Downsizing? Need Help Decluttering?

Where do you begin when you start to declutter your home? It’s both overwhelming and exasperating, but don’t get discouraged. Start slowly and remember that it took many years to accumulate all your “stuff,” so it will take time to dispense with it.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and in need of help, Shaker Library can help. Library staff invited Hilary Mason King and Jennifer Souers Chevraux to present a workshop on Decluttering and Downsizing at 10 am September 24 at Main Library. The dynamic duo can help you answer the age-old Shakesperean quandary: To Keep or Not to Keep.

Hilary Mason King, CEO of Creative Moves, LLC, is dedicated to helping seniors and others faced with the daunting and difficult tasks of a move. Her company specializes in sustainable rightsizing, relocation planning, and thriving-in-place services, which include preparation, sorting and disposing of possessions, scheduling and overseeing movers, unpacking and helping people settle into their new homes, home and estate clear-outs, and home sale preparation.

Hilary founded Creative Moves, LLC after helping family, friends, and clients who moved during difficult circumstances. Mindful of these experiences, she uses her professional experience to help people along every stage of their moves with confidentiality, compassion, and respect.

Jennifer Souers Chevraux has 25 years’ experience in the museum field, where she has served as curator, educator, exhibits director, development officer, board member, and executive director at a variety of cultural heritage institutions—from a children’s museum to a Presidential Library—managing collections from moon rocks to firearms, and prehistoric to fine arts.

In 2018, she founded her own curatorial consulting firm, Illumine Creative Solutions, LLC. Through her practice, Jennifer helps individuals, corporations, and organizations apply best practices as they grow and refine collections, reduce risk, prepare for the unexpected, and plan for a sustainable, intergenerational legacy.

During the September 24 workshop, Hilary will offer solutions for overcoming the challenges of organizing a move and dispensing with unwanted items sustainably. Jennifer will share tips on how to document the details that make an item special, helping to tell the stories tied to memories that will resonate with future generations. Library staff prepared a helpful booklist on the topic of decluttering and downsizing, which offers a number of titles that can spark organization and help you begin to declutter.