Red Means No Green Means Go

By: fran | Tags: | Comments: 0

Red Means NO and Green Means GO

When downsizing into a smaller living space you must decide what to keep, what to give away and what to throw away. One strategy that I often employ with clients is a color-coding system. This process gives you a wonderful visual as you look around your current space as to the things that are coming and going.

Using color-coded post it notes helps you to see clearly just what furniture is going and what can not go.

• Begin with green post-its for Go — which of course means you are taking it
•  Use red post-it notes to indicate No — the item is not going.

As you walk through each room with these post-its you will begin to sense a “rightness”  about things and a willingness to let go knowing it’s okay. It also allows you the chance to say goodbye to the stuff ahead of time, better preparing you for the joy you will feel when your new space is settled. You will be surprised at how uncluttered and open it will be. You are beginning a new chapter on your journey .  Looking forward, not behind, creates a feeling of adventure, not dread, towards this transition.

Once you see what fits into your floor plan and also see what is definitely going, you can look over the items with the red post-it notes and make the next decision. Get three other color notes (yellow, orange, blue for example), and add a post-it to the red items, assigning each color to either:

What can I pass on to my family?  (Write the family member name on the post-it)

What can I sell?

What can I give to charity?

The fun begins as you see a plan forming that this move can be manageable one step at a time.

One client, Pauline, really enjoyed the color code system.  When I came on my third visit she was proud to show me all the post-its she had placed on all kinds of items.  She even chose a color for each family member. She had then items marked to whom she was going to pass on her family treasures that she couldn’t fit into her new place.    Her attitude was positive and lighthearted about it all. Yours can be too!