How to Cut Down on Clutter

If you've ever looked at an interior design magazine you've probably noticed that in most cases the homes pictured share a common characteristic: they aren't filled with clutter. While many of us admire the spare and streamlined look, it isn't always so easy to achieve on a day-to-day basis. If you're craving a more clutter-free home (or at least one that's clutter-reduced), here are some tips to help you out.

Things You'll Need

• Drawers
• Shelves
• Storage
• Containers
• Labels
• Label maker
• Boxes
• Pen

Instructions

1. Keep items you use regularly easily accessible. It seems like a no-brainer, though it doesn't always work out that way. The fact is, if something is easy to get out, it should be easy to put back where it belongs. If you store the salad spinner in the back of your deepest, darkest cabinet, odds are you'll be less inclined to get it back where it belongs right away. Same goes for the toolbox or the curling iron; whatever it is you use on a regular basis, make sure its home is someplace you won't have to work too hard to return it to.

2. Create a place for everything, and put everything in its place. If you don't have file drawers, it's easy for piles of paper to stack up. If you don't have a shoe rack, it's easy for shoes to get piled up. If you don't have a tray for the mail or a binder for the takeout menus or a box for spare buttons, those items stand a good chance of spreading out all over the house. If you group like items together and create a place for everything, you'll be more likely to get it to the right place.

3. Label. If you live alone, this is useful. If you share a home (and the duty of cleaning or organizing), it's even more helpful. You could devise the greatest organization system of all time, but if the people you live with don't know what it is, it won't do much good. Labeling the linen closet (and the linens) can be a big help, so that when you need to make up the sofa bed for a surprise guest you know exactly where the full-size sheets are. If you label your closet shelves, you might be more likely to stick with the system than if you've just made mental note of where things go.

4. The oft-quoted rule is if you haven't used something in a year, get rid of it. This obviously doesn't apply to items with sentimental value, and it certainly doesn't always hold true (don't throw out the ski stuff just because you were too busy to make it to the mountain this winter). But if something isn't beautiful, useful or of sentimental value AND you haven't used it in a year, it can probably go. If you aren't quite ready to say goodbye, at least get it packed away in a box and labeled with the contents and date. If that box is still unopened a year later, get rid of it.

5. Use items from around the house to help you organize. Small dishes are great in bathroom drawers, vases work as pencil holders and empty shoe boxes can bring order to messy underwear drawers.

6. Take it slow. Don't feel like you need to get the whole house organized in one weekend; that's a daunting task, and one you might easily feel overwhelmed by. Just do one small task at a time and concentrate on maintenance.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't get so wrapped up in getting things out of sight that you end up misplacing important things (like bills, for example). You're not trying to hide the clutter by getting it into a drawer--that just leads to cluttered drawers. What you want to do is devise a system that's easy to constantly maintain. And don't be afraid to change it up if something's not working. If your husband's keys always end up on the kitchen counter despite the special key rack you hung, it might be time to give up on the rack and put a tray on the counter. You've got to pick your battles!