organized: de-cluttering

I had a reader request to talk about a few organizational tricks, as it is one of my passions :)

To me, a big part of getting organized is to first de-clutter a space. This takes away the overwhelming process, breaks it up and you may end up doing what you needed done!

De-Cluttering:
Pick one area of your space

Step One: take everything off your shelf/drawer, whatever space you are trying to organize.
Take your items and separate them into bins labeled the following: (putting them into bins gives you the freedom to leave a project half way through and not feel like you have a mess, just tuck the bins away or stack them on themselves)

put back here  |  put somewhere else  | give away

*and a garbage for trash

Step 2: deal with these piles - take them to where they need to go, find homes for the items that are going somewhere else and keep the give away bin near by to continue to add to it -- this is a way to stay organized while you are organizing and not get out of control.

TIP:  only keep what you need-- If you're like me or my husband, you like to keep things for a long time for no reason.. This hurts the problem, ask yourself if you're REALLY going to need this item here. If you REALLY feel like you can't part with it but you don't need it up in your space, try this:  start a bin for keepsakes that you have and store in a garage or other storage area. We've been super successful with this.

Step 3: go through the pile of stuff you wanted to keep and put them up, decorate, organize it, however you would like. Chances are as you are putting and placing things back in your space, you'll realize that there are more items you can purge. Don't hold back and go with your instincts.

TIP: utilize labels, baskets, drawer dividers, cute bowls, anything that can help you organize any type of space. They don't all have to be actual organizing tools, you can find lots of great stuff in your own home!

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motto: Everything has a Home.
 
If it doesn't have a home, you don't actually need it.
 
Using this motto can help to keep this space organized, don't just plop things back down in the space, ask yourself if it belongs there, continue to keep things in their places/homes.

motto: Less is totally more

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