Walking the rightsizing walk THE POWER PURGE
Iam so embarrassed.
All these columns and books I have written on downsizing and decluttering and, my oh my, the mess I am in. Moving is the ultimate truth test. As I pack up the house my husband, DC, and I have lived in for eight years, box towers line the halls, packed and stacked like big-city skylines. Each room coughs up its contents like a kid with consumption. I fear I may never see a clear counter again. I don’t know about you, but when I feel out of control — and believe me this is one of those times — I cope by tackling tasks I can control, like vigorously ironing tea towels. But that doesn’t get you too far, especially when you have a whole house to pack and move.
Don’t let me or anyone else kid you: Moving is a very bad time.
Actual conversation:
DC: “Well, you’re cranky.”
Me: “Look, I’m miserable and I intend to make everyone around me miserable.”
DC: “It’s working.”
The more I sorted, the more it seemed I needed to sort. I cleared several closets, and still had miles to go. The kitchen, the garage, the pantry, the laundry room, each brought its own avalanche of challenges. I forged on, miserably. Finally — six heaping-full trash cans, many trips to Goodwill, dozens of packed boxes, eight broken ngernails and one bottle of Advil later — I got through.
Here’s a minuscule sampling from my ve-page itemized donation list: 2 83 books (we’ll discuss), one four-drawer metal le cabinet (purged of all les, thank you), a standing desk (well-intentioned but never happened), three alarm clocks (we use cell phones), two dog collars, 11 neckties, four board games, six soup mugs, assorted yard tools, casserole dishes, bread boards, piles of clothes, lacrosse sticks (in what dream?), yesterday’s throw pillows, binoculars, a bag of costume jewelry, two hurricane lamps, two shot glasses (I may regret) and so on.
■ See JAMESON, page 4
Pollock Pines
Shingle Springs
Marni Jameson At Home
Photo courtesy of Marni Jameson
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Continued from 3
Although the stacks of evidence would suggest I need to take more of my own decluttering advice, as I slogged through my stu , grumbling, I made some really tough cuts. I wrangled all the irrational reasons you and I cling (but it was expensive, but it’s still useful, but I might need it someday, but it reminds me of ll in the blank, but it was mom’s, etc.), and came to terms with these eight items you can get rid of for sure:
1. Books. Don’t hyperventilate. I, too, love books. But if you think of books as glori ed magazines, which are really glori ed newspapers, which we don’t have any trouble throwing out, giving them up becomes easier. Still, my husband and I have books in every room, plus a walk-in closet we turned into a library. As in many homes, books come in, but they don’t go out. They breed. If the past is the predictor, I am not likely to reread these books. I made the rst cut. I went through and pulled only the books I wanted to keep. (Note, If you choose what to keep rather than what to let go of, you will purge more.) DC took a second pass and pulled out what he wanted. Together we culled the herd by more than half. I then took 283 books to my public library, which has a used bookstore that sells donated books to bene t the library. Win win.
2. Snapshots. Oof! Trust me on this. Once you scan your photos — and you will scan your photos, right? — you can toss prints. Snapshots from the pre-digital age are far more vulnerable than scanned images. One re, ood or hurricane and poof! They’re toast. Once scanned, you can store photos on your laptop for easy retrieval, send thumb drives full of photos to family members, store a copy in your safe deposit box (recommended though I haven’t done that) and know that your photos are also in the cloud. And you can get rid of that box.
3. Old tech. If you have a newer devices, old phones, laptops, scanners, and fax machines can go. If your device has content you don’t want shared, take it to a computer store to recycle. I took my old laptop to Best Buy, where techs backed up the contents on an
external hard drive and disposed of the computer.
4. Duplicates. I had two, round glass serving platters. One was plain, one had dividers like a relish tray. I got rid of the second. The rst one would do the same job. Plus, I never have been good at staying in the lines. When I caught DC hanging onto something we had more of, I kindly said, “Noah, we don’t need two of everything anymore.”
5. Underwear that rubs. You know those underwear in your drawer that you push aside to get to the ones you like? You can get rid of those. Same with non-favorite T-shirts and gym clothes.
6. Former lives. Is the corporate life in your rearview mirror? Have you hung up the tennis racquet for good? If you have clothes that belonged to a past life (my riding breeches), or worse, your kids’ past lives, ditch them.
7. One-trick wonders. Get rid of gadgets that hog space and do a job another tool you have does. We got rid of a never-used mandoline slicer because I have a good knife. Why have a popcorn popper in the age of microwave popcorn?
8. Your mother’s wedding dress. Like many devoted daughters, I had my mother’s wedding dress under my bed. You know all the sentimental reasons why. But let’s analyze this. I never wanted to wear this dress when I got married. My daughters both wanted pretty new wedding gowns when they got married. I am not the type to turn a wedding gown into a christening dress or a tree skirt, but you go ahead. Meanwhile, I have lots of photos documenting mom in her beautiful dress on her wedding day, when the gown looked a lot better. So, what was this relic doing under my bed? Gathering dust. Yellow and brittle, it wasn’t even t for a theater’s costume department. I cut a swatch, tucked it into mom’s wedding album and tossed the dress.
Marni Jameson is the award-winning author of seven books, including “Rightsize Today for Your Best Life Tomorrow.” If you have questions about home improvement, better living, downsizing or rightsizing, send them to marni@marnijameson.com.
Sacramento region sees highest housing production in two decades
■ Construction exceeds near-term target
Mia Lopez
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
The Sacramento Area Council of Governments recently released new housing data that reveals an uptick of 60% in completed new housing across the sixcounty Sacramento region in 2024 compared to just ve years ago. These levels surpass current annual targets established in the region’s dra long-range plan — the 2025 Blueprint. While challenges remain, cities and counties have made meaningful progress in e orts to accelerate housing production.
“We’re seeing the results of years of planning, collaboration, and strategic investment,” said Darren Suen, chair of the SACOG Board of Directors and councilmember for the city of Elk Grove. “We know there are still challenges ahead, but it’s great to take a moment to recognize the hard work of our local leaders who are showing the region is primed for more housing. Such collaboration and leadership will be critical to maintain momentum, especially in the face of growing economic headwinds and shi ing market conditions.”
The ndings underscore the positive impact of local policies such as removing parking mandates, streamlined approvals, creating more exible zoning standards and expanding accessory dwelling unit programs as a few ways cities and counties are helping make way for more housing.
The data highlights 2024 as a banner year for housing production for the sixcounty region:
• 12,500 new homes, the most since 2005.
• More than 4,000 attached housing units (such as apartments, duplexes and townhomes) completed, a record since tracking began in 2001.
• Nearly 800 ADUs, the highest ever.
To meet housing goals forecast in the dra 2025 Blueprint, the six-county region must build a total of 278,000 new units, as the region’s population is expected to grow by 580,000 residents by 2050. While the 2024 data shows housing production has moved in a positive direction over the last decade, market cycles, population shi s and other uncertainties can impact overall housing production moving forward.
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2024 REAL ESTATE BROKER OF THE YEAR
