In the spring of 2023 we streamed The Gentle Art of Death Cleaning. An organizer, a designer, and a psychologist from Sweden travel to Kansas City to help eight people declutter and prepare for death. Very entertaining and very moving.
For several weeks I have been thinking about ridding myself of tools, workbench, files, items in the closet, and, of course, books. Things I never touch any more. We have trimmed down a lot over the years. We don’t rent storage space and have very little in our closets. At the same time the thought of having family or friends be stuck with cleaning out our space when we die — no way!
Then a couple days ago I remembered the series and decided to move ahead with the things I know need to be done. I plan to use the guidelines from Swedish author Margareta Magnusson’s book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter. They go like this:
Step 1 Let your loved ones know
Step 2 Start with less personal things
Step 3 Give possessions away gradually
Step 4 Keep momentos for yourself
Step 5 Donate and sell the rest
Step 6 Make a list of important documents and passwords
Step 7 Live with less
Let’s say we start here:
and want to get here:
The above is not my reality. And you have your reality. For me starting is a big deal.
Shoes, clamps, shirts, skirts, hats, and pieces of wood that have been in a box for a decade. Take a look in your bathroom closets or shelves. Clippers, band-aids, special ointments, tweezers, your shelves will be uniquely yours. Funny and amazing the things that we hold onto for years.
I once took a car trunk load of tennis trophies to the dump in Sarasota. Tossed them. Tossed myself into the dump! God, I am glad that those trophies are not a part of my current project. O yeah, I have a baseball in the closet that I picked up on the ball diamond where I played little league — remember The Catcher tale? Special. Will my children want it?
I plan to begin my death cleaning next next, I think I will plan on doing this painful work for two hours a week. I will start on the deck, move to the closet, onto the file cabinet, next to bathroom closets and shelves, and finally to the book shelves. The kitchen will not be overlooked. Cinny and I have done some good work on Step 6. That is very helpful. I plan to be done by this years Memorial Day or my personal memorial day — whichever comes first.
It might be fun to take some before and after photos as a way to report back to you and myself. Finally, here is another resource on Death Cleaning:
https://www.bhg.com/decorating/storage/organization-basics/swedish-death-cleaning-tips/