Top 3 organizing Mistakes to Avoid, Part 2

November 19th, 2011 General Organizing Advice

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What is the 2nd home organization mistake that I want to help you avoid?

Home organization mistake #2: Buying up a bunch of organizing supplies like totes, bins and baskets before you tackle the decluttering process.

I know, it’s oh SO fun to walk into Target or the Container Store and get caught up in the excitement of the colorful baskets and the potential for getting organized by buying stuff. I get all tingly walking into Storables myself, I get it! But, but, but, I know the pitfalls of buying first and I see unused organizing products and organizing books in clients homes all the time.

1) You don’t actually know what you need until you know what you have. I have literally worked with clients that I thought were going to need big wall units from Ikea to hold all their stuff. Then they went through their belongings, made solid decisions about what to keep or let go and boom-they didn’t need 2 wall units, just one. I recently had one client who didn’t even need a wall unit once they decluttered a closet that could then be used for storage.

The moral of the story-declutter first, see what you have left and then reward yourself with a shopping trip to store everything that you chose to keep. Don’t forget to label!

If you missed it, you can read home organization mistake #1 here.

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