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Rita Wilkins

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://www.designservicesltd.com/lifestyle-des...

Genre

Nonfiction, Self Help

Influences

Joshua Becker Courtney Carver Brene Brown Michael Hyatt Lu Ann Cahn ...more

Member Since

September 2015

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ritawilkins

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Rita is a master of reinventing and redesigning lives, including her own. Her Downsizing Journey was inspired by a trip to a third world country. When she traveled to Senegal, West Africa, she was profoundly impacted by people who had so little, yet they were happy. This life-changing experience ignited a new passion which led her to downsize from her 5,000 sq. ft. home in the country to her 867 sq. ft. “jewel box” apartment in the heart of historic Philadelphia. She fearlessly gave away 95% of her possessions so that she could live a simpler, more meaningful life with less. She now lives on 5% of what she once owned, she has all she wants and needs, and has never been happier. Realizing the impact of her own Downsizing Journey, she was ins Rita is a master of reinventing and redesigning lives, including her own. Her Downsizing Journey was inspired by a trip to a third world country. When she traveled to Senegal, West Africa, she was profoundly impacted by people who had so little, yet they were happy. This life-changing experience ignited a new passion which led her to downsize from her 5,000 sq. ft. home in the country to her 867 sq. ft. “jewel box” apartment in the heart of historic Philadelphia. She fearlessly gave away 95% of her possessions so that she could live a simpler, more meaningful life with less. She now lives on 5% of what she once owned, she has all she wants and needs, and has never been happier. Realizing the impact of her own Downsizing Journey, she was inspired to share about the impact of living abundantly with less in her TEDx Talk: Downsize Your Life: Why Less Is More which is approaching 1,000,000 views.

As an interior designer for the past 35 years, she has designed thousands of residential and commercial interiors throughout the United States. Known as a highly effective, hands-on designer, Rita has received numerous design awards and has been featured in many national trade publications.

As a lifestyle design expert, she has dedicated the last three decades studying, observing, and impacting how people live, work, and play in their environments. In addition to her core interior design services, she combined the accumulated years of interior design and lifestyle design knowledge, expertise, and experience to create the Lifestyle Division of her company. As a renowned Baby Boomer Lifestyle Design Expert, Rita is a sought-after motivational speaker, a regular guest on national radio, TV, and podcasts that reach hundreds of thousands of listeners, viewers, and readers. She is a regular contributor to business and lifestyle publications and blogs.

As the author of Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money and Freedom, Rita is revolutionizing the way people view and live their own lives. As a leading voice in the Movement to Live with Less So You Can Live More, Rita utilizes her Signature Blueprint Design Process that she has used for over 35 years to help readers:

• Discern what matters most to them.
• Clarify what’s preventing them from having the life they really want.
• See through their invisible walls of fear.
• Design a blueprint for the life they really want for themselves so they can upgrade their lifestyle to have more time, money and freedom to pursue what matters most to them.

As a transformational speaker, a masterful storyteller, and a revolutionary thought leader on living with less, she challenges her audiences to disrupt their status quo thinking, break through their mental barriers and inspires solutions so they can expose what has been holding them back from having a more well-balanced life. Rita’s dynamic and high energy delivery confronts old ways of thinking so new conversations emerge and inspiration for the future can flourish. Through her inspirational stories, Rita reveals practical tools, tips and strategies that the audience can apply to their personal and professional lives so they can reinvent, reimagine and redesign the way they live work and play. Utilizing her blueprint framework, countless audiences have been emboldened to make meaningful changes, fearlessly let go of mental and emotional clutter and achieve optimum balance in work and in life.

A few fun things to know about Rita…

She is embracing her new “city girl” lifestyle in historic Philadelphia. She is the proud mother of two happily married sons and is excited about becoming a new grandmother.

And always creating something new and challenging…
While on a 30-day journey to the South of France, she prototyped a new location-independent lifestyle business model, Work 3 Days and Play 4.

She is a pilot, loves motorcycles, and blonde Cocker Spaniels. ...more

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Average rating: 3.45 · 22 ratings · 6 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom 3.45 avg rating — 22 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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	The Letting Go Workbook: 10 Proven Decluttering Methods Plus Three Creative Bonuses 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rita Wilkins's Blog

What If It’s Not About the Clutter? How Awareness Frees You to Let Go

The Truth No One Tells You About Letting Go

Most people think decluttering is about boxes, labels, bubble wrap, or finding more storage.

But what if clutter isn’t the real problem? What if it’s just the symptom?

Many of us—especially in this season of life—are holding onto far more than things.

We’re holding onto identities, roles we’ve outgrown, and memories that once defined us. The truth is, lettin

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The Magic of the Red Carpet: Learn How You Can Give a Great Tedx Talk by Following 101 Tips

by Ajit Matthew George

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Help from Above: How I Went from Sweeping the Floor to Painting the Sky

by David Alan Arnold

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Your Home Sweet Home: How to Decide Whether You Should Stay or Move in Retirement

by Penelope S. Tzougros (Goodreads Author)

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Rita Wilkins wrote a new blog post What If It’s Not About the Clutter? How Awareness Frees You to Let Go The Truth No One Tells You About Letting GoMost people think decluttering is about boxes, labels, bubble wrap, or finding more storage.But what if clu Read more of this blog post »
Oct 18, 2025 05:34AM · like

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Quotes by Rita Wilkins (?)

“If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that the most important things in life are not things at all. The memories created with those we love, conversations and laughter around the kitchen table, quality time spent with family, friends, and people in need, and a chance to make a difference in the world are the "things" that bring the greatest joy. Choose to live a rich abundant life with less.”
― Rita Wilkins, Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom

tags: kitchen-table, live-abundantly-with-less, make-a-difference

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“Downsizing by decluttering has become a very popular choice for people at every age, particularly for baby boomers who have spent a lifetime buying more. For whatever reason, and there are many, we have accumulated a lot. Our houses, attics, garages, basements, cupboards and closets, and even our storage units are overflowing with way too much stuff.”
― Rita Wilkins, Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom

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“Habits are unconscious behaviors that we do without even being aware of them. They are the foundation of our everyday lives. Our daily practices, habits, and routines shape us. Our good habits support us and help us accomplish our goals. Our bad habits are destructive and undermine our capacity and potential to execute and obtain our desired results. As the saying goes, “bad habits die hard.” But if you want to make room for the life you love, it’s important to look at habits through a new lens of how they might be holding you back.”
― Rita Wilkins, Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom

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