Clutter-Buster: Assess Your Rooms
Walk through your house with a pen and a notebook, writing down the activities that take place in each room and the items associated with those activities. "Then 'purpose' your space," says Vicki Norris, president of Restoring Order, an organizing company in Portland, Oregon. "Note your desired use for each room, even if you are not using it that way currently." Remove anything that doesn't relate to your proposed activity for that space. If you want to use your bedroom only for sleeping and getting dressed, relocate anything that doesn't relate to that: documents stored in the closet, a trade journal you've been meaning to read, sewing supplies, or anything else that distracts you from the main purpose of the room.
Toss-It Tips
Start with one room, but keep the whole house in mind.
Think of rooms that have multiple purposes as several smaller areas, so it's clear where items should be returned if they stray. If gift-wrapping is the designated activity for a certain part of the study and you find a spool of ribbon in the kitchen, you'll know exactly where it belongs, and so will other family members.
Why It Works
This strategy lays the foundation for long-term change. "By taking an 'aerial view' of your entire home, you'll see how certain activities and their supplies are strewn throughout the home -- like paperwork, memorabilia, or toys," Norris explains.
Tackling clutter without knowing your priorities can be counterproductive. "People who take a 'tidy up' approach are actually rearranging rather than organizing," Norris says. "Sooner or later, the space relapses to its original condition."
Clutter-Buster: Make Organizing a Team Event
Gail and David Newton, owners of the organizing company Your House in Order, in Greeley, Colorado, suggest finding a friend or two who support your organizational goals and who have decluttering needs of their own, and taking turns organizing each other's homes: Your house this weekend, your friend's the next. If you can't find a willing friend, consider teaming up with a professional organizer -- it could be money well spent.
Toss-It Tips
Make sure everyone is compatible and knows the difference between encouragement and coercion.
The owner of the item in question should have the final say on whether it gets tossed.
Have team celebrations when you've reached a certain goal. When the kitchen is done, for example, you all get to go out for dinner.
Why It Works
Your friends don't have the same sentimental attachment to your stuff that you do.
"Like a barn raising, organizing takes less time with more hands," says David Newton.
It's fun having someone to listen to the story of why you're so emotionally attached to, say, a chipped Pyrex nesting bowl -- before you put it in the giveaway pile.
Back
Walk through your house with a pen and a notebook, writing down the activities that take place in each room and the items associated with those activities. "Then 'purpose' your space," says Vicki Norris, president of Restoring Order, an organizing company in Portland, Oregon. "Note your desired use for each room, even if you are not using it that way currently." Remove anything that doesn't relate to your proposed activity for that space. If you want to use your bedroom only for sleeping and getting dressed, relocate anything that doesn't relate to that: documents stored in the closet, a trade journal you've been meaning to read, sewing supplies, or anything else that distracts you from the main purpose of the room.
Toss-It Tips
Start with one room, but keep the whole house in mind.
Think of rooms that have multiple purposes as several smaller areas, so it's clear where items should be returned if they stray. If gift-wrapping is the designated activity for a certain part of the study and you find a spool of ribbon in the kitchen, you'll know exactly where it belongs, and so will other family members.
Why It Works
This strategy lays the foundation for long-term change. "By taking an 'aerial view' of your entire home, you'll see how certain activities and their supplies are strewn throughout the home -- like paperwork, memorabilia, or toys," Norris explains.
Tackling clutter without knowing your priorities can be counterproductive. "People who take a 'tidy up' approach are actually rearranging rather than organizing," Norris says. "Sooner or later, the space relapses to its original condition."
Clutter-Buster: Make Organizing a Team Event
Gail and David Newton, owners of the organizing company Your House in Order, in Greeley, Colorado, suggest finding a friend or two who support your organizational goals and who have decluttering needs of their own, and taking turns organizing each other's homes: Your house this weekend, your friend's the next. If you can't find a willing friend, consider teaming up with a professional organizer -- it could be money well spent.
Toss-It Tips
Make sure everyone is compatible and knows the difference between encouragement and coercion.
The owner of the item in question should have the final say on whether it gets tossed.
Have team celebrations when you've reached a certain goal. When the kitchen is done, for example, you all get to go out for dinner.
Why It Works
Your friends don't have the same sentimental attachment to your stuff that you do.
"Like a barn raising, organizing takes less time with more hands," says David Newton.
It's fun having someone to listen to the story of why you're so emotionally attached to, say, a chipped Pyrex nesting bowl -- before you put it in the giveaway pile.
Back
