If you have a friend or family member who struggles with #clutter, consider giving them a #holiday #gift that helps get #organized. Good Housekeeping recommends a variety of #containers, #organizers, packing cubes and #storage bins that will help organize everything from charging cables to kitchen implements to yard tools, plus a labelmaker that can help put a name to the place. Once the essentials are organized and stored in a reliable spot, it’s easy to determine what’s extra and inessential — and those things can be #decluttered and #donated to benefit the nation’s #veterans through ClothingDonations.org.
Tag: home organization
When You Need Nothing, Declutter
If you’re anything like the authors of the The Organizing Blog, you don’t really want any thing for Christmas. That’s when you know that the #clutter has gotten to be too much. You need to step back, take a hard look at what you have, and decide — item by item — what can stay and go. Maybe you have enough base layers, sweaters and coats for winter, and you really wear only a tiny portion of them. Or you might have enough glasses and dinnerware to host dozens at your #holiday dinner party, but rarely have more a half-dozen people over at a time. Sort that #stuff into “use” and “don’t-use” piles, and schedule a #donation #pickup with ClothingDonations.org.
In Search of a Clutter-Free Summer
Memorial Day — the unofficial start of summer— has come and gone. If you’re anything like us at The Organizing Blog, you probably used the long weekend to plant some flowers, take a bike ride, visit with friends and/or have a cookout. Fine pursuits!
But do you know what can make one’s enjoyment of those pursuits (and most others) even better? #Organization! A #clutter-free environment knows no season — and it can provide you with the #clarity you need to truly live in the moment.
Think about it: A cluttered space demands attention. Maybe you waste a lot of time looking for things among the stacks of papers, piles of laundry and dusty gewgaws. Or maybe wrangling all that #stuff leaves you with little down time.
Summer is a great time to get those things under control. With good weather and a few hours each week, you can conquer that #clutter — and enjoy all of the seasons to come.
Start with the #garage. Has that #space attracted a lot of stuff that doesn’t have a home elsewhere ? Go through it and ask yourself why you hide #junk there and if you’ll ever really need those things again. Weed out what you don’t have a use for and set it aside.
Along the way, fine-tune your storage of the things that do have a purpose — even if that purpose is occasional, such as holiday decorations. Sort “like” items into labeled bins and boxes that you can find and access easily without a lot of hunting. Shelve or stack them thoughtfully, and you’ll be creating new space!
Next, do the same for the basement. Organizing your below-ground space likely will have the added benefit of helping you keep cool while you work. Set aside the things for which you don’t have a purpose or can’t find a place, and put them in boxes and bags.
See that growing pile of #junk? Slap some price tags on those things and have a quick #garage or #yard #sale. Or click though to ClothingDonations.org to arrange a #free #donation #pickup. You’ll be #helping the nation’s #veterans and be ready to enjoy the rest of the summer #clutter-free!
Breaking With the Decluttering Trends
We at The Organizing Blog like to think that we’re a respected authority in the #decluttering knowledge space, continually lending tips and strategies to get your home and life in order while #donating the things you don’t need to a worthy cause.
We weren’t the first on the scene, of course, and we won’t be the last — dozens of experts and gurus have made careers out of helping people #declutter, and there are as many trendy strategies to help people #minimize and #organize their excess #stuff.
While the scholarship agrees that a #clean and #organized home environment is optimal for one’s mood and health, today we’re going to remind readers that there is no single “right” way to tackle the problem. The right way to #declutter is the way that works for you.
“Decluttering is very much a personal process — it’s your home and your belongings,” says Homes & Gardens. “Some may find it harder than others, preferring a more gentle approach to a more ruthless one, and vice versa.”
For example, Marie Kondo’s much-vaunted KonMari method asks you to sort every category of possession, keeping only the things that “spark joy.” But consider the lowly vegetable peeler: It probably does not spark joy, but it is undeniably useful — and you can feel good about holding onto it.
KonMari isn’t the only game in town, though. Other trendy strategies include the One-Hour Method, the Core 4 Method, the 30-Day Minimalism Challenge, the Move-Out Method, Swedish Death Cleaning, and the One In/One Out Rule.
Some #organizing schemes are just too gimmicky to keep up, Apartment Therapy says. For example, you may overlabel your stuff. You might buy too many organizing products. Or you may be too meticulous about folding and sorting small items such as socks and underwear, wasting time and energy on a single drawer.
Because #organization and #clutter are widespread challenges, the clutterati will keep inventing new ways to deal with them. Try one or invent your own. The strategy that works for you — the one that you can follow and get results — is the best to follow.
Organize So That Everything Has Its Space
Think creatively to keep your home #organized in the new year, Good Housekeeping says. It offers 100 ways to sort out the #stuff in your small spaces such as #drawers and #closets in order to help you store everything more reliably. Use bins to compartmentalize and #organize drawers, install hooks and shelves to take advantage of vertical space, and designate a “drop zone” where everything can be sorted out as it enters the home. When your stuff has a place to be, it’s less likely to get scattered where it doesn’t belong and create #clutter — and you’ll be able to find whatever it is easily when you need it. #OrganizedNewYear