Click Here To Get Organized and Relax.
Entries Tagged 'Decluttering' ↓
organized coat closet
Are you nervous when you open your coat closet? Do you have to put your hands up to ‘protect the face’ just in case things might come tumbling out? Baseball bats, games, wrapping paper, boxes of paper swept from the table and even coats might be squeezed in there. Fear no more, you CAN cut closet clutter easily!
The nice thing about a coat closet is the size. It usually isn’t very big so it can be tackled in just one decluttering session. If you truly feel overwhelmed or have very little time or energy for your project, you can even break the closet down into sections and do a little at a time. You can start with the top shelf, move to the clothing bar and then on down to the floor.
Follow these four organizing tips to cut clutter from your own coat closet:
Organizing Tip #1: Decide what you want to store in your closet. It has to be reasonable because this is a small space. Once you know what you want to store, it will make it easier to make decisions about what needs to leave the closet for good. Some things you may want to keep: Coats (novel), games, hook for purse, vacuum cleaner, shoes, baskets with hats & gloves.
Organizing Tip #2: Decide if you are going to tackle the whole closet or one area each organizing session.
Organizing Tip #3: Choose a date & time and go for it!
Organizing Tip #4: Get a boxes or bags to have close by while you are working and label them. Common labels: Garbage, Donation, Recycle.
Organizing Tip #5: Make firm decisions one at a time for each item in the closet. Is it for the garbage? Is it to be donated? Is it for the recycle bin? Does it need to be moved to another area of your home? Does it need to stay in the closet because it fits with your goals for what you would like to store in the closet?
Once you have cleared your closet of everything that should be removed, make sure that the items you keep have ‘homes’ such as gloves and hats in baskets so they are easy to round up and find again. Tackle that coat closet today and show it who’s boss-you are!
Tags: Closet Organizing, clutter, cut clutter, Decluttering, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing tips
Boy oh boy, it sure doesn’t take long for a purse to become a catch-all dumping ground! My daughter calls her purse a Mary Poppin’s purse because she carries such a variety of stuff in hers. But she’s a teenager and colored pencils are probably OK for her. But if you’re struggling to dig through your purse and find what you need, it may be time for a little purse organizing session. Here are 6 easy organizing tips to help you organize your purse quickly:
1) Take everything out so you can see what you have. It’s just like decluttering in your home, you have to see what you have so you know what you are dealing with.
2) Throw away all of the garbage, wrappers & receipts that you don’t need to keep, just get them out of the way right away. (Read more about organizing receipts right here).
3) Limit the items that you are going to keep in your purse to a reasonable amount. Can you keep just two tubes of lip gloss instead of five? Is one nail file sufficient? You can always add another one if you lose it.
4) If you seem to gather a lot of receipts, place a zippered pencil pouch in your purse to round them up so they aren’t floating around in your purse causing clutter.
5) Create homes in your purse by placing items in the same place every time. Place your keys in the same pocket every time, place your lip gloss in the same area every time. This way you can count on finding what you need quickly every time. This is just like giving items a “home” as you would inside the house.
6) Clean out your purse on a regular basis. Taking just 2 minutes to throw away garbage while you are waiting at the gas station for your car to fill up is helpful.
Stay on top of your purse clutter so you don’t have to feel frustrated digging in the black hole!
Your Home Organization Expert-Monika
Tags: clutter, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing tips, purse organization
Don’t be alarmed! But do expect a certain amount of messiness (do I dare say clutter?) while you are going through the decluttering process. When I work with clients they are usually overwhelmed by their piles and don’t know where to begin to unearth everything.
cluttered garage
As we start pulling items out to sort and make decisions on what to keep and what to part with, oftentimes the space looks even worse for a while! When I am working with clients, I am always reassure them that this is part of the process. We will have labeled boxes or bags around us for garbage & donations and we will probably need to spread out. . The biggest domino effect is when we find items that need to be moved to another area of the home. This may make other rooms look cluttered. I always tell clients that we have to start with one area and preserve our goal of getting that area in shape. This may mean other areas of the home will have to be addressed later, but we can only focus on one are at a time.
part of the decluttering process
Someone may even drive by your house and think there is a garage sale going on. Hey, that could be a great way to unload a few things and make some money on the spot!
To make sure you don’t get overwhelmed by the process, follow these six organizing tips:
Organizing Tip #1: Take one small area at a time. Don’t pull too much out at once, by the time you pull it all out, you may be too tired to deal with it!
Organizing Tip #2: Keep all of your supplies right in the area you are working so you don’t have to run around. This would include labeled bags for garbage, donations and recycle.
Organizing Tip #3: Keep a box or bin labeled, “Another Room” for all the items that you are keeping that need to be moved to another area of your home. Don’t run around dropping these things off while you are supposed to be decluttering and organizing. Leave it to the end and then go put them in their correct locations.
Organizing Tip #4: Remember that there will be some chaos before the calm. This is normal and it is part of the process. Do not be alarmed! 
Organizing Tip #5: Get some help so you don’t get too worn out if you have a big project.
Organizing Tip #6: Allow yourself to work in chunks of time that feels manageable to you. This isn’t TV and it’s not going to be done in 30 minutes like it looks like on TV. You can make progress in as little as 15 minutes; I usually work in 3 hour blocks with my clients so we can get a lot done without wearing everyone out. You don’t want to get burned out on your first go around!
Look at how lovely in just 3 hours and we found $500 cash that day in a box!!
organized garage
For more tips on how to declutter your home, please stay with me and read more here!
Tags: clutter, declutter your home, Decluttering, DIY organization, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing tips, overwhelmed
Let me share 10 reasons with you why going from this:
To this rocks!
Organized Garage!
When you are organized:
1) You greatly reduce your stress level! Every time you can’t find what you need it causes stress. Every time you walk past an area that you know you should be organizing, it causes stress.
2) You can find what you need! Imagine that! You can get your hands right on the items you are loooking for: sweet!
3) You save money. When you can’t find what you need, you go out and buy another one. Now you’ve spent money on something you already have ‘somewhere.’
4) You reduce duplicates. When you know what you have and how to find it, you will reduce the need to run out and buy another one which creates even more cluttter-nooooo!
5) You can use your space. It’s awesome that this garage can now be used for the family to play ping pong and they can even pack up their camping gear easily for a family trip!
6) You can invite people into your home. You won’t have to run around closing door and shoving stuff in closets before company comes. You can invite people into your home without being embarrassed!
7) You can protect your belonging that have meaning to you. You don’t want your special treasures buried beneath a pile of stuff that doesn’t have meaning to you-no way!
8) Your home can be your haven. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home and feel good there? I think so.
9) You can showcase belongings that show what your interests are. When your home is cluttered, nothing stands out. But when you declutter and get organized, you can easily see the items that reflect your personality.
10) You don’t have to feel guilty that you haven’t gotten organized and you will no longer have to feel overwhelmed by your stuff!
These are all awesome reasons to get organized and you may have few of your own-I’d love to hear what they are! If you need help getting organized, please consider my decluttering video that will show you have to get organized on your own easily, step-by-step!
Tags: decluttering video, DIY organization, get organized, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organized garage, overwhelmed
If you’re looking at overwhelming piles of clutter in your home, do you wonder where or how you should start to declutter? I find that people get stuck because they are stressed out and overwhelmed by the volume of “stuff” they have and they are struggling to figure out how to tackle it. Can you relate? It may be boxes of stuff that haven’t been opened for years. Who knows what surprises they hold?! It may be that movers mixed up all types of items in boxes and you now have the job of sifting through the mishmosh now. Whatever it is you may be facing, tackling it is as simple as A-B-C!
A: Assess Your Space
Start by taking a lot at the space that you want to organize. Now put on your blinders. Look at just one area that is stressing you out as a starting point. You can’t do the whole room at once, so just choose the one area that you CAN do.
Now think about your goals for that space. How do you want to use it? How do you want it to look? How do you want the space to feel?
B: Bring on the Organizing Supplies
Bring your organizing supplies to the area that you will be working in. You don’t want to be buzzing around the house grabbing stuff the whole time you are decluttering, this will save you time & energy!
Make sure you have a garbage bag as well as donation bags with clear labels. If you are tackling paper clutter, then be sure to have a recycle bin & shredder at hand.
C: Conquer the Clutter
It’s time to make solid decisions on what to keep and what to let go. Don’t get overwhelmed here, take it one item at a time, that’s all you can do, you can’t make 4 decisions at a time now can you? One decision at a time really will get ‘er done!
Ask yourself:
1) Am I using this item?
2) Do I like this item?
3) Does this item have special meaning to me?
4) Does this item bring back negative thoughts and feelings?
5) Am I really going to get this fixed?
Make sure you keep the items that bring you joy and fit with the goals you have for the space. Follow the ABC’s to declutter your home and enjoy your space the way it was meant to be enjoyed!
Tags: declutering your home, Decluttering, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing supplies, overwhelming, paper clutter, piles, recycle, shred, space, stressed
This sandbox has been a staple in my backyard for countless years…and it has finally been outgrown. In some ways I’m glad to see it go since it got pretty icky inside when the lid was left of from time-to-time, one more thing on the to-do list. But on the other hand, I’m a little sad to see it go, knowing that my kids are past this stage of playing. Laptops and cell phones have trumped the sandbox. So, last night I diligently scrubbed it out in my driveway and listed it for free on Craigslist, maybe someone else can still get some use out of it. Someone who isn’t old enough for a cell phone yet.
Don’t be afraid to declutter the outgrown toys, books, clothes & interests that your children once had. I often find that parents have a harder time getting rid of these things than the kids do! I think we see the sentimental side of when our children were younger and possibly even much sweeter.
Feel free to create a keepsake box and save some special items or take photos and create a scrapbook. But don’t hold onto too much because we need to move on, just like our kids already have. Bye, bye sandbox, you were awesome!
Your Home Organization Expert-Monika
Tags: books, children, declutter, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, keepsake box, toys
To Do List
As you’re going through your day, do you keeping adding just one more thing to your to do list? Maybe you’re out running errands and you just want to make ‘one more’ stop. Possibly you want to squeeze in ‘one more’ household chore while you’re on a roll. You may be at the mall and want to run into ‘one more’ store, real quick. But what happens to our balance when we keep trying to squeeze in one more thing? It gets thrown off. It’s great to have a to do list to keep you focused, it’s great to check things off our lists, but we need to be reasonable about just how many to do’s we have on our daily list. If you keep adding on, you will take time away from something else in your day, possibly family time, reading time, exercise time, whatever it may be for you.
When you create a to do list follow these 5 organizing tips to help you get things done:
1) Keep it short. If you have a long to-do list, make it your “master” list.
2) Write down 3-5 items from your master list and create a “stubby’ to do list. This is more reasonable then a never-ending list AND it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you can cross each thing off and complete your list for the day!
3) Estimate how long each task will take you to complete, including drive time. This will help you be more realistic about how much you can get done.
4) Batch your tasks together if you can. For example, run several errands that are all located in one shopping center so you save on drive time & gas.
5) Choose the highest priority items from your master list each day so you know you are knocking out the most important tasks on your list.
Improve your life balance by being kind to yourself when you create lists that are reasonable and ‘doable!” Please read more on how to make choices for life balance here.
Tags: Balance-Family, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing tips, Self, time management, To Do list, work
Cluttered Table
When a space goes from this, to this:
Uncluttered Table
Then you probably want it to stay that way. After all, you did all that work! First, let me remind you that organizing is a process it is not an event. This means you will have a lovely, clear table with a pretty pot of flowers on it. But it doesn’t magically stay that way. We live in our homes, we use our homes and we get stuff out. And that is OK; that’s why we have homes, they are to live in! Once you clear that table, you will just need to continue the process by staying organized or restoring order when things do get a bit messy as they most likely will.
Here are 5 organizing tips to keep you on top of your game!
1) If you get something out, put it away. That may sound pretty basic, but it’s common for people to get something out and then leave it out which contributes to clutter.
2) Make time to restore order, whether that’s once a week or 15 minutes at the end of every day. If you don’t make time, it won’t get done.
3) Write down why you want to get organized in the first place and revisit that from time to time. This will help keep you motivated to maintain your system!
4) Tweak your system as needed. Set up an organizing system to the best of your ability at the time you are organizing. As you use it, don’t be afraid to make changes if something isn’t working. This isn’t a failure, this is making your system work for you!
5) Don’t bring more into your space then your space can handle. If you don’t have room, either don’t bring it in or let something else go to create space.
For more tips on how to get a handle on your clutter to stay organized, please read more here. Have an awesome day!!
Tags: clutter, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, order, organized, organizing
Overwhelming Clutter
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by the clutter in your home that you just plain felt frozen? Did you feel like you didn’t have the energy or motivation to tackle it? I have a client who once told me if I wasn’t there she would just shut the door and go get a cup of coffee. This is very common because I find that people are so overwhelmed that they don’t know where to begin. What activities do you default to when you feel so overwhelmed by the piles in your home?
- 1) Facebook?
- 2) Solitaire?
- 3) Email?
- 4) Eating?
- 5) Watching TV?
- 6) Shopping? Which will probably mean more stuff coming in.
- 7) Talking on the phone?
-
Exercise? At least you’re doin’ a body good. - 9) Scrapbooking?
- 10) Any other possible activity that will take you away from the clutter for one more day.
Decluttered Basement
If you are feeling overwhelmed by housework or clutter in multiple rooms of your home, try these tips on for size:
- 1) Start on one area and stick to that one area. Do not try to clean or declutter multiple areas at once. You are only one person and you should stick to one area.
- 2) Start small. Give yourself permission to just work for 30 minutes or even 15 minutes if you have to. Just knowing that the task won’t go on ‘forever’ will make it easier to swallow.
- 3) Get accountable. Tell someone you are going to get organized. Set a date with someone to help you so you have to do it. Write it on your calendar so you don’t schedule something else to do.
- 4) Realize that you may have a domino effect as you move things into other rooms. Eventually you will get to those rooms too, don’t worry!
- 5) Have a reward planned for a job well done. Even if it’s something small like a bubble bath, whatever works as a pat on the back for you!
You can take charge and show clutter who’s the boss-you are!!
Your Home Organization Expert-Monika
Tags: clutter, declutter, get organized, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, overwhelmed
cluttered closet
Picture standing in front of your closet looking at:
1) Hangers of all different types mixed up (wire, plastic, tubular)
2) Clothes spilling onto the floor
3) Clothes all mixed up: shirts, pants, skirts all willy nilly
4) Heaps of shoes
5) All seasons of clothing mixed together
6) The right sizes, the wrong sizes, sizes from 10 years ago…
Sound familiar?
How’s a girl to pull together a cute outfit without starting the day in a fit of stress? And who needs a fit of stress first thing in the morning? Not me, I’m grumpy enough already! Here are 5 DIY organization tips to reclaim your closet:
1) Put clothing of the same type together and see just how much you have. Put all the shirts together, all the jeans together, all the pants together and then let go of the extras. When you see just how much you have it makes it easier to let some go!
2) Remove clothes from the closet that don’t fit. You really should be able to reach into your closet and wear anything that is there. If you are really close to fitting back into a smaller size, then place those clothes together in one area of your closet. It’s even better if you can remove the clothing that doesn’t fit to another closet or under bed storage.
3) Let go of clothing that is stained, sloppy, damaged-go out looking good, not sloppy!
4) Let go of clothing that you aren’t wearing, you won’t miss it because you aren’t wearing it! If it doesn’t fit right, is uncomfortable, looks bad on you, whatever it is-let it go!
5) After you downsize, place all of your clothing on matching hanger and be sure to get rid of unsightly wire hangers. It really is amazing how much less cluttered the closet looks with matching hangers.
For an easy closet organizing secret, read more here…
Tags: closet, closet organizing secret, clothing, cluttered, declutter, decluttering tips, DIY organization, diy organization tips, hangers, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog
