Irene's Story

I thought I’d give you a story of the path that I took with one of my clients as a way to describe what I do. Irene recently made a decision to move from her three-bedroom townhouse into a nearby retirement community. Her realtor contacted me to help her pack, move and divest herself of many possessions.

Irene has health concerns that made it impossible for her to sort through and pack everything herself. At 84, she was ready to live in a more social setting, and chose a one-bedroom suite in the retirement community. She paid a deposit on the unit after several visits for lunch, and then put her townhouse on the market.

The first step for us was to make her home look its very best for the sale. We moved boxes of books and trinkets to a storage locker, put furniture items up for sale, and had two of her rooms painted. She shared stories of her life with me as I packed and sorted and asked her what we should do with each item. We would spend about two hours at a time together, and we both agreed it was exhausting work, but enjoyable as she went through so many memories.

The day before the photographer came, I staged the home with pillows, blankets, flowers and vases to add “pops of colour” to her home. Irene really liked helping to decide where everything looked best. One fun memory of that day involved moving the art around. I found a painting that Irene had painted herself and made it the focal point over the fireplace. She was pleased to have her piece showcased, and it looked wonderful!

Once the home was on the market, I focused on emptying the shelves and cupboards, activities that wouldn’t show when prospective buyers came through. We moved boxes and boxes into the garage, and took items to consignment stores for sale.

Then suddenly the house sold and Irene moved into her new home. There was a relatively long possession date, so I had plenty of time to finish emptying the house. Irene and I met back at the home a few times to look through what wasn’t taken and help to decide whether to sell, recycle or donate the items. Today I took the final items away.

Next week the new owners move in after I have had the house and carpets cleaned. Irene has said to me more times than I can count that she wouldn’t know what to do without me. We will meet up again soon to sort through her new place and make sure everything is unpacked and put away. The best part is that we traveled a journey together and made friends with each other along the way.

If you or a friend or relative of yours could do with this service, please give me a call for a free consultation at 250-891-5969.