As a clutter buster, I have compassion for my clients, but not for their things. When something no longer supports their life, I help them see the benefit of letting it go.
Yesterday's client had a chest of drawers in her living room. On the top was a built on feature that had slats for papers, and tiny drawers for hiding little things. Papers, magazines, and a collection of mini-things were stuffed in these spaces. The three chest of drawers were filled to the top with books she wasn't reading, gifts she received that she didn't care for, kitchen supplies she wasn't using, and a lot of other things she didn't have a need for.
My client said she had never questioned the chest of drawers. She never thought to look inside them. But she couldn't believe the stuff she was finding.
After going through piece by piece, we ended up filling 7 large trash, recycling and donation bags. She only kept a small amount of things. I said that many trash bags technically makes the chest of drawers a trash can. She agreed. We carried it out to the alleyway.