Declutter It!

Tackle closets for an organized & clutter-free home

This week we’re talking about getting an organized and clutter-free home for the new year. A good place to start is somewhere small. For example, tackling your closets is a great place to start.

Closets are easier than other home areas to organize and declutter, mainly because they tend to be small, and because there are plenty of inexpensive organizational products available that can help you.

Closet tips:

Plan a day. Because closets are small, it’s unnecessary to drag this out. Choose a free day, and plan to declutter and organize your closet from start to finish.

Most closets only need a good purging. Overstuffed is the big issue here.

To purge your closet…
Read More - Tackle closets for an organized & clutter-free home

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Get An Organized & Clutter-Free Home for the New Year

To kick off your new year right, I’m going to do a small series this week - a room by room guide to getting organized and decluttered. Of course, a real, in-depth organizational system and deep decluttering takes a lot, but this series should get you started.

Before we get going, I wanted to post some basics tips. These posts linked below are some of the basics we’ve seen here at Declutter It, and they should get you thinking about how you’re going to go about organizing and decluttering your whole house.

• What exactly is clutter?
• One of the first things you should do before organizing your house
• Getting Rid of Dead Space
• You won’t go to Hades for tossing that (fill in the blank) out
• Visualize A Clutter Free Space
• Organize the worst first - yes or no?

Coming up this week, we’ll be looking at the basics of creating a clutter-free and organized kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kids space, and more.

Which room are you most interested in getting organized this year?

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HamperRack from Perfect Curve

Perfect Curve recently sent me a heads up about their new HamperRack, which does seem pretty handy. I’ve actually seen more attractive hampers, but what this HamperRack has going for it, is that it hangs easily over any door. You can sort either dirty laundry into the bags, or use them to hold dry cleaning.

Benefits:

• Space saving design - up off the floor. That’s nice because ours are on the floor and we’re always tripping around them.
• Each bag is hung on an adjustable up and down hook (in case you’re extra tall or short) and the bag easily attaches and un-attaches from said hook.
• The bags are made of mesh fabric which allows air to circulate, which means less oders and moisture.
• Bags include drawstring closure and easy-Carry handle for trips to and from the laundry room.

Visit Perfect Curve to learn more.

[image via Perfect Curve]

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Mistakes people make with their filing system

To kick off the year, I’ve been running a filing series. So far we’ve looked at:

• Why Willy-Nilly Filing Systems Suck - Plan Ahead for the Best Filing System
• What you should include in your filing system outline

Mistakes when making a filing system are common, especially if you’ve never set one up before. Here are some mistakes that will sink the typical filing system (which is why it’s good to plan).

Too few categories - such as putting bills, stocks, and employment info all together because they have money in common. You need to split categories up into more manageable chunks that make sense.

Too many categories - obsure categories will make scanning your files difficult. You don’t need to divide your dental file up into bills / work done / x-rays / and more. Just stick all your dental stuff together. If you split the files per person in the household, it’ll be fine.

Useless categories - having files for funny comics you collect is not necessary, takes up space, and makes the necessary stuff harder to locate. Keep it simple and useful is a good rule of thumb.

Tiny writing on your files - if you label your file folder with tiny text, it’ll frustrate you.

You picked a system that makes no sense to you - Some people can use purely alphabetical categories like; bills, couch warranty, dental, finances, and so on. However, for most people I’ve met, a broken down system works better. I.E make broad categories like “household appliances” then alphabetize the items in that category; blender, DVD player, ice cream maker, TV, and so on. Make sure you pick a system that makes sense to you AND that you label categories in a way you’ll remember.

Are you starting a file system this year?

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What you should include in your filing system outline

in the last post, Why Willy-Nilly Filing Systems Suck - Plan Ahead for the Best Filing System, I said I’d be back with a basic plan for what you should include in your filing system outline.

Here are some major categories you need to plan for:

Taxes - and if I were you, I’d plan to separate them by year.

Insurance:

• Home or renters
• Health (per person)
• Dental (per person)
• Auto (per car)

Medical records per person.

Receipts:

• Repairs for home or car.
• Health care costs.
• Purchases.
• Holiday - I always keep holiday receipts for a couple of months, just in case.

Banking - separated by account; also you can include credit card info in this area.

Retirement - 401K or other

Stocks and bonds

Bills - make a category for each bill, and then set bills aside for 12 mos. After a year purge old bills.

Instructions

Warranties

Home info - in this category I’d include rental or mortgage info.

Some people also include fun stuff in their filing system, like recipes, decorating tips, and more. I’m not a fan of this because a filing system is large enough when you only include the necessary items. If you’d like a fun file section, I’d put in in a different place. You could use a different filing cabinet, or if you don’t have too many docs, the same file cabinet, in another drawer.

Next up, mistakes people make when planning their filing system.

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Why Willy-Nilly Filing Systems Suck - Plan Ahead for the Best Filing System

With the New Year right here upon us, you may have set a goal for finally getting those papers, brochures, and other important documents filed properly. You can get motivated, go nuts, and fast track a filing set-up, but the chances of it fulfilling all your filing needs, or lasting for the long-term, are slim.

The number one best thing you can do is make an outline BEFORE you set up your filing system. Why?

You likely have tons of various documents, warranties, and other important papers. If you’re going to be able to find them, they need to be filed in a way you’ll understand and use. Before creating a system, you’ll need to decide what sort of system to use and if that system will work for all your papers.

An outline allows you to see what you should keep vs. what is disposable. As you go through that stack of papers, with filing in mind, it doesn’t make much sense to keep useless items. Making an outline of what you have helps you to decide what to keep and what to toss.

Without a plan, it’s very easy to get frustrated and give up. Then, all you have is that stack of papers sitting there, without a home.

Overall, a filing system serves three major purposes:

• A good system allows you to find what you need fast.
• A good system keeps paper clutter off your desk/floor/table.
• A good system allows you to feel secure; i.e. you can always find old taxes, health insurance papers, or that gift receipt.

If you don’t plan, you may end up with a system that does none of the above. Trust me, I’ve been there-done that. Why make mistakes if you don’t have to? That said, In the next post or two, we’ll look at what belongs in your filing system outline, and some common filing outline/system mistakes.

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Visualize A Clutter Free Space

You don’t need to visualize the exact space above, but all in all, if you can visualize a clutter-free space, you may have a better chance at eliminating clutter and getting organized in the upcoming year.

Visualizing what you’d like to see in your home is important. Right now, if your home is over-cluttered, all you see and feel is obviously clutter. That’s overwhelming and not great motivation for change. However, if you can visualize a new space, a new look, a new way of living, you may just be motivated enough to pull it off.

Some ideas:

• If you’re extra creative, imagine your space how you’d love it to look. Sketch it out, or just make notes about it.
• If you’re not into imagining interior design yourself, browse some home interior books (minimalist-based), or look through your favorite home magazines for examples of your dream space. You can even clip images you like. It’s true, you may not get your space exactly like that one you see in Real Simple, but you can work toward a similar adaptation.
• Imagine how you might feel differently coming home to your visualized space vs. the one you’re living in now. Do you think you’ll feel more relaxed, more clear-headed, more inclined to have guests over? How will a new space help you?

To get some beautiful ideas, check out some of the Visual Motivation posts here at Declutter It. Such as…

• Streamlined Mizuya Kitchen
• The most clean cut bath in the world!
• Calm Living Space

Can you see your perfect, clutter-free, organized space in your head? What’s it like?

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Holiday Wrap-Up - Declutter Your Holiday Gear

This year when you’re packing up your holiday decor, wrap, and ornaments, you should take a little extra time to declutter it.

I guarantee that you have some holiday stuff that’s not only unnecessary, but probably some you don’t even like. As you pack up, question all your holiday gear.

Items you should give away include stuff like…

• Those Christmas lights that would work if you got a new bulb - if you haven’t done it, and it’s been over two years, toss the lights.
• Almost burned out holiday candles.
• Flat, torn, bent, or unsightly gift wrap bows.
• Ornaments that never make it out of the ornament box and onto the tree.
• Ornament or decor gifts that you’ve always hated, but keep out of respect to the giver. Trust me, they probably don’t remember that 2001 fuzzy lamb ornament they gave you. Plus, if you haven’t used a decoration in at least three years, odds are, you won’t ever.
• Gift wrap odds and ends that are too small or weirdly shaped to actually use. Recycled these to your kid’s art supply collection.
• Gift wrap that you have in abundance but that is totally lame; as in you wouldn’t be caught dead giving a gift wrapped in it. Send this to the thrift store.
• Anything broken.
• Decor your kids made. Unless they go up year after year, these items belong in a child’s keepsake box, not stored with your holiday gear.

If you take an hour to do a quick sort and purge each holiday season, you’ll have less to pack up, less storage space used up, and a clutter-free holiday kick off next year.

Do you have any holiday gear that should be recycled or tossed?

[image via stock.xchng]

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DIY Holiday Ornament Storage

In Pack Up the Holidays: Ornament, Decoration, & Gift Wrap Storage I shared some conventional, easy to purchase ideas for holiday storage. If you’re looking for a DIY solution though, here’s what to do.

1. Head to your local liquor store.
2. Beg for boxes - preferably boxes with compartments, however, alcohol boxes are way heavy, so even without compartments, they’re better than typical boxes.

If you scored compartment boxes: Read More - DIY Holiday Ornament Storage

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Declutter Your Christmas Fridge - Use Up Christmas Leftovers

Did you make a little too much of everything this Christmas? Here are some ideas I rounded up that can help you use up Christmas leftovers, and declutter that fridge. After Thanksgiving and Christmas, it might be nice to have a semi-empty fridge again, right?

If you bought Christmas coffee and have leftovers, you could send it to me! Just kidding. I know folks who buy coffee only on holidays; I don’t understand them, but I suppose if that’s you, you might like to read, 20 Uses for Leftover Coffee.

10 Creative Recipes For Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Got lots of leftover baby carrots? Try Curried Carrot Soup.

A bunch of tips about what to do with leftover turkey.

Leftover pumpkin pie smoothie.

If you made ham, I found some ideas at the BBC:

• Smashed peas with cold ham by Tom Norrington-Davies
• Baked eggs with ham and sherry by Christopher Sykes
• Gnocchi with creamy ham by Nick Nairn
• Country ham pie by Emma Crowhurst

Cranberry Sauce and Leftover Ideas

There, lots of smashing ways to clear out the fridge. Oh, and on a P.S. note, I’ll accept not only leftover coffee, but chocolates too. I know; I’m a saint trying to help you declutter like this…

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