Declutter One Room at a Time
There has been a lot written about quick fix solutions to clutter. I’ve read literally hundreds of articles with 8-10 steps to a de-cluttered house, or 15 minute clutter busters. Truthfully, these instant gratification tactics don’t work. Organizing, cleaning, and sometimes parting with one’s stuff is not a quick and easy process. It requires thought, determination, and sometimes the help of a good friend or two. Taking control of clutter, one room at a time, requires blocks of time.
I find it to be a good weekend project. Pick a room to start with. Make it the most chaotic and cluttered room in the house. Schedule a Saturday or Sunday (yes, block out the entire day on your calendar) to work on making this room your new favorite place in the house.
Take the kids to grandmom’s house.
Arm yourself with three big bins (one for donations, one for discards, and one for putting away). Have a box of trash bags on hand, along with a duster, some multi-surface cleaner, window cleaner, paper towels and a vacuum or dust mop.
Now you are ready to de-clutter. Turn on some good music, and make sure you have tall glass of ice water to keep you hydrated.
Take everything, except for furniture, out of the room. Yes, I said everything meaning candy dishes, magazines, books, piles of paper, pictures, dirty clothes, shoes (you get the picture). If it’s the living room that is being worked on, dump the clutter in the dining room. If it’s a bedroom, dump it in the hallway.
First things first, you must clean the room. Dust and wipe down all of the furniture. Vacuum the carpets and upholstery. Wash the windows. Step back, take a deep breath, and feel the freshness.
Next, set up your bins, label them (keep, trash, give), line the trash bin with a trash bag, and start sorting. This is where it is good to have friends around. No matter how much you try to convince yourself that you really are going to read those 20 magazines from last year, good friends will convince you otherwise.
Be ruthless. As you pick up something from the pile, make an immediate decision about where it goes. Do not put it down and come back to it. Once you touch it, a decision has to be made. Quickly decide and put it in a bin.
For sticky situations where something should be a “trash” or “give” item, but it was a gift to you from great aunt Maddie, you might want to do the following. Take a picture of yourself wearing or using the item and make sure that great aunt Maddie has an occasion to see the picture. Take the picture right now while the item is still being held in limbo. Now that the guilt factor is taken care of, put it in a bin and move on.
Continue through the pile. As the “trash” bin fills up, close the bag, put it out with the garbage, and line the bin with another trash bag. As the “give” bin fills, put the contents in a box, seal and label it, and put it in the car for the next time you pass by Goodwill or some other charitable organization. Be sure to keep a list of what you are donating, and to get a receipt. Donations of most “stuff” are tax deductible. The only bin we need to concern ourselves with after this process is the “keep” bin, and if your being honest with yourself, the “keep” bin should not get all that full.
When the sorting is done (and I mean all of the sorting) it becomes time to put away the “keeps”. Hopefully, this will be a fun and short process. Everything in the “keeps” should be neatened and cleaned before being put in its place. Take each item and return it to where it belongs. Pictures and knick knacks should be wiped down. Clothes should be hung up or folded. If there turns out to be a big pile of paper that needs a second sorting, put it neatly away for the day that you tackle household paper clutter (a category unto itself). Learn more about going Paperless. If you finish early, do something nice for yourself. A manicure or yoga class would not be unheard of and might be a nice “thank you” for any friends that helped with the process.
Feel good about what you’ve accomplished and schedule the next room to be de-cluttered for another day.
Monday, July 6, 2009 at 12:00PM