"Get rid of trash to make room for treasure."
- Peter Walsh
























"With all the things you have in your life, are you any more happy than your dog?"
-Ramesh Balsekar

Decluttering and Counseling Services

Clutter To Comfort
Pamela K. Hertel, MS, LCSW, LPC
Professional Organizer & Psychotherapist
Phone:  920-946-5622
Email:  pamhertel@charter.net
Website:  http://www.ClutterToComfort.com/
Serving Sheboygan County & Beyond

Books

The library has many good reference books to peruse for good advice and starting tips. I encourage library use as a free way to access great information and avoid purchases that will add clutter to your home. Consider weekly visits to the library (what a great way to encourage children to read) and bring home CDs, DVDs, magazines and books instead of purchasing these items. Keep a basket near your door to store your library materials for ease in return and exchange. The library’s Dewey Decimal System places books with the topics of home organization and decluttering in the 640s and the 648s.

Library books which you may find to be helpful:

Christopher Lowell’s Seven Layers of Organization: Unclutter Your Home; Unclutter Your Life
Christopher Lowell, 2005, Clarkson Potter/Publishers

Cleaning and the Meaning of Life:  Simple Solutions to Declutter Your Home and Beautify Your Life
Paula Jhung, 2005, Health Communications, Inc.

Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back
Brooks Palmer, 2009, New World Library

Conquer the Clutter:  Reclaim Your Space, Reclaim Your Life (from the TV series Clean Sweep)
Melissa Bigner, 2005, Meredith Corporation

Cut the Clutter and Stow the Stuff
Lori Baird, 2002, Yankee Publishing Inc.

It’s All Too Much:  An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
Peter Walsh (of Clean Sweep fame), 2007, Free Press

Let Go of Clutter
Harriet Schechter, 2001, McGraw-Hill

Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life:  Discover Why You Clutter and How You Can Stop
Mike Nelson, 2001, New Page Books  

The Fast and Furious 5 Step Organizing Solution: No Fuss Clutter Control from a Top Professional Organizer
Susan Pinsky, 2010, Fair Winds Press

Websites

An Internet search will flood you with good information and resources. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

www.flylady.com - A supportive resource with daily tips and inspiration.

www.getorganizednow.com - Filled with suggestions, products and resources for decluttering and organizing.

www.challengingdisorganization.com - Institute for Challenging Disorganization web site with helpful screening tools, facts and resources.

www.ocfoundation.org - An obsessive compulsive disorder website. Click on Home Page, scroll to Hoarding and click. Great information about hoarding, tests for screening, research and treatment options, resource information.

www.bhg.com/paper - A concise listing of what documents to save and for how long.

www.cpa.net/resources/retengde.pdf - An accountant's view on how long to retain various documents and old paperwork.

www.itsdeductible.com - Turbo Tax guide to the value of your donated items for tax deduction purposes.

www.satruck.org/donation-value-guide - Salvation Army's guide to the value of your donated items for tax deduction purposes.