Conquering clutter
Harry Funk/South Hills Living
Jill Yesko speaks during her “Get Organized for Good” program at Peters Township Public Library.
Jill Yesko speaks during her “Get Organized for Good” program at Peters Township Public Library.
Harry Funk/South Hills Living
On the Discovering Organizing Inc. staff are, from left, Sandra Kutchman, Ceri Binotto, Ashley Earley, Jill Yesko, Nathan Yesko and Janice Blahut.
A full house takes tips from Jill Yesko at Peters Township Public Library.
Discovering Organizing project: garage before
Discover Organizing project: garage after
Discover Organizing project: basement before
Discover Organizing project: basement after
As they sort of say, one woman’s junk is another person’s treasure.
Professional organizer Jill Yesko likes to tell the story of an Upper St. Clair woman she was helping prepare to move. Amid all the furniture in the house were some vintage Hoosier cabinets, freestanding cupboards that also serve as workstations.
“Inside the Hoosier cabinets were these little drawers,” Yesko recalls. “And the woman said, ‘Jill, these are just these little stupid political pins. I don’t know why my husband collected them.’ She was just going to put them all into a white kitchen garbage bag and seal it up, and put them out for the trash.”
Yesko suggested doing her otherwise, and as you may have guessed:
“One pin sold for $16,000. Each one had different values, but they all sold. And they all sold individually.”
Apparently, a lot of folks still like Ike.
Of course, there’s a big “on the other hand” component to such tales and fabulous fortune, and Yesko also talks about that during the “Get Organized for Good” programs she conducts locally, including one to kick off the new year at Peters Township Public Library.
For example, owners of Hummel figurines have learned that the once-coveted porcelain pieces from Europe are likely to fetch only a few dollars apiece.
“It’s heartbreaking for us because people have spent generations collecting these things,” Yesko, a former Mt. Lebanon resident, explains.
As the founder of Discover Organizing Inc. in Scott Township, she joins with members of her staff in helping clients ascertain the best courses of action as they try to make their living spaces more, uh, livable.
“I like to clear space so that a car, you know, can actually go in a garage,” she says.
If you haven’t been able to park a vehicle in your garage this century, chances are that the challenge of making room for it seems to be way too formidable. But Yesko offers plenty of guidelines about how to be organized while organizing.
“One of the biggest tips I will give you is working left to right, top to bottom, in big spaces,” she explains, and another has a catchy acronym taken from a neighboring state: “OHIO: Only handle it once. Once you pick it up, you have to decide about it.”
At that point, the decision basically boils down to four possibilities: keep, toss, donate or, optimally, sell.
“This is one of the things that I will tell my clients, and my clients have told me: All that clutter used to be money,” Yesko says. “And it can be money again, or it can mean something for someone else.”
As the examples of the political pins and Hummel figurines show, monetary considerations depend on what buyers are willing to pay. And if they’re not willing to pay all that much for a treasured item, Yesko advises:
“Keep it because it clearly means more to you than the marketplace. Don’t get rid of it because you need quick cash.”
On the other hand, determining what actually qualifies as “treasured” goes a long way toward determining its fate.
“Ask yourself, what does this mean to me? Am I keeping it because I should? Am I keeping it because my mom gave it to me, and sometimes when she visits, she looks for it?” Yesko says. “Defining how often you use something really determines where it goes.”
So do storage considerations:
“The only reason you put something away is so that you can retrieve it again. Otherwise, don’t put it away. Just get rid of it.”
Perhaps the trickiest part of figuring out what gets sold, donated, kept or pitched is figuring out how to start tackling all that clutter in the first place.
“You always need a plan,” Yesko recommends, comparing the process to developing a work order for a contractor. “I want you to treat this like that. This is a serious investment of your time, and if you hire help, it’s an investment of your money.”
As such, prioritizing tasks is a primary consideration, and she suggests taking a look at where the accumulation of sundry items bothers you the most.
“We have to make room for the stuff that you’re deciding is not going to be in your active sleeping space or living space,” she says. “So, where do I go first? I go to a garage. I go to a bigger closet. I go to a basement.”
She recommends a variety of essential supplies, including felt markers, cardboard boxes, trash bags, cleaning materials and clear plastic bins: “If you can just have one or two, they really help for your ‘keep’ items, and they’re great sorting tools.”
Another suggestion is to tell friends of your intentions and have them check in to make sure you’re following through. Or better yet, have a kind soul lend you a hand.
“This is very important: If you have a large area to tackle, please don’t try it alone,” Yesko says. “Just make sure it’s a very nonjudgmental, loving friend who’s patient. One of the worst things you can do is have someone come over and say, ‘Get rid of it. Just get rid of this. You don’t need this.’ You want the person to say, ‘How do you feel about that? When was the last time you wore that? Did you feel good in it?'”
She stresses that everything does not to be accomplished in one fell swoop.
“If you set the timer and just chip away at this, you can do it,” she asserts. “Make it part of your day. Make it part of your life.”
That goes for trying to ensure that the clutter doesn’t start piling up again.
“It is so easy to not maintain. It’s just so easy to do it once and then, oh, look what a good job I did! But then life happens,” Yekso says, although she also acknowledges:
“That’s OK, because we’re all human, and it’s very hard to maintain.”