12 home decluttering resources in Bellingham and Whatcom County

DonatingStuffBellingham

Every January 1, I have an incredible urge to simplify and declutter my home. Here’s the problem. I just bought our kids 5 million new toys, with increasingly smaller parts. I literally spent the majority of winter break picking up teeny tiny toy parts only to find them scattered about five minutes later. It's crazy-making!

But it’s not just my kids' fault. I am going to admit a secret. I'm not a natural organizer of my space. I blame it on working so much. I blame it on being a creative person. I blame it on having more important things to do. Here are my internal struggles, brought to you via the inside of my brain.  

  • “This could come in handy later.”
  • “Remember when….?” (this object came into my life in a very enjoyable moment in time.)
  • “Where should this go?”
  • "Whose is this?!?"
  • “If I leave this here, I'll remember.”
  • “What the hell do I do with THIS? I'll figure it out later.”
  • “I bet I could get $40 on eBay for this. I’ll just put it here until I have time to post it.” 
  • “I need to get to Target to buy more bins.”  MORE BINS!!!! 

It’s 2017 and I’m resolving to conquer these useless internal thoughts. I want my sanity back. And that requires less stuff.

Our family of four spends 99 percent of our time on the 1700 sq ft main floor of our house. We should be able to manage in this amount of space. But our stuff keeps growing in numbers. The sheer volume stresses me out!

So, I’m resolving to be ruthless in my decluttering. Bye-bye vintage dessert dishes that I’ll actually never use because - just admit it - I don’t make beautiful homemade desserts. See ya later tiny college t-shirts that remind me of my hipper days but actually don’t fit on my mom-bod. Nice to know you lotions and potions that carry the promise to make me more beautiful but don’t actually inspire me to use with any consistency.

If you’re in the same boat, here are twelve local decluttering resources that you might find helpful in your purge and re-organization.

donate HOUSEHOLD, CLOTHING, FURNITURE items

  • Goodwill – 1115 E Sunset Dr. , Bellingham, WA 98226
  • YWCA Bellingham - especially likes professional women’s clothing, twin or full-sized blankets, quilts and comforters, pillows, kitchen towels, silverware, dishes, and small refrigerators. 1026 N. Forest St. Bellingham.
  • Wise Buys Thrift Store, run by Lydia’s Place, a homeless center for women and children. Takes gently used clothes and household items. 1224 North State St., Bellingham.
  • Arc of Washington State – will pick up clothing, bedding, books, camping equipment, and more. Pick up!
  • Lynden Christian Second Chance Thrift Store

dispose of old ELECTRONics

recycle CRAFT MATERIALS

donate old BUILDING MATERIALs

  • RE-Store -  accepts a wide variety of building supplies, business furniture, home decor, yard and garden items, architectural salvage, and occasionally unique antiques. 2309 Meridian St., Bellingham.

get rid of STUFF NO ONE WANTS

call a PROFESSIONAL HOME ORGANIZER

Happy client, happy holidays

Turns out, it's just about the best feeling in the world to get a text from a first-time home buyer client who recently moved in, who has holiday decor photos to share. Warm fuzzies all over the place. So cute! 

I hope everyone had a happy holidays. We had a great, quiet time at home. Santa was busy, the kids made out like bandits, and the parents are secretly glad the season is coming to an end. 

Be safe out there tonight.  And cheers to a new year!

A look at November home sales in Bellingham

You might think that 3rd quarter is a tough time to list a home. Yes, the holidays can present a logistical challenge (although there's hardly a time when a home looks more charming and appealing, am I right?). However, current market data paints a pretty appealing picture for listing. 

A quick look at market data shows:

  • A 20 percent decline in inventory of single family homes since last month.
  • A 30 percent decline in homes on the market since November of last year.
  • A 15 percent increase in homes closed since last November.
  • Homes have been on the market for an average of 39 days, almost 50 percent fewer days than the same time last year!
  • Homes have sold for, on average, 97 percent of list price.

With little inventory on the market, and plenty of demand, it's definitely a sellers market.

5 reasons to move to Bellingham, WA

In 2013, after living in Seattle for 10 years, my husband and I decided to move 85 miles north to Bellingham, WA. We loved Seattle with every ounce of our youth, but once our kids came along, our priorities changed and we looked for something that might make the day-to-day a little easier. Here’s the top five reasons why we moved to Bellingham.

No. 1. More affordable housing. 

In January 2016, the median sales price of a single family home in Bellingham was $339k. In that same month, the median sales price in the Ballard/Greenlake/Greenwood neighborhoods (where we lived) of Seattle was $650K — 92 percent higher. Wow. 

As an expanding family, the opportunity to get more square footage for our money was really appealing. We were lucky and landed a home with a view of Bellingham Bay.

No. 2. Less traffic. 

In our younger, childless days, it wasn’t as big of a deal to endure a 45-minute to an hour commute to and from work. But after kids, we found ourselves counting the minutes spent in the car every day—and wishing we were home already to snuggle our kiddos and prepare a nice meal. And every day, my agitated self sat in that line of cars fighting to get home, and I would multiply our weekly commute by our nanny’s hourly wage. I started feeling like there had to be a better way.

In Bellingham, it seems like you can get anywhere in about 5-15 minutes. The easy commute to and from work might be my number one favorite thing about living here. We’ve happily adjusted to a new normal. 

No. 3. Quality schools

Since moving here, I’ve become a huge fan of the Bellingham Public School District. There are many quality public schools, and many active and engaged parents. Our kids go to Lowell Elementary, which is a charming utopian elementary school in a gorgeous 1908 building. So far we’ve enjoyed an active PTA, a smart, engaged principal, and kind, energized, teachers. On my daughter's first day of kindergarten, I realized she had a view of the bay. It doesn’t really get better than that.

No. 4. Great community - Down-to-earth people.

There’s just something about the people that live here. Some of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve ever met live in Bellingham. I think a lot of people have chosen to live in this quaint community for the wonderful work-life balance, and so a grounded, down-to-earth community has been formed. There are many smart, resourceful, entrepreneurial types in Bellingham and Whatcom County. The proximity to the water and mountains draw an active, outdoorsy crowd. The college keeps the community fresh, and intellectually stimulating. 

No. 5. More accessible summer activities.

Want to go a beach? Choose between Boulevard Park, Larrabee Beach, or Bloedel-Donovan, just to name a few. And don’t worry about parking because chances are, a spot will be waiting for you! 

Want to go for a hike or nature walk? There’s the Interurban Trail, Lake Padden Park, Whatcom Falls Park, or the Chuckanut Ridge Trail. There’s so many beautiful accessible options!

On hot summer nights, you’ll find adventurous teens jumping off of Taylor Dock, or folks getting ice cream at Mallard Ice Cream. There’s so many things to do—and it won’t take two days of planning and a half a day worth of traffic to get there.

a good choice.

Three years in, we feel good about our decision to move to Bellingham. Don't get me wrong, at times, we definitely miss the energy of a larger urban area. But Bellingham is a beautiful, relaxed and wonderfully charming place to live.