Do you want to see more of Lauren's journey?! I would love to help her make her dream of opening a store a reality. Let me know if you would like to see a video of Lauren organizing, decorating and opening up her very own store!!
Hope there's more follow up that we get to witness! This one has inspired me to get into the room over my garage that is supposed to be my work/creative space as well as some storage, but has simply become a dumping ground (and looks a lot like your garage with piles up to my eyeballs)!
I’m only halfway through the video, but my favourite line so far is “Is this a bigger dream building project, or a distraction from the bigger dream project?” Such a good way to think about all those unfinished projects and hobby supplies!
My mother passed away in 2018, father in 2022. I spent all of 2023 clearing and cleaning out their house. Might say with some help from my brother. Nothing from the sister and major help from a dear friend and her husband. It was overwhelming to the point of freezing. I found the sentimental aspect polarising. There was 5 decades of 'stuff' plus a lot of my grandparents treasures and ... get this ... items from 1955 to 1970 stored as I can't let go of stuff. The EMT's called social services just as father was in his passing stages (dementia and cancer) as unsafe. He was in hospital and then end stage care, never returned home. I implemented Cassie's strategies to get it done. My brother is autistic and couldn't cope. He pushed through what he could and did his best. watching this brought it all back. I am so proud of what Lauren has done for herself and her family. Brought me to happy tears. From the other end of the world in Tasmania..... HIGH FIVE and mega HUGS.
that is rough to lose family so close together... glad you got some help w that. its why its so important that before you get too far gone to downsize things.. give things you want your family to have before that... or min have notes on things. our oma never admitted she had Alzheimer's but we suspected it. she gave her stuff when she moved in w her new husband.. so we had good memories w her stuff rather then trying to deal w it w the new husband.. who was abusive. we have been downsizing for yrs... and when we moved... did it more via minimalism.
I’m going thru this exact thing now. My mom passed this April. They’d lived 30 years in same home and mom was a hoarder. Been going through over 50 years of stuff she’d hoarded including all papers and 7 storage units. Been a year now finally about to sell house. But now I’ve got the stuff I’ve brought to our house to deal with. So much old and emotional stuff!!
@@jenscouponacct5048 I heart you, seriously the most difficult thing I have ever done. I always knew my Mum was a sentimental hoarder. As she got older she became a full fledged every reason hoarder. Dad wasn't much bettter. The paperwork was crazy. I sold at a market thousands of cat ornaments. We had to clear out the house to put it on the market. They had a reverse mortgage. We had 5 months to sell the house to pay that off. Really it was asking the question does any family member want the item, does it add value to my life if I keep it. My brother just wanted to walk away or hire someone to throw everything out. I felt out of respect for someone who had a need to make it available. We did the classic donate pile, the throw out went straight out in boxes and bags ready to take to the refuse centre. One room at a time and cleaned our hearts out. The best thing you can do if you want to keep something is ask yourself if it has room in your home and if you do how will you honour that. We donate a lot or sold items for a low value to get it to someone who wanted it. I still have a quarter of my garage filled with items that I can now move on. Most of it belonged to my grandparents. It has taken all of this year to recover from last year. I wish you an ease filled process.
@@minimaladjacent I have always been a minimalist ...with a teeny bit of time with too much stuff. However, dealing with my parents clutter and horrific waste. Threw out the equivalant of $7000 of vitamins that were autoshipped. The process has left me with this, I do not want my children to go through what I did clearing out their possessions and closing down their lives. Not on my watch. That said I still have a bit of work to do to clear out mine, my grandparents and parents items 20 boxes to fit into my tiny home. I can feel the relief and peace coming. btw my father was the abusive one, was very hard to revist it all.
I watched this video twice! Second time I took notes...and then went to my garage and followed my "gut instinct." I did it for 1 hour and filled a whole recycle bin and the whole back seat of my car with donations. I defiantly get into the trap of "justifying" EVERYTHING and end of never getting rid of anything! It was so freeing to look at my "stuff from just my first instinct. My condo in CA is small and my garage is just a single car garage. I have used it as a storage shed for the eight years I have lived here. I have NEVER had any luck decluttering it! Wish I could teleport you here so you could get me though this! Thanks for the great strategy I'll let you know how it turns out!
There needs to be a service called Rent A Friend or something. If I had a van I could live out of, I'd volunteer to help for a few weeks or something. Projects like this I feel are far less daunting and go by quicker if you have someone helping who literally has nothing else to do. Someone like me who's not married yet or has kids would be perfect for the job. 🎉
It would also be easier to take help from someone you're not close to already, because sometimes it feels like well meaning friends are kind of shocked at the nitty gritty mess and might be judging you even when they say they want to help.
@katia.luna213 I've been living as a minimalist, or a minimalist in training for a few years. And I wish I could help everyone declutter. The freedom is amazing!
"I want you to embrace good enough", that sentence really got to me. I keep seeing the imperfections and obsessing over them and that stops me from moving on. That was an amazing transformation!
Perfectionism has always been a huge issue for me as well, and I also have ADHD, with a huge tendency toward perfectionism. All the overthinking and over analyzing leads to procrastination, which in turn leads to feelings of not being very good at things. Viscious cycle & hard to break.
EXACTLY! me too! Nothing gets done because the need for it to look perfect stops it. Piles pile up and get put in prettier boxes to look better but room is running out.
I am SO HAPPY for Lauren! I grew up in a house that had up-to-your-eyeballs piles in every room and most of the backyard, with one thin path through the room that you had to be careful not to bump your arm or hip on, or it would all come down on you. When I moved out, my mother kept shuttling more and more to my house and kept buying more and more for her full house. I had to work through so much guilt of letting stuff go, and while I've let go two garages full of stuff, a storage unit of stuff, and recently, two hauls of 20-30 boxes each... I feel like I'm finally reaching the point where I need to do one more big declutter (with a lot of emotional stuff that I've been holding off on going through, and GOOD GOD, 3000+ BOOKS), and I'll finally enter maintenance mode. I am so proud of myself, I'm healing, and I feel like I'm reaching a point where anxious, ADHD me can breathe a little easier. So I can totally understand the relief that was EMANATING from Lauren in this video, more and more with each declutter check-in! Also, her dream is AWESOME, and I also want to have a little building to have a home business of all-things-fall: homegrown pumpkins and apples, homemade apple pies/donuts/pumpkin donuts, cider, music, and poetry. Someday! And all of our decluttering is getting Lauren and me closer to those dreams! AMAZING work, Lauren and Cas! And a P.S. for Cas, that turtle is okay, and where we live, we also have to watch out for wildlife, but the wildlife is predominantly an overpopulation of very sweet, very trusting, should-be-a-lot-more-afraid-of-cars-than-they-are cats. lol. See you next time!
Well done! Your comment on guilt reminded me of something that Jon Delony, author and Ramsey Solutions personality says…”Choose guilt over resentment.” Better to feel guilty over decluttering some items that your mom gave you rather than resenting your mom. Blessings to you! 💕
@@kristinradams7109 Thank you so much! I'm definitely feeling peace that I never felt before in my life (I'm 36). I can just imagine how good it's going to feel when I reach maintenance mode!
I am so proud of Lauren I seriously feel like crying! And yes, she did this for her household, butSHE DID IT FOR HER HUSBAND!!! That's love at its finest 😍
I’ve never clicked so fast, I love decluttering videos, especially because it gets me motivated to declutter myself. I would love to see Lauren setting up her store
This reminds me of my dad’s shed. It was so full of 50+ years of crap you could t get in. I have fibromyalgia and ADD. So scattered with no energy. I found a “junker” man. Bartered his services. He pulled everything out of the shed & I told him “keep or take”. It took him 3 days and he was able to haul away so much stuff to resell or sell for scrap. He did all of the work and we did t have to payout any labor. Win win for both of us.
Lauren, congratulations! You should be very proud of yourself, not only for your spectacular decluttering achievement, but for demonstrating that even with ADHD, you can do anything you put your mind and effort to.
Lauren should be so proud of herself! She IS a finisher, this was a huge undertaking and she did it! There is nothing she can’t do, after such an accomplishment. Bravo Lauren and thanks for your generosity in coaching her Cas!
I love this format so much. Being able to watch someone in real time go through the mental processes and learn how to declutter more intuitively is so helpful and validating as someone who also overthinks when decluttering my space
I think this is the most impressive transformation you've been involved in, because it was SO overwhelming and, though she had your encouragement and guidance, she did it all by herself! Makes it seem possible for me to tackle some of my "impossible" projects!
"Don't look at the mountain. Look down at your feet and take one step at a time." There's my Post-It Note Quotable for the day! What a TRANSFORMATION! Having ADHD adds a layer of having to overcome years of self-doubt and judgement for "not finishing" etc. All Lauren needed was to be shown how by someone who understands and has experience with the same kind of organization problems. Cas, you have Show How! 🙂
I would love to see Lauren’s house or shop come next. Whatever she needs first. I would think finishing the house would be a priority but maybe it needs a lot of work (plumbing, electrical, structural) that needs lots of money and availability of trades. The shop may be easier if it is structural sound and has electrical. She has done an amazing job and really took your advice to heart. I loved watching this transformation and her confidence blossomed.
Cas, I love the part when Lauren was talking about keeping a plate because of the memories and when she decided not to keep it. You talked about how when we associate items with memories. Because we have memories with that item, the memory convinces us into keeping the item. It something I constantly struggle with when it comes to decluttering. You should make a video on sentimental item decluttering.
Yes, I'd love to watch more of Lauren. I also enjoyed what you said about not looking at the mountain and doing it all one step at a time. THANK YOU!!!
ADHDer over here as well- 'whenever we are doing something that sucks, we have to do something that is fun"- currently watching this while I'm binding books for work!
Cass, I like your straight-shooting, no nonsense approach to helping people declutter. That honesty and no coddling directness is exactly what gets results!
I love the part of this where she talks about "the story of the item." I recently got rid of a large dresser which had been used as a kitchen island, but was not serving me well as it was a bit too large for the space and the knows were gone. But, it was the very first piece I purchased as a wife, 20 years and four houses ago.
I LOVE this video!!! "Look at your feet, not the mountain"- so good. Go Lauren!🎉 Cas is such a good coach! Way to encourage all of us to go and accomplish our dreams❤
Girl I need you to work your magic with me!! I picked up my dad’s bad habit of hanging on to EVERYTHING and it drives my poor husband insane lol I’m 31 and I’m learning more about my ADD now than I have throughout my entire life. I feel so seen when I’m watching your videos. Thank you for making me feel less alone ❤️
I do not have ADHD and I'm still not a finisher so I just feel lazy. Sometimes I'm not even a starter. I only have two places to declutter and organize (garage and office/craft room) so it should be easy. I also know I don't want to leave those places for my kids because it's time to think about that since I'm 77. Cas, I love these kinds of videos from you. I must be more of a doer. My garage is not as cluttered as Lauren's, but if she can do that I can certainly dig my heels in. Thank you Lauren and Cas.
I LOVE your videos because I walk away feeling inspired instead of hopeful-but-fearing-the-self-shame when life happens and I can’t follow the steps put out for a brain that doesn’t function like mine. When I watch your videos I feel like I’ve been in a foreign country and suddenly hear someone speaking my native language, and it just makes me happy and inspired to actually get something done and be able to prove to all the people who told me I was just scatterbrained and never finished anything that there isn’t something wrong with me- it’s not just a lack of self-discipline - they just didn’t speak/understand my language. You do❤
SO PROUD OF YOU. That was overwhelming. I am overwhelmed with my project. Good tip: photos to show you ARE making progress. The Weekly accountability is huge. Super impressed she kept going without having your "Coach" physically keeping you on task.
Cass, I hope you've gone to the dermatologist/plastic surgeon about the skin cancer on your nose by now. I was just watching a video from 2 months ago with you discussing it. I don't want it to get bigger & become more of a threat to you! You're an absolute gem, I wish you the best!
@@lgraps Thanks for letting me know! I was worried because my aunt waited and it was way worse and she had a large chunk of her thigh removed as a result.
Thank you for the inspiration. 15 weeks pregnant with my 5th baby and the others being 17y, 5y, 4y and 2yrs old. The pregnancy fatigue is real! This has been my toughest pregnancy, we're in a new house to us that we are sharing with my bro in law and his wife +1 yr old baby and their stuff. I need to make my garage into a work space (call center) but we have so many boxes that havent yet been unpacked 😮💨 just the thought of it leaves me breathless 😅
I am over the moon happy for Lauren and all the work she did. I loved the time lapse you did. Showing us a week at a time gave me a bunch of encouragement. It is so true you get overwhelmed looking at all your stuff that it paralyzes you. Seen it broken down by the week gives all sorts of hope.!!! Thank you Cas! Now onto the rooms that I have been procrastinating on. One of them includes my daughters room who passed away. The emotional feelings, being stuck - it paralyzes me. It’s the hardest.
Congratulations, Lauren! It looks amazing! I'm so happy for you! So cool that you overcame the stereotype of ADHDers don't finish things. I feel your pain & have had the same bad self talk. Enjoy your beautiful space!
I love how Lauren transformed her garage for her husband and family! She did a fantastic job along side of Cass. I hope we can see the shop transformation too!!
This is one of the best before and after projects I’ve seen. Lauren you did an awesome job. This was a tremendous amount of work and I know you did a lot of it by yourself. The organization you did was well worth it in my opinion as it will help ensure that things get put back in their place. This is probably over the top but when I organize I want to be able to go in a room blindfolded and find things bc there’re in their “home.”
Love Love Loved this!! You were both very inspiring! Great job Lauren! Thank you for sharing!! For years my storage room has looked like that (maybe not that bad), and I've desperately NEEDED to face it! I KNOW I would be so much happier if I didn't have "that room" hanging over my head. Grew up very conservative, with no "extras" and I believe that has led me to not want to get rid of anything as an adult. We have a decent size home and have always had the room to store, store, store. UNTIL NOW, busting at the seams, closets, cabinets, drawers, office, and that dreadful storage room 🙃. I love your personality and can't SO relate to all your advice! Great minds think alike!! I just need to figure out how "TO DO" 😆. Keep up the awesome, inspiring videos Cass! God's blessings to you from MN.
In overwhelming spaces, it is much easier for me to do one small thing a day and then forget it. That way it doesn't become a frustration. Everytime another area is done, is an accomplishment.
Yes we all want to be here for Lauren🎉 This is the story we need right now! I’m committing to body double with these videos to rehab my own mess of garage I want to take back. ❤ I’m here for it!!
What a great video!!! The Before & After was amazing. When you were talking about the baby bunnies, That's exactly what I had to deal with today. I was driving down the road stopped because baby bunnies. Were running back-and-forth on our road having all kinds of fun.❤ They were so cute. They're little white tails. When you were talking about the turtle.Three weeks ago my yard was getting mowed and all of a sudden my youngest her fiance Yells out, look what I found. A turtle.!! It was huge, My oldest took the turtle down the road to where there was some water. We haven't had a turtle in our yard for so many, many years. So I thought it was funny watching your video today. You talking about 2 animals that we've had to deal with just recently.
Cass - you are my fun go-to when I have a tedious chore to complete. 🥰 So happy for Lauren - she did a tremendous job! Something about this episode spoke to me on a deeper level due to having moved house/ADHD, and like Lauren I am also a dreamer (and collector, lol.) I appreciate that you are very much "like us" and have such wonderful insight to help us tackle what feels insurmountable. Lots of great tips I am going to implement during my own decluttering journey. Also, just a gentle FYI for anyone who may encounter a turtle on a roadway. You can help them by moving them in the direction they are traveling to. They are steadfast in getting to their destination and will ultimately attempt to make their way across the road again...which must feel like an eternity for a turtle.😅 ☮️💜
I have been looking for a video for the past few days to help motivate me to tackle the garage. Most try dragging everything out at once, but I needed something that showed a little at a time. This was perfect.
I had to stop my car for baby ducks once 💜 Mama duck was leading them across the road, but some got lost from the trail, and were waddling in a circle instead - they were adorable!
I grew up in the coastal plains Texas boonies, and my favorite travel delay was the frequent covies of bobwhite quail crossing the road. Momma-quail would be in the lead with her fully fledged micro-mini carbon copy chickletts following single file. It was one of the most delightful reasons to pause, regardless of how much of a hurry we might have been in to get into town. Watching Attwater's Prairie Chickens "booming" in our front yard was another incredible treat. We would also have flocks of hundreds of snow geese stop and rest near our pond during migration. ❤ Enjoy nature whenever and wherever you can! Sadly, where I grew up, the bobwhite quail have been exterpated by housing development and land clearing, and the Attwater's Prairie Chickens are quickly nearing extinction in spite of decades of intervention to restore the population. 😥
Kudos to Lauren for being so exposed. That takes a lot to show a space that is overwhelming for others to see. Also, this was so helpful!! I have a similar project I want to tackle this weekend and now I feel like I have good tools to do it!! Great job Lauren!!
sheets can be used to block frost on garden beds. we use our old ones that aren't good enough to donate. looks like the cats claimed them, cats things now. part of our garage is for our barn cats. hammocks and chairs for sleeping, tons of toys.
I love this! Lauren did such a great job!!! While listening/watching I started tackling my bedroom. I need to figure out a system for my bedroom walk-in closet. I have attempted to clean and declutter it SO many times but it’s the space in the house that becomes the dumping zone for things that don’t have a home. Problem is, everything goes in there to die. Currently it can’t be classified as a “walk-in” closet, it’s more of a one step in the door and reach for what you need!! Between your videos and Dawn from The Minimal Mom, I WILL get this house in order! I’ve begun using your 5-minute per room cleaning routine so I’m spending less time stressing about cleaning and more time decluttering! Thank you for all the hard work you put into your videos! They are making a difference for SO many people!
You can do it! Remember, everything needs a home and only what can fit in that space can stay. So if random things are accumulating in your wardrobe, are they homeless things that need a home? Or do you need a system for getting things out of your home, like a donation box? Food for thought 😊
I feel like I've been stuck for years and watching just two videos from your collection has empowered me to tackle these cluttering obstacles I have been putting off. Your channel is amazing!
Lauren, Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing your journey of decluttering. Cass you did an awesome job coaching Lauren on and keeping her focused. Excellent video!
Lauren’s garage is making me think of our basement of doom after just moving into our new house (rental) and things that either we didn’t know where to put or what to do with or didn’t belong on the main floor went to the basement…. So it’s going to be quite the project but every time we empty a box or go through stuff we are doing a great job at giving things away!
That "stupid little project" getting in the way of the bigger meaningful one stuck with me. I've got a story like that: I was helping a friend renovate his studio. Got to renovate a coffee table for him as a side little project when I could/should've been helping him more with the place itself (he did want to do it on his own though😅). Hurt my hand with the table, couldn't do a thing for almost 6 weeks and he stalled because it turns out he really needs help and is not great at manual work. So am back to helping him now with a deadline do he(we) don't fall off the wagon. So 🤞🤞💖. Thanks for the inspiration 😊
Oh, wow, this is SO encouraging. I have a building that my dad built for me several years ago (he passed away last fall) and it has gotten crammed with STUFF (everything that we want out of the house but don't know what to do with, old projects, former businesses, all.the.craft.stuff, Christmas decor, etc., etc.) I want to clear it out so that I can make a "tiny space" for my mom to stay when she comes to visit. This video makes that dream seem like a possibility. I'll be re-watching for your tips!
Found my new mantra, "that's a stupid little thing."...also the Focus on your big dream projects part was good too but I really need to just call the BS out when I get derailed and anxious and overwhelmed 😊😊😊
Amazing transformation! I am so inspired! I told my husband "i don't care what needs to get done in our house, i want to plow through our garage this weekend!". Seriously, i keep trying to declutter our house. Stuff gets thrown out, stuff gets donated, but also stuff gets thrown in boxes and put in the garage to deal with later 😝 i keep telling myself i cant tackle it til our house is in order. Nope. Not anymore....i hope i make huge amounts if progress this weekend! Even small amounts will be good though 😁. Thanks again for all the great tips and motivation!
Cass , you inspire me so much with these videos! As I was watching it during lunch at work, I was dusting my office. I finished watching the video at home and started organizing a spice drawer. A small project at a time. Also, every time I stand up for bathroom break etc., I pick something up and put it away. I love you so much!!! 🌷
CASS.... QUESTION - Would it be possible on these types of videos (ie, split screen watching the person declutter) for you to be in a small square in upper right hand corner? That way we can focus on the actual space being decluttered, yet still see you. I was having a difficult time seeing the full effect of her area. Thanks! EDIT: Lol... now she is on full screen, and I can see the space....Yea! Also, I really like when people verbalize what they are thinking as they declutter (thought process behind what gets tossed & why).
Cass. I desperately needed to see this process to get to the transformation! I have a similiar packed garage situation. 2 yrs ago, my water heater flooded my house and every thing had to get boxed up and moved into my 2 car garage while demo/repair was done. It took almost 4 months living in a hotel for us to get back into our house 😮 I still have not went through all the boxes and bins of stuff. In fact, I need to find my bedroom tv, my living room lamps, my jewerly box and more. We have been living without these items and needing them. This gives me hope and inspires me to work the same processes to tackle my garage. I am also extremely ADHD!
Lauren has inspired me to get into our garage. We took everything from a storage shed that was costing us money and put it into our garage 6 months ago and it's packed to the rafters. In 3 weeks we have kerbside collection and I want to go through it all and dump what I don't want so I can have my garage back. Also, Canada and Australia are so alike. We too constantly stop for animals. Enjoy our week!
Well done, Lauren, you’re awesome! Very inspiring. Last week I went out on the open highway, rounded a corner in the dark and a koala was walking calmly across the road just about to cross the centre line into my lane. Yikes. Missed it by about 1m. So glad.
Do you want to see more of Lauren's journey?! I would love to help her make her dream of opening a store a reality. Let me know if you would like to see a video of Lauren organizing, decorating and opening up her very own store!!
Yes!!!!
Totally! ❤
Yes! ❤❤❤
Yes, please!!!
I absolutely would love to see a follow up video
❤❤❤❤
My dream became a reality! THANK YOU, Cas, Emily, and all the amazing subscribers for the SUPPORT!
Lauren, how many weeks from start to finish?
Lauren, you did an amazing job! It seemed like such a daunting project but you did it and did it well. I hope Cas has you back on the channel.
Hope there's more follow up that we get to witness! This one has inspired me to get into the room over my garage that is supposed to be my work/creative space as well as some storage, but has simply become a dumping ground (and looks a lot like your garage with piles up to my eyeballs)!
Great job!!
You did an AWESOME JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🙌🙌🙌💪💪💪💪 It looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
I’m only halfway through the video, but my favourite line so far is “Is this a bigger dream building project, or a distraction from the bigger dream project?” Such a good way to think about all those unfinished projects and hobby supplies!
I love all the random kitties and chickens visiting Lauren the whole time she decluttered 😅
me too!
I was just up to watching Day 1 and immediately saw the Cat Supervisor on deck! 😆 Love it. Never lonely decluttering with a feline overlord.
My mother passed away in 2018, father in 2022. I spent all of 2023 clearing and cleaning out their house. Might say with some help from my brother. Nothing from the sister and major help from a dear friend and her husband. It was overwhelming to the point of freezing. I found the sentimental aspect polarising. There was 5 decades of 'stuff' plus a lot of my grandparents treasures and ... get this ... items from 1955 to 1970 stored as I can't let go of stuff. The EMT's called social services just as father was in his passing stages (dementia and cancer) as unsafe. He was in hospital and then end stage care, never returned home. I implemented Cassie's strategies to get it done. My brother is autistic and couldn't cope. He pushed through what he could and did his best. watching this brought it all back. I am so proud of what Lauren has done for herself and her family. Brought me to happy tears. From the other end of the world in Tasmania..... HIGH FIVE and mega HUGS.
that is rough to lose family so close together... glad you got some help w that.
its why its so important that before you get too far gone to downsize things.. give things you want your family to have before that... or min have notes on things.
our oma never admitted she had Alzheimer's but we suspected it. she gave her stuff when she moved in w her new husband.. so we had good memories w her stuff rather then trying to deal w it w the new husband.. who was abusive.
we have been downsizing for yrs... and when we moved... did it more via minimalism.
I’m going thru this exact thing now. My mom passed this April. They’d lived 30 years in same home and mom was a hoarder. Been going through over 50 years of stuff she’d hoarded including all papers and 7 storage units. Been a year now finally about to sell house. But now I’ve got the stuff I’ve brought to our house to deal with. So much old and emotional stuff!!
How did you decide what to keep of old family’s items and how are you storing/archiving it?
@@jenscouponacct5048 I heart you, seriously the most difficult thing I have ever done. I always knew my Mum was a sentimental hoarder. As she got older she became a full fledged every reason hoarder. Dad wasn't much bettter. The paperwork was crazy. I sold at a market thousands of cat ornaments. We had to clear out the house to put it on the market. They had a reverse mortgage. We had 5 months to sell the house to pay that off. Really it was asking the question does any family member want the item, does it add value to my life if I keep it. My brother just wanted to walk away or hire someone to throw everything out. I felt out of respect for someone who had a need to make it available. We did the classic donate pile, the throw out went straight out in boxes and bags ready to take to the refuse centre. One room at a time and cleaned our hearts out. The best thing you can do if you want to keep something is ask yourself if it has room in your home and if you do how will you honour that. We donate a lot or sold items for a low value to get it to someone who wanted it. I still have a quarter of my garage filled with items that I can now move on. Most of it belonged to my grandparents. It has taken all of this year to recover from last year. I wish you an ease filled process.
@@minimaladjacent I have always been a minimalist ...with a teeny bit of time with too much stuff. However, dealing with my parents clutter and horrific waste. Threw out the equivalant of $7000 of vitamins that were autoshipped. The process has left me with this, I do not want my children to go through what I did clearing out their possessions and closing down their lives. Not on my watch. That said I still have a bit of work to do to clear out mine, my grandparents and parents items 20 boxes to fit into my tiny home. I can feel the relief and peace coming. btw my father was the abusive one, was very hard to revist it all.
I watched this video twice! Second time I took notes...and then went to my garage and followed my "gut instinct." I did it for 1 hour and filled a whole recycle bin and the whole back seat of my car with donations. I defiantly get into the trap of "justifying" EVERYTHING and end of never getting rid of anything! It was so freeing to look at my "stuff from just my first instinct. My condo in CA is small and my garage is just a single car garage. I have used it as a storage shed for the eight years I have lived here. I have NEVER had any luck decluttering it! Wish I could teleport you here so you could get me though this! Thanks for the great strategy I'll let you know how it turns out!
There needs to be a service called Rent A Friend or something. If I had a van I could live out of, I'd volunteer to help for a few weeks or something. Projects like this I feel are far less daunting and go by quicker if you have someone helping who literally has nothing else to do. Someone like me who's not married yet or has kids would be perfect for the job. 🎉
It would also be great for someone dealing with empty nest syndrome
That sounds so fun!
It would also be easier to take help from someone you're not close to already, because sometimes it feels like well meaning friends are kind of shocked at the nitty gritty mess and might be judging you even when they say they want to help.
@katia.luna213 I've been living as a minimalist, or a minimalist in training for a few years. And I wish I could help everyone declutter. The freedom is amazing!
I would absolutely book this service. I wouldn't even need you to do anything, but just hanging out, chatting and encouraging would be so helpful.
I love the idea of "trading" something for something else, rather than "getting rid of it. It is much less painful.
Trading one thing you don’t want for something that you do want is a brilliant phrase to use! So is the 20 second countdown for decision making!
Please do more videos like this. No one and everything is perfect!!
"I want you to embrace good enough", that sentence really got to me. I keep seeing the imperfections and obsessing over them and that stops me from moving on. That was an amazing transformation!
Hey!
Cas has a podcast episode about that. It's something with "GETMO (good enough to move on)" - hope you find it and it helps you 😊
Perfectionism has always been a huge issue for me as well, and I also have ADHD, with a huge tendency toward perfectionism. All the overthinking and over analyzing leads to procrastination, which in turn leads to feelings of not being very good at things. Viscious cycle & hard to break.
@@Nelia2705YES! 🎉🎉🎉
@@noracomeau2986 you just described me to a T
EXACTLY! me too! Nothing gets done because the need for it to look perfect stops it. Piles pile up and get put in prettier boxes to look better but room is running out.
I am SO HAPPY for Lauren! I grew up in a house that had up-to-your-eyeballs piles in every room and most of the backyard, with one thin path through the room that you had to be careful not to bump your arm or hip on, or it would all come down on you. When I moved out, my mother kept shuttling more and more to my house and kept buying more and more for her full house. I had to work through so much guilt of letting stuff go, and while I've let go two garages full of stuff, a storage unit of stuff, and recently, two hauls of 20-30 boxes each... I feel like I'm finally reaching the point where I need to do one more big declutter (with a lot of emotional stuff that I've been holding off on going through, and GOOD GOD, 3000+ BOOKS), and I'll finally enter maintenance mode. I am so proud of myself, I'm healing, and I feel like I'm reaching a point where anxious, ADHD me can breathe a little easier. So I can totally understand the relief that was EMANATING from Lauren in this video, more and more with each declutter check-in! Also, her dream is AWESOME, and I also want to have a little building to have a home business of all-things-fall: homegrown pumpkins and apples, homemade apple pies/donuts/pumpkin donuts, cider, music, and poetry. Someday! And all of our decluttering is getting Lauren and me closer to those dreams! AMAZING work, Lauren and Cas! And a P.S. for Cas, that turtle is okay, and where we live, we also have to watch out for wildlife, but the wildlife is predominantly an overpopulation of very sweet, very trusting, should-be-a-lot-more-afraid-of-cars-than-they-are cats. lol. See you next time!
I have been where you are with all that stuff. I wish you peace of mind and the energy to achieve all of your goals. Cheers :)
I would like to nominate Mckenziely for the next coaching session.
Well done! Your comment on guilt reminded me of something that Jon Delony, author and Ramsey Solutions personality says…”Choose guilt over resentment.” Better to feel guilty over decluttering some items that your mom gave you rather than resenting your mom.
Blessings to you! 💕
I would like to nominate Mackenziely to coach me. Help please!
@@kristinradams7109 Thank you so much! I'm definitely feeling peace that I never felt before in my life (I'm 36). I can just imagine how good it's going to feel when I reach maintenance mode!
Yes I would love to see Lauren’s store become a reality. ❤
I am so proud of Lauren I seriously feel like crying! And yes, she did this for her household, butSHE DID IT FOR HER HUSBAND!!! That's love at its finest 😍
I’ve never clicked so fast, I love decluttering videos, especially because it gets me motivated to declutter myself. I would love to see Lauren setting up her store
This reminds me of my dad’s shed. It was so full of 50+ years of crap you could t get in. I have fibromyalgia and ADD. So scattered with no energy. I found a “junker” man. Bartered his services. He pulled everything out of the shed & I told him “keep or take”. It took him 3 days and he was able to haul away so much stuff to resell or sell for scrap. He did all of the work and we did t have to payout any labor. Win win for both of us.
Lauren, congratulations! You should be very proud of yourself, not only for your spectacular decluttering achievement, but for demonstrating that even with ADHD, you can do anything you put your mind and effort to.
Lauren should be so proud of herself! She IS a finisher, this was a huge undertaking and she did it! There is nothing she can’t do, after such an accomplishment. Bravo Lauren and thanks for your generosity in coaching her Cas!
I love this format so much. Being able to watch someone in real time go through the mental processes and learn how to declutter more intuitively is so helpful and validating as someone who also overthinks when decluttering my space
I think this is the most impressive transformation you've been involved in, because it was SO overwhelming and, though she had your encouragement and guidance, she did it all by herself! Makes it seem possible for me to tackle some of my "impossible" projects!
"Don't look at the mountain. Look down at your feet and take one step at a time." There's my Post-It Note Quotable for the day! What a TRANSFORMATION! Having ADHD adds a layer of having to overcome years of self-doubt and judgement for "not finishing" etc. All Lauren needed was to be shown how by someone who understands and has experience with the same kind of organization problems. Cas, you have Show How! 🙂
I would love to see Lauren’s house or shop come next. Whatever she needs first. I would think finishing the house would be a priority but maybe it needs a lot of work (plumbing, electrical, structural) that needs lots of money and availability of trades. The shop may be easier if it is structural sound and has electrical. She has done an amazing job and really took your advice to heart. I loved watching this transformation and her confidence blossomed.
Cas, I love the part when Lauren was talking about keeping a plate because of the memories and when she decided not to keep it. You talked about how when we associate items with memories. Because we have memories with that item, the memory convinces us into keeping the item. It something I constantly struggle with when it comes to decluttering. You should make a video on sentimental item decluttering.
Yes, this would be a brilliant idea!
Yes, I'd love to watch more of Lauren. I also enjoyed what you said about not looking at the mountain and doing it all one step at a time. THANK YOU!!!
I just turned on Red Hot Chill Peppers “Give It Away”…get it⁉️😆 It’s a rockin’ decluttering jam😎
It would be wonderful to continue with Lauren’s progress. This is so interesting.
Lauren did AMAZING. This seems like SUCH a good concept, having a body double to help you out.
Would LOVE doing this as well.
ADHDer over here as well- 'whenever we are doing something that sucks, we have to do something that is fun"- currently watching this while I'm binding books for work!
Cass, I like your straight-shooting, no nonsense approach to helping people declutter. That honesty and no coddling directness is exactly what gets results!
I love the part of this where she talks about "the story of the item." I recently got rid of a large dresser which had been used as a kitchen island, but was not serving me well as it was a bit too large for the space and the knows were gone. But, it was the very first piece I purchased as a wife, 20 years and four houses ago.
I LOVE this video!!! "Look at your feet, not the mountain"- so good. Go Lauren!🎉 Cas is such a good coach! Way to encourage all of us to go and accomplish our dreams❤
Girl I need you to work your magic with me!! I picked up my dad’s bad habit of hanging on to EVERYTHING and it drives my poor husband insane lol
I’m 31 and I’m learning more about my ADD now than I have throughout my entire life. I feel so seen when I’m watching your videos. Thank you for making me feel less alone ❤️
I do not have ADHD and I'm still not a finisher so I just feel lazy. Sometimes I'm not even a starter. I only have two places to declutter and organize (garage and office/craft room) so it should be easy. I also know I don't want to leave those places for my kids because it's time to think about that since I'm 77. Cas, I love these kinds of videos from you. I must be more of a doer. My garage is not as cluttered as Lauren's, but if she can do that I can certainly dig my heels in. Thank you Lauren and Cas.
This is why I’m subscribed to this channel.
Yep! Me, too.
Cass and Lauren, amazing job on the garage. The before and after pics blew me away. Congrats on your hard work!
I enjoy your videos but i LOVE your little inside live stories at the end of your videos ❤🎉❤
I LOVE your videos because I walk away feeling inspired instead of hopeful-but-fearing-the-self-shame when life happens and I can’t follow the steps put out for a brain that doesn’t function like mine. When I watch your videos I feel like I’ve been in a foreign country and suddenly hear someone speaking my native language, and it just makes me happy and inspired to actually get something done and be able to prove to all the people who told me I was just scatterbrained and never finished anything that there isn’t something wrong with me- it’s not just a lack of self-discipline - they just didn’t speak/understand my language.
You do❤
Just amazed at this gal's progression in this overwhelming task. She embraced the process and got it done 🎉🎉🎉🎉
This concept of “intuitive decluttering” feels like my next hyperfixation. 🥰
SO PROUD OF YOU. That was overwhelming. I am overwhelmed with my project. Good tip: photos to show you ARE making progress. The Weekly accountability is huge. Super impressed she kept going without having your "Coach" physically keeping you on task.
Cass, I hope you've gone to the dermatologist/plastic surgeon about the skin cancer on your nose by now. I was just watching a video from 2 months ago with you discussing it. I don't want it to get bigger & become more of a threat to you! You're an absolute gem, I wish you the best!
She did, she talked recently about having gone
@@lgraps Thanks for letting me know! I was worried because my aunt waited and it was way worse and she had a large chunk of her thigh removed as a result.
Thank you for the inspiration. 15 weeks pregnant with my 5th baby and the others being 17y, 5y, 4y and 2yrs old. The pregnancy fatigue is real! This has been my toughest pregnancy, we're in a new house to us that we are sharing with my bro in law and his wife +1 yr old baby and their stuff. I need to make my garage into a work space (call center) but we have so many boxes that havent yet been unpacked 😮💨 just the thought of it leaves me breathless 😅
Yes, let’s see more!
I love these videos where you are actually helping somebody work through a project!
I’m stunned by what Lauren accomplished! I’d love to see more!!
I am over the moon happy for Lauren and all the work she did.
I loved the time lapse you did. Showing us a week at a time gave me a bunch of encouragement. It is so true you get overwhelmed looking at all your stuff that it paralyzes you. Seen it broken down by the week gives all sorts of hope.!!! Thank you Cas!
Now onto the rooms that I have been procrastinating on. One of them includes my daughters room who passed away. The emotional feelings, being stuck - it paralyzes me. It’s the hardest.
I would love to see more of Lauren’s journey. This has been so encouraging for me. ❤
Lauren’s Garage transformation was amazing! Well Done Lauren!
Congratulations, Lauren! It looks amazing! I'm so happy for you! So cool that you overcame the stereotype of ADHDers don't finish things. I feel your pain & have had the same bad self talk. Enjoy your beautiful space!
I love how Lauren transformed her garage for her husband and family! She did a fantastic job along side of Cass. I hope we can see the shop transformation too!!
This is one of the best before and after projects I’ve seen. Lauren you did an awesome job. This was a tremendous amount of work and I know you did a lot of it by yourself. The organization you did was well worth it in my opinion as it will help ensure that things get put back in their place. This is probably over the top but when I organize I want to be able to go in a room blindfolded and find things bc there’re in their “home.”
Yes please help Lauren more!! I love it!!!!! And yes taking pictures has helped me and my kids so much too because we can see where we started!
This was a HUGE and amazing transformation! Congratulations, Lauren, for climbing that mountain! ❤
She killed it!
She did a phenomenal job and it would be wonderful to see her dream of opening a store become reality in future videos. Well done!
Love Love Loved this!! You were both very inspiring! Great job Lauren! Thank you for sharing!! For years my storage room has looked like that (maybe not that bad), and I've desperately NEEDED to face it! I KNOW I would be so much happier if I didn't have "that room" hanging over my head. Grew up very conservative, with no "extras" and I believe that has led me to not want to get rid of anything as an adult. We have a decent size home and have always had the room to store, store, store. UNTIL NOW, busting at the seams, closets, cabinets, drawers, office, and that dreadful storage room 🙃. I love your personality and can't SO relate to all your advice! Great minds think alike!! I just need to figure out how "TO DO" 😆. Keep up the awesome, inspiring videos Cass! God's blessings to you from MN.
Gotta pause....i love this concept of a "doom box"! What a great way to help me not spend too much time on the boxes of crap that we dont use or need!
Lauren…you are a very hard and competent woman! Way to go! You can do all that you put your wonderful mind to do!
Adorable kitty HAS TO BE A KEEP!!!! LOL 😂😂😂😂😂
Omg!!! There are two!!!! I didn't see the other little guy hiding in the back until she picked him up!!! 😊😊😅😅😅😊
Yes, I would love to see more of Lauren’s journey.
She seems very committed and hardworking so I think she would deserve to have your help.
She was great!
She did an awesome job with a little coaching
She did great!
Goooo LAURENNNNMNNN!!!!! 🔥🔥💯💯💯💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾👏🏾💯👏🏾💯👏🏾👏🏾💯👏🏾💯🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
IKR?! She killed it!
In overwhelming spaces, it is much easier for me to do one small thing a day and then forget it. That way it doesn't become a frustration. Everytime another area is done, is an accomplishment.
ok that reveal actually made me emotional. That was a HUGE job! Well done!
Lauren did such an amazing job! I can not imagine how her shop is going to turn out. Really hope we get the chance to be a part of her journey .🙂
Yes!
You helped her so much with her garage. I can't wait to see her store come together as well!
Yes we all want to be here for Lauren🎉 This is the story we need right now! I’m committing to body double with these videos to rehab my own mess of garage I want to take back. ❤ I’m here for it!!
What a great video!!! The Before & After was amazing. When you were talking about the baby bunnies, That's exactly what I had to deal with today. I was driving down the road stopped because baby bunnies. Were running back-and-forth on our road having all kinds of fun.❤ They were so cute. They're little white tails. When you were talking about the turtle.Three weeks ago my yard was getting mowed and all of a sudden my youngest her fiance Yells out, look what I found. A turtle.!! It was huge, My oldest took the turtle down the road to where there was some water. We haven't had a turtle in our yard for so many, many years. So I thought it was funny watching your video today. You talking about 2 animals that we've had to deal with just recently.
I’d love to see more videos about her journey! Amazing progress!!
Cass - you are my fun go-to when I have a tedious chore to complete. 🥰 So happy for Lauren - she did a tremendous job! Something about this episode spoke to me on a deeper level due to having moved house/ADHD, and like Lauren I am also a dreamer (and collector, lol.) I appreciate that you are very much "like us" and have such wonderful insight to help us tackle what feels insurmountable. Lots of great tips I am going to implement during my own decluttering journey.
Also, just a gentle FYI for anyone who may encounter a turtle on a roadway. You can help them by moving them in the direction they are traveling to. They are steadfast in getting to their destination and will ultimately attempt to make their way across the road again...which must feel like an eternity for a turtle.😅
☮️💜
I have been looking for a video for the past few days to help motivate me to tackle the garage. Most try dragging everything out at once, but I needed something that showed a little at a time. This was perfect.
I had to stop my car for baby ducks once 💜 Mama duck was leading them across the road, but some got lost from the trail, and were waddling in a circle instead - they were adorable!
I grew up in the coastal plains Texas boonies, and my favorite travel delay was the frequent covies of bobwhite quail crossing the road. Momma-quail would be in the lead with her fully fledged micro-mini carbon copy chickletts following single file. It was one of the most delightful reasons to pause, regardless of how much of a hurry we might have been in to get into town. Watching Attwater's Prairie Chickens "booming" in our front yard was another incredible treat. We would also have flocks of hundreds of snow geese stop and rest near our pond during migration. ❤
Enjoy nature whenever and wherever you can! Sadly, where I grew up, the bobwhite quail have been exterpated by housing development and land clearing, and the Attwater's Prairie Chickens are quickly nearing extinction in spite of decades of intervention to restore the population. 😥
Did you notice she herself also has gotten prettier each week? More radiant and self-confident. 🎉❤
Kudos to Lauren for being so exposed. That takes a lot to show a space that is overwhelming for others to see. Also, this was so helpful!! I have a similar project I want to tackle this weekend and now I feel like I have good tools to do it!! Great job Lauren!!
sheets can be used to block frost on garden beds. we use our old ones that aren't good enough to donate. looks like the cats claimed them, cats things now. part of our garage is for our barn cats. hammocks and chairs for sleeping, tons of toys.
I love this! Lauren did such a great job!!! While listening/watching I started tackling my bedroom. I need to figure out a system for my bedroom walk-in closet. I have attempted to clean and declutter it SO many times but it’s the space in the house that becomes the dumping zone for things that don’t have a home. Problem is, everything goes in there to die. Currently it can’t be classified as a “walk-in” closet, it’s more of a one step in the door and reach for what you need!! Between your videos and Dawn from The Minimal Mom, I WILL get this house in order! I’ve begun using your 5-minute per room cleaning routine so I’m spending less time stressing about cleaning and more time decluttering! Thank you for all the hard work you put into your videos! They are making a difference for SO many people!
You can do it! Remember, everything needs a home and only what can fit in that space can stay. So if random things are accumulating in your wardrobe, are they homeless things that need a home? Or do you need a system for getting things out of your home, like a donation box? Food for thought 😊
Lauren did amazing. That was a massive amount to declutter and organize. I'd love to see more from Lauren.
I love when you make videos like this, Cass! thank you!
I feel like I've been stuck for years and watching just two videos from your collection has empowered me to tackle these cluttering obstacles I have been putting off. Your channel is amazing!
Lauren, Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing your journey of decluttering. Cass you did an awesome job coaching Lauren on and keeping her focused. Excellent video!
Lauren’s garage is making me think of our basement of doom after just moving into our new house (rental) and things that either we didn’t know where to put or what to do with or didn’t belong on the main floor went to the basement…. So it’s going to be quite the project but every time we empty a box or go through stuff we are doing a great job at giving things away!
Yes, yes, yes!
Wow! She did AMAZING! She will whip the store up in no time, now she can move mountains.
That "stupid little project" getting in the way of the bigger meaningful one stuck with me. I've got a story like that: I was helping a friend renovate his studio. Got to renovate a coffee table for him as a side little project when I could/should've been helping him more with the place itself (he did want to do it on his own though😅). Hurt my hand with the table, couldn't do a thing for almost 6 weeks and he stalled because it turns out he really needs help and is not great at manual work. So am back to helping him now with a deadline do he(we) don't fall off the wagon. So 🤞🤞💖. Thanks for the inspiration 😊
I love your systems to declutter.
ADHD helping ADHD!
Lauren is absolutely amazing!!! I’m so proud of her and all of her accomplishments!!!
Oh, wow, this is SO encouraging. I have a building that my dad built for me several years ago (he passed away last fall) and it has gotten crammed with STUFF (everything that we want out of the house but don't know what to do with, old projects, former businesses, all.the.craft.stuff, Christmas decor, etc., etc.) I want to clear it out so that I can make a "tiny space" for my mom to stay when she comes to visit. This video makes that dream seem like a possibility. I'll be re-watching for your tips!
I don’t say “WOW” very often but the end result made me say it out loud! I’m feeling inspired to tackle my basement now!! 🎉
We are having a goose parade here in Northern Minnesota too. It's crazy. I love you "stayed til the end" stories. Keep 'em coming'!!
I stay til the end partially because of these great stories,lol.
Watching these videos is helping me figure out my clutter situation that i put myself into...
I love how you spurred Lauren on!! What a fabulous job she did!!❤ And I always love your stories at the end!!😂 🐰 🪿 🐢
So glad!
Found my new mantra, "that's a stupid little thing."...also the Focus on your big dream projects part was good too but I really need to just call the BS out when I get derailed and anxious and overwhelmed 😊😊😊
Amazing transformation! I am so inspired! I told my husband "i don't care what needs to get done in our house, i want to plow through our garage this weekend!". Seriously, i keep trying to declutter our house. Stuff gets thrown out, stuff gets donated, but also stuff gets thrown in boxes and put in the garage to deal with later 😝 i keep telling myself i cant tackle it til our house is in order. Nope. Not anymore....i hope i make huge amounts if progress this weekend! Even small amounts will be good though 😁. Thanks again for all the great tips and motivation!
I love Cass’s energy! How did the garage go?
Cass , you inspire me so much with these videos! As I was watching it during lunch at work, I was dusting my office. I finished watching the video at home and started organizing a spice drawer. A small project at a time. Also, every time I stand up for bathroom break etc., I pick something up and put it away. I love you so much!!! 🌷
Wow Lauren! So stinking proud of you!!!
CASS.... QUESTION - Would it be possible on these types of videos (ie, split screen watching the person declutter) for you to be in a small square in upper right hand corner? That way we can focus on the actual space being decluttered, yet still see you. I was having a difficult time seeing the full effect of her area. Thanks!
EDIT: Lol... now she is on full screen, and I can see the space....Yea! Also, I really like when people verbalize what they are thinking as they declutter (thought process behind what gets tossed & why).
Cass. I desperately needed to see this process to get to the transformation! I have a similiar packed garage situation. 2 yrs ago, my water heater flooded my house and every thing had to get boxed up and moved into my 2 car garage while demo/repair was done. It took almost 4 months living in a hotel for us to get back into our house 😮
I still have not went through all the boxes and bins of stuff. In fact, I need to find my bedroom tv, my living room lamps, my jewerly box and more. We have been living without these items and needing them.
This gives me hope and inspires me to work the same processes to tackle my garage. I am also extremely ADHD!
Cass should help YOU NEXT!
Lauren has inspired me to get into our garage. We took everything from a storage shed that was costing us money and put it into our garage 6 months ago and it's packed to the rafters. In 3 weeks we have kerbside collection and I want to go through it all and dump what I don't want so I can have my garage back. Also, Canada and Australia are so alike. We too constantly stop for animals. Enjoy our week!
Well done, Lauren, you’re awesome! Very inspiring. Last week I went out on the open highway, rounded a corner in the dark and a koala was walking calmly across the road just about to cross the centre line into my lane. Yikes. Missed it by about 1m. So glad.