A Fool-Proof, Pain-Free Guide to Organizing Your Home
Americans spend a whopping $32 billion a year storing enough stuff to fill 2.3 billion square feet of storage space. That’s the size of 21,904 Wal-Marts! Using self-storage as a “stuff management” solution is not only expensive, it can be aggravating. Hauling items to the storage facility and later digging through piled-high boxes to find that one thing is time consuming and exhausting. Decluttering and organizing will take care of much of that!
Start Somewhere, Anywhere
One of the main reasons why clutter creeps up is because our busy, over-packed lives cause us to think we must find a big chunk of time to do all the decluttering at once. Our first tip on decluttering is to just take a deep breath and choose one space to clean out at a time. Whether it’s as big as a closet or as small as a dresser drawer, choosing one space helps you to gain the confidence and motivation you need to tackle the rest. Remember, it’s not the size of the space, but the fact that you started.
Be Prepared to Declutter Quickly
Whether you choose a large project like your garage or a smaller project like your kitchen drawers, you will need to come prepared. Here are five easy steps to reaching decluttering success:
- Gather up three decluttering boxes or bags.
- Clearly mark them Keep, Toss, Donate.
- Empty all contents from the area you are decluttering.
- Determine if each item should be placed in the Keep, Toss or Donate box. Only keep items that you have used recently and are in good working order. Toss all broken or unusable items. If the item is in good working condition and would be of value to someone else, add to your Donate box. Be sure to donate duplicate items you will undoubtedly find.
- Now that your space is empty, be sure to clean it out. Cleaning is a quick and easy process in an empty storage space. Conclude this step by taking a moment to enjoy your sparkling clean area!
Organize Your Storage Spaces
Now that your space is cleaned out, you are ready to organize it the way you have always wanted. A pro tip organization experts believe in is, “A space for everything and everything in its place.” Before moving your “keep” items back into your newly clean space, think about using the following organizational tools to ensure your space stays declutter:
- Inexpensive bins, boxes and dividers make great organizing tools for drawers and closets. You can find a variety of sizes and shapes that will fit your storage spaces, large and small. Don’t forget to think outside the box — for example, use kitchen drawer dividers to keep small items sorted and easy to access in your dressers and bathroom drawers.
- Label your bins and boxes. Organizational experts agree that when we label our storage spaces we are more likely to stay organized. Imagine the time and energy you will save when our items are easy to find and within reach.
- Return your “keep” items to your closet or drawers. Sort alike items and place them into your labeled areas. If you find you still have too many items to fit easily back into your space, think about adding to your Donate boxes and bags.
- Now, take another step back and look at your amazing progress! Doesn’t it feel great to see the fruits of your labor?
Decluttering Means Donating
Your “keep” items are back in their clean and organized space, your “toss” items have been safety disposed of, so now it’s time to “donate!” Instead of going through the expense of storing items and the emotional distress of too much clutter, donate your no longer used and good condition items. Donating already boxed and bag items is easy, free and feels awesome! Here’s how:
- Easy! Forget loading your boxes and bags into your car, driving to a donation site only to unload your items yourself. There is a much easier way to donate to worthy community organizations, such as the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). The VVA helps our veteran heroes and their families through your generous donations. Just CLICK HERE to schedule your donation pickup for a future date and on the day of your choosing, a Pickup Please driver will come to your door and haul away your items.
- Did we say free? Yes we did! Your donation pickup by the Pickup Please professionals is completely free, no matter how many pick-ups you schedule or the size of your donations. Remember, you can declutter your home one space at a time and schedule as many pickups as you need to get your entire home decluttered. For more info about what items can be donated, CLICK HERE.
- Feel awesome! Following our fool proof and pain free guide to organizing your home will leaving you feeling awesome. Your newly organized spaces will bring a sense of calm to your home and donating to the VVA will bring you happiness.
As a recent New York Times article noted, “Getting organized is unquestionably good for both mind and body — reducing risks for falls, helping eliminate germs and making it easier to find things like medicine and exercise gear…if you can’t find your sneakers, you aren’t taking a walk.” Follow this pain-free, fool-proof guide to organizing your home and your mind, body and wallet will all be thanking you — as will veterans in your community!
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