Swedish death cleaning may sound morbid but this decluttering trend aims to make life easier for your loved ones after you pass away.
The key idea behind dostadning – a Swedish hybrid word which translates as death cleaning – is that people sort through and reduce their belongings while they are alive rather than leaving a house full of stuff for their grieving relatives to deal with when they die.
Over their lifetime, many older people will have built up a large amount of possessions and may have an attic, garage or cellar groaning with things. Going through all these items after a family member dies can be an emotional, time-consuming and challenging process.
Death cleaning doesn’t just make life simpler for surviving relatives, it can also be a positive experience for the person doing the decluttering. They get to take control of what happens to their prized possessions and they may also benefit from the extra space they create in their home.
But how do you get started?
Self storage allows you to move items out of your home and create space so you can focus on a particular area or room. It is also a good option to keep pieces of furniture and other possessions safe while you work out exactly what you want to do with them. Andrew Porter Ltd’s Self Store offers a convenient, secure and affordable way of keeping your treasures safe for as long as you need.
If you have special items you intend to leave certain people in your will, give them as gifts while you are still alive. You will get the satisfaction of seeing their reaction and you will know for certain that they have gone to the right home.
If there are items that you don’t love, need or use – get rid of them. Start with things that you know your family will have no use for in the event of your death. Shred old paperwork which is no longer relevant, donate any good-quality used clothing, books and bric-a-brac to charity shops and sell anything you think may be worth money.
If you have things which have sentimental value to you but you know they will mean nothing to your family, put them into a box. Let your loved ones know that once you die, this box can be simply thrown away without anyone needing to sort through its contents. This is a perfect solution for love letters, diaries and photographs which you can’t bear to part with but are uncomfortable about relatives looking at.
