn't have to be, you know, like a bad thing. No. And especially if you're prepared. And that's what I love about what you and Brian do and how we've talked about how you've helped your clients, because it is overwhelming. I mean, just sitting here thinking about it, I'm overwhelmed, and I'm gonna probably be into a new house. And I just think about all that. And that's what I love about you all and what you do. It's not just a job for you, it's about helping people transition.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

It is, it is, and that's why we do it. That's exactly why we do it.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

So I come to you, Stephanie. Which you have. Yes, I have, and we've done this and we've started planting seeds, and my mother's saying, Well, not right now. And I said, No, you're not ready for it right now. Right. But then she falls or breaks a hip, or and then what do we do? You know? So, what kind of advice would you go for someone like me that sandwiched generation? So I'm taking care of my children, and then I'm also walking beside my mother and trying to make sure she makes the right decision financially. What kind of advice would you give?

SPEAKER_01 12:08

I would just say, you know, you like you, you've already planted the seed, which is great, right? Have us come over. Let's walk around the house, let's see what, you know, what you need to do. Yeah. Remember, I come over and I was talking about your mom's concrete. And I can't think I've I'm sitting there thinking, I can't believe I'm talking about this concrete. But I mean, there's little things that add value to the home that maybe the homeowner doesn't necessarily realize. It's like, this was done very well, it looks great, curbapill, all those things. So it's like, let us come in, let us see what you have. We'll give our opinion. It's just an opinion, just a guide. And then, okay, so we've done that. Looking to see what we potentially can get for mom's house in the event that they have to transition to a different and home.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

How we're going to sell it, if we're going to give it to, you know, all those different things. Yeah. And family member. Family member. And that's, you know, getting it written down on paper or having your your resources there. It's things like that. Like my mom and father, they plan, they have a they have a trust. Yeah. And think I'm so glad for that. Because then I don't have to worry about what like what that is a gift. If you can give your family the what you want, because you know as well as I do, you've had a family member that had a head injury at a very young age. Things change. Just because you're older, yes, it's a it's gonna happen. But these are things that we need to talk about, starting planting those seeds, telling people get the right people on your team. Exactly. Surround yourself with the right people, and you can accomplish anything. Absolutely. We're here to help in any way we can. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'm very passionate about this, and I appreciate you coming on. Thank you for joining us today on Moments That Matter from the Voyage Senior Living. A big thank you to Stephanie Lawrence with helping us break down something that so many people quietly struggle with. If you're starting to go through a home or just thinking about it, remember this: you don't have to do it all at once, and you don't have to do it alone. The key is having a plan. At the Voyage Senior Living, we're here to support you through every step of that journey. Join us next time on Moments That Matter.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Moments That Matter is brought to you by Binkley Ross Family of Funeral Homes. Locally owned and operated. Binkley Ross Funeral Home, Blue Funeral Home, Mitchell Hughes Funeral Home. Call 618-997-7771 or go to BinkleyRoss.com. And buy Belises, Tuxedos, menswear, custom embroidery, and apparel. Melises, the best little suit shop in town. Call 618-993-1800 or go to Melises.com.