“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful,
or believe to be beautiful.”
-William Morris
Do you know anyone who has been wanting to declutter and organize, but keeps procrastinating?
Guess what my project is today (and next weekend, and the weekend after that ….)? I can add LIFE TO MY YEARS by unencumbering my mind and my closets! Yes, I confess, I’m the most organized pack-rat you’ll ever meet! YES, I still have my Girl Scout merit badges and that oh-so-coveted mimeographed certificate for being ‘runner up’ in the ‘milk carton tower contest’ in kindergarten! This list is helping me, and, hopefully, will help you too!
1. Make A List & Rip It Up!
Make a list of all of the drawers, cupboards, shelves, curio cabinets and areas around your home (including the garage) that you’d like to have organized and decluttered. Rip it into strips so that each listed item is on a separate strip of paper. Fold up each strip and place it in a plastic bag. Now take out your calendar and draw a big happy face on the day or 1/2 day each month that you will dedicate to decluttering. When the day arrives to declutter each month…. you guessed it! Pull a strip out of the bag and then DO IT!
2. Don’t Organize A Room; Organize A Drawer Or A Shelf.
If you finish, and still have energy and motivation, pick another until the room is done!
3. Make A Date To Declutterate!
15 minutes, just 15 minutes (unless you can spare 30)! Which morning or evening in your week gives you the most consistent chill-out time? Commit to spending 15 minutes on decluttering one single solitary space. Maybe it’s your underwear drawer? Likely it’s your makeup drawer! Perhaps it’s your sock drawer? Is it your car’s glove compartment? Commit to this every week and notice the progress you make!
4. The Hanger Trick.
Turn around all of the hangers in your closet so they hook backwards, or put a twisty on them all, or tie a piece of string around each one. As you wear each item, turn the hanger around, or unmark it. At the end of 6 months, if you didn’t wear it, donate it to someone who will!
5. Box-It.
Set up boxes or sections of the floor for “absolutely keep,” “donate,” “decide later,” and “toss it,” then, as you pull things out, separate accordingly. Take the ‘toss its’ to the trash bin immediately. Take the donate things out of the room, and put them in your car. Go back to the “decide laters” and break them into “absolutely keeps” and “donates,” making sure that you “donate” at least 1/2 – make yourself choose (“do I want to keep this chipped coffee mug with the cute picture or do I want to keep this cherry pitter?”). IMMEDIATELY drive to a donation center and get rid of the ‘donate’ box before you change your mind [MAKE SURE TO GET A DONATION RECEIPT FOR YOUR CHARITABLE TAX DEDUCTIONS!]. Then neatly organize the “keeps.”
6. The 12-12-12 Challenge.
Find 12 things that are taking up space that you can throw away, and do so. Find 12 things that are neither useful or beautiful and donate them. Find 12 things that are not where they belong, and find a place for them.
7. Play “If I Could, Would I?”
Having difficulty deciding on whether to keep or toss a certain item? Ask yourself this …. ‘if I didn’t have one of these, would I go out and get one now?,’ or ‘if this tore or broke, would I replace it?’ If the answer is ‘no,’ it can go!
8. Play “I Don’t Remember You.”
Pick a declutter project, for instance, do you have lots and LOTS of collectibles? Go to a nice, quiet, peaceful place, away from your collection, and make yourself a list of every single item from that collection that you have. Now go back to the room with your collection. If something didn’t make that list, pull it out of the collection and either give it to someone who you know would love it, sell it, or donate it.
9. Play “My Nose Knows Where Everything Goes!”
Have kids with a messy room? Make organizing a game. Sit on a chair, put on a crown, get a scepter (a broom stick or duster will work), then point to an out of place item, announce “my nose knows where everything goes!,” point to an item and point to where it goes. Although the TRUE reward is the decluttered room, make sure there is a prize at the end (a good one would be some sort of organizing item, like a drawer divider or pretty baskets to organize ‘stuff’). [Confession: My mother invented this “game” and “played” it with me and my sisters, and, YES, I’ve had her come over to my house to play it with me recently!]
10. Return It.
Are you storing things for a friend or family member? Now is the time to call them up and have them decide if they are going to come and get it. If not, it’s time for it to go! That old prom dress that you are holding on to for your grown daughter might mean less to her than you think! (Obviously, if you’re storing for someone due to a present emergency, allow them to get on their feet before doing this.)
11. Repurpose It.
As you declutter, use your creativity to turn your useless ‘stuff’ into useful stuff. Those extra cupcake pans make great drawer organizers in a craft room. The old CD or letter sorter can hold plastic container lids. Got shoe boxes? Put the tops on the bottom to stabilize and use the open boxes on closet shelves or in drawers to organize smaller items. Got an empty closet in your craft room or office that doesn’t need to house clothes? Put an unused bookshelf in it, or pick up one from a yard sale (if you can resist getting other ‘stuff’), add some baskets, and, voila, you have a place to organize your office supplies, craft items, fabric pieces and notions rather than a wide open closet to shove things in! Have a bunch of board games that you never use or are missing pieces? Frame them and hang them in your game room or den as decor (or THROW THEM AWAY!) OR, if you have a bunch of board games that you DO use, frame them (with plexi-glass), hang them in your game room/den and store the game pieces behind them in a zipper bag so you can take them off of the wall and play with them (wanna picture of this idea? Ask me!)!
12. Shoot It!
Tempting as it might be to do target practice (I do mine with rubber bands!) on unwanted clutter, this kind of ‘shooting’ would involve a camera. Open up those drawers and cupboards and take a quick before picture. If you have the courage, post it on Social Media or just send it to a friend. After you’ve finished decluttering that spot, shoot another picture, share the before and after, then bask in the feeling of accomplishment!
