Angie Hyche 10/5/24 Angie Hyche 10/5/24

What to Do with Dead People's Stuff (Part 2)

Imagine this: a family gathers to divide their grandmother's estate. A beloved heirloom, a dining room table and chairs, becomes the center of a heated dispute. Such conflicts are not uncommon when dealing with the possessions of a loved one. This article offers practical advice on how to navigate these sensitive situations and ensure a fair distribution of belongings. In addition, you’ll find my recommendations for maximizing the value of a deceased person's belongings.

Angie Hyche 9/7/24 Angie Hyche 9/7/24

What to Do with Dead People's Stuff

In a world where possessions often define us, what happens to the things that belonged to someone who is no longer here? Are we obligated to keep them, or is there a more meaningful way to honor their memory? The question of what to do with a loved one's belongings can be a complex one, filled with both sentimentality and practicality.

In this final article in my series, Categories of Clutter, I’m focusing on items left behind by a loved one who has died. Deciding what to do with someone’s belongings after they die can be extremely difficult and emotionally charged. Since most of us will find ourselves in this situation at some point, my goal in this article is to equip you with the tools you’ll need.

Angie Hyche 7/6/24 Angie Hyche 7/6/24

Letting Go of the Past and the Maybe: Conquering Identity and Aspirational Clutter

This article addresses two related categories of clutter—identity clutter and aspirational clutter. Both types are associated with how we think of ourselves, either in the past or in the future. Whether it’s old trophies stored in a box in the attic, a treadmill serving as a clothes rack, or camping gear for someone who’s never actually gone camping, these items are a source of clutter. Read on to find out how to conquer these common clutter categories.

Angie Hyche 5/4/24 Angie Hyche 5/4/24

Practical Clutter: How Much is Too Much?

I define practical clutter as objects that are useful in and of themselves, but we simply have more than we need. There is a huge variety of items that could be considered practical clutter: t-shirts, cooking utensils, toiletries, tools, shoes, and more. It’s not that we don’t need items like these. The problem is that we have an overabundance or that we have items that don’t suit us anymore. If we keep holding onto items that don’t bring value to our lives, we end up with clutter. In this article you’ll find some of my favorite organizing principles to help determine whether a particular item is clutter and to determine how much is enough.

Angie Hyche 4/6/24 Angie Hyche 4/6/24

Categories of Physical Clutter

When we think about clutter, we often think of it in terms of one giant, oppressive mass. Seen in this light, it’s no wonder we often feel overwhelmed by it! But have you ever stopped to think about clutter in terms of different categories? Ever wondered which types are most problematic for you? This first article in a series will begin a discussion of the many categories of physical clutter.

Angie Hyche 3/4/24 Angie Hyche 3/4/24

Taming the Medicine Cabinet: Organizing Your Medical Supplies

When it comes to medication and medical supplies, the potential consequences of disorganization can be problematic at best and critical at worst. By following the recommendations in this article for organizing your medical supplies, hopefully you can difficult medical situations in the future.

Angie Hyche 2/3/24 Angie Hyche 2/3/24

Break Up with Clutter and Regain Your Freedom

Whether or not we realize it, all of us have a relationship with our belongings. If your home is filled with clutter, that relationship is likely not a healthy one. Perhaps you’ve made attempts to change, but you’ve not had the success you desire. Writing a breakup letter to clutter might be exactly what you need! This blog post contains a Taylor Swift inspired breakup letter to clutter. Use it as an example to write one of your own, and tell clutter goodbye once and for all.

Angie Hyche 5/7/23 Angie Hyche 5/7/23

Give Sentimental Items a New Life

When decluttering, sentimental items present the biggest challenge. Letting go of an item with associated memories can be especially difficult.

My friend Brenda Tringali, a fellow Certified Professional Organizer® and owner of At Your Fingertips Organizing, tells a powerful story of working through her emotions to give her mother’s purse a second life. You’ll find inspiration as you make tough decisions about special belongings!

Angie Hyche 9/4/22 Angie Hyche 9/4/22

Organizing Your Spices

I’m often asked, “What’s the best way to organize ____?” There is rarely one solution that works perfectly for everyone. Nowhere do I find this to be more true than when organizing spices. Whether for myself or my clients, I’ve arranged spices at least ten different ways! There’s no such thing as “one size fits all”.

When deciding the best way to organize spices, there are two main decisions you need to make. Those two decisions will lead you to very different organizing solutions. Check out the options in this article.

Angie Hyche 8/7/22 Angie Hyche 8/7/22

What’s in your On-Deck Circle?

Everyone needs a space for items that are in transition from your home to someplace else. Examples of items that might be included include a book to return to the library, a store purchase needing to be exchanged, or an umbrella usually kept in the car. What’s the best place to put things like these? And what should you call this space?

Angie Hyche 3/6/22 Angie Hyche 3/6/22

Don’t Let Your Crafts Become Clutter

Those of us who love crafting know that it requires LOTS of supplies. Without careful planning, crafts can be a source of clutter! My latest newspaper article gives practical tips for preventing craft clutter.

One of my best opening lines ever may whet your appetite to read this one—"In a moment of temporary insanity in 2017, I purchased a stack of wooden crates filled with vintage 1986 Tennessee Homecoming Centennial Coke bottles."

Angie Hyche 2/6/22 Angie Hyche 2/6/22

Chaotic Closet No More

The winner of the Chaotic Closet Contest received a fantastic prize—a custom closet renovation by A Place for Everything Closets and free decluttering and organizing. Take a look at this transformation!

Angie Hyche 8/3/20 Angie Hyche 8/3/20

How Scary is your Basement?

Basements have been frequently utilized as locations for scary scenes in movies. In Silence of the Lambs, the basement is a holding place for kidnapped victims. Who can forget the scene in Signs when an alien hand reaches through the coal chute to grab an unsuspecting child? More recently, in A Quiet Place, the basement used to muffle the sounds of the family’s newborn baby eventually becomes the setting for battles with aliens. We’ve become so accustomed to scary basements that as viewers, when a character opens the door to the basement, we yell, “Don’t go down there!”

Angie Hyche 2/4/20 Angie Hyche 2/4/20

Organizing Your Media

In my work as an organizer, I regularly help clients make decisions about their belongings. One category of belongings that we regularly encounter is media. By media, I am referring to music, movies, “home movies”, and books. How do you decide what media you need to keep and which ones to let go? How do you best organize and store media that you keep? What should you do with media in outdated formats? This article will address all of these questions.

Angie Hyche 10/12/19 Angie Hyche 10/12/19

The Declutterer Declutters: What I Learned from my Downsize

Angie Hyche 9/17/19 Angie Hyche 9/17/19

Process Your Paper to Prevent Piles

Now that most communication occurs digitally, you would think paper disorganization would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In my experience, almost every person who struggles with organization of any type also struggles with keeping papers in order. It’s not unusual to find piles of paper throughout the home as well as multiple containers of paper when I visit a client. Without a good system for organizing and maintaining paper, there is little hope of change. The system of paper organization I have used for many years and have helped clients establish is extremely effective. This article gives step by step instructions for implementing this system.

Angie Hyche 8/6/19 Angie Hyche 8/6/19

A Recipe for Organizing Your Recipes

Angie Hyche 7/16/19 Angie Hyche 7/16/19

Organizing Your Car

Most of us spend so much time in our car that it can sometimes seem like a second home! AAA’s most recent American Driving Survey* found that during 2016 and 2017, on average, drivers spent 51 minutes driving approximately 31.5 miles each day, making an average of 2.2 driving trips. That’s a lot of car time! In the summer, this is even more true. Summer vacations and long car rides go hand in hand, not to mention trips back and forth to camp, the pool, picnics, and family reunions. Since we spend so much time in our cars, it only makes sense that we would want to keep them neat and organized!

Angie Hyche 5/7/19 Angie Hyche 5/7/19

How Messy is Your Desk?

I’ve been thinking about all of the different types of desks I have used throughout my life and how much desks have evolved in general. Remember those early desks with a cavity in the side for storage, a built in chair, and a wooden writing surface with a groove for your pencil? While it’s true that desks have changed drastically over the years, they are still an essential part of a functional office space. Whether or not your desk is organized can have a huge bearing on how effectively you work. The true measure of an organized desk isn’t just how it looks, but whether or not it is functional for you. Can you find what you need quickly? Do you have adequate space on which to work?

Angie Hyche 4/9/19 Angie Hyche 4/9/19

Spring Cleaning: What Do I Do with This?

Have you felt the urge to do some spring cleaning?

If you do a thorough job of decluttering, you’ll likely end up with a whole lot of things you don’t need. For most of these items, deciding what to do with them is relatively easy. Those that aren’t worthy of donating may need to be just thrown into the trash or recycling container. Of the items that are in good enough shape to donate, the majority can be taken to the local donation center of your choice. But there are quite a few items that are a little more problematic. You may not be able to simply drop these special items into the trash can or the recycling container. They may require some sort of preparation to properly dispose of them. Some items may not be accepted at donation centers for various reasons. This article provides pointers for these special cases. This list is by no means exhaustive. I couldn’t include every special case or every Tri-Cities location, but this will at least give you some options.

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