Home organization, simply put, boils down to reducing clutter and giving belongings a home.  Now more goes into getting to that destination, such as making decisions and of course some work but that is the general idea.  Here’s something that seems to  happen commonly that runs people into trouble, they give belongings a ’temporary’ home instead of a permanent home.  Now why does that happen?  It happens for many reasons and it might be happening to you:

• You don’t know where to put it
• You don’t have room or space to give it a home
• You set it down because you might need it someday
• You set it down because you want to remember to give it to someone else
• The item is broken and you mean to go have it fixed
• You don’t like it but you feel bad getting rid of it
• You want to leave it out so you don’t forget about it

But when you leave all these things “out in the open” without a real home, they turn into clutter.  They turn into piles on couches and desks, on counters and floors.  Pretty soon nothing has real value or importance as standing out because you really can’t see or distinguish any of it as particularly important.

Giving belongings a permanent home means that you have to go through what has piled up and make decisons on what to do with your stuff.  That can be scary because you may worry that you will make a mistake and regret parting with something.  Ok, yes you could make a mistake and that’s ok.  If you make a mistake but you feel good in your home again, you can find what you need and you can enjoy having company again, well, that’s worth making a mistake over isn’t it? 

Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I part with this item?”  Most things we can borrow or purchase again if we truly need to.  Be cautious with one-of-a-kind items.  Make those decisions that need to be made to get things fixed, pass them on, or throw them in the garbage if they are beyond repair.  Do what it takes to get your belongings down to what you truly want to keep and then give them a permanent home so they don’t hang around homeless and you can find them easily when you need them!

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Tags: belongings, clutter, Home Organization, homes, permanent home