How to Tidy Up Your Home

It’s easy to create a mess in your home, especially after the holidays are over. You have an influx of new items, with nowhere to put them. Or maybe you have a few things that you never use, but just can’t bear to part with. The longer you live in your existing space, the more things seem to pile up, until you find yourself inundated with possessions and end up feel overwhelmed. But you can dig yourself out with some time, patience and a good, firm plan for a renewed organization.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A list of items to be given, or thrown, away
• A filing cabinet, or desk drawers
• A place for every object

1. Get rid of any unnecessary items. Take inventory of your possessions, room by room. Walk through each room in your house and look it over, deciding which items you see that you want to get rid of. Go with your initial instinct, and then stick with it. Carry a list with you, so that you can quickly jot down each item designated for the give-away pile. Once you’ve finished, go back through your house with an empty box, and put the items on your list inside. Put the box near the front door or in your car, to remind you that these are things to be given away. The Salvation Army or Goodwill are great organizations that take donations. You can also contact the Big Brothers and Sisters Association as they are always looking for donations, and will pick them up curb-side, so that you don’t have to drive anywhere. Repeat this step whenever you bring something new into the house. Try and trade one item for another, rather than just collecting and hoarding things. You’ll find that your life will be much more simple and manageable if you practice this routinely.

2. Make paper piles. Much of the mess found in most people’s homes is made up of paper. Paper pile-up comes from the mail, store receipts, children’s school work and school notices, drawings and more. To help from getting overwhelmed, try making piles, designating each pile accordingly:
   
   • Papers to be filed, such as pay stubs, medical records or social security notices
   • Papers to be immediately dealt with, such as bills, phone messages, or gift certificates
   • Papers to be put away in a designated place, such as recipes, phone numbers and addresses, or photographs
   • Papers to be thrown away or recycled

3. Pick up everything off the floor. Just focus on the floor, and disregard any other mess elsewhere. Concentrate on getting everything up and put away where it belongs. Don’t have a place for it? Find one, or consider getting rid of that item.

4. Find a place for everything. If you don’t have a place to put an item, chances are it should not be in your home. Or if you really don’t want to give it away, have it trade places with something else, and then get rid of that item. The bottom line? Each possession within your home should have its own place.

5. Find and embrace the negative space. Just because you have a huge space on the top of your bureau, does not mean that you should fill it up. A room looks a whole lot messier if every space is filled, and conversely, looks much neater and more serene if you go for a minimalist look. Put away the extra things from each shelf, dresser or table, and leave open spaces on every surface of your home, with only a few special items strategically placed. You might find that you feel more peaceful and much calmer if you are living in a house with empty spaces, rather than clutter.

6. Decide which items in your home are closest to your heart, and find a way to showcase them. Most people find that the items they love the most come from the people or places that they love the most. Put away the more impersonal things and display the objects of your heart.

7. Clean out your closets, one room at a time. Take everything out and then decide what should stay and what should go. Put the items you are keeping in piles, according to the type of item it is. Then put the items back into the closet, one pile at a time. Keep like items together. For example, put all your sweaters together on one shelf, sewing materials on another, and so on. If you find that you don’t have enough space for all the items after you’ve taken them out, consider giving away those things that don’t fit. If you don’t have the space for them, and you have nowhere else to put them, you might not need them anymore.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to find objects of nature to bring into your home. Some beautiful, smooth stones, pine cones, flowers, or acorns can help your home take on a warm, peaceful feeling. Put some stones in a large bowl, place fresh flowers in your bathroom, or arrange pine cones and acorns on a decorative plate as the centerpiece for your dinner table.
• When you begin tidying up, take one room at a time. Don’t look at your entire house, or you’ll definitely feel overwhelmed. Just concentrate on one room, tackle it as best you can, and then move on. If you don’t have lots of time, just plan on cleaning one room per day, or whatever you can manage. Try not to put unnecessary pressure on yourself. A messy house can be daunting, but if you go slowly, it will seem much more manageable.
• Sometimes things pile up simply from being out for the day. Designate a place in your house for coats, hats, umbrellas, school work, backpacks, and shoes. Use a coat-rack and hooks, or invest in a piece of furniture expressly built for the job, like a bench with cubby holes, and hooks overhead. You’ll always know where these items are, and they’ll be organized and put away.
• Create a filing system, if you don’t have one already, which holds all your necessary paperwork. It can be in your desk, or a free-standing unit, like a filing cabinet. You can also lessen the need for filing hardcopy by creating files on your computer – but invariably you’ll need to file some papers, regardless of the quality of your computer system.
• Once you’ve cleaned up your mess, don’t get back into the habit of collecting, piling up, throwing down, or procrastinating. In other words, keep up your new habit of a clean space. If you put things away, or throw things away, as they come, then they won’t pile up again. Junk mail? Throw it away, or recycle it that day. A pay stub? File it immediately. Keep on top of things, and you won’t feel overwhelmed again.

Resources

• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Goodwill Industries Internationa, Inc.

[kllmomof2]

on 5/28/2008 Very detail oriented info. Great article