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You look around and on every surface there are piles: papers, clothes, books, toys, craft supplies and sporting equipment. Grasping at what seems like the only answer, you mutter "We need a bigger house!" But that's not the solution and in your heart you know it. Studies show that unless you change your habits, a larger home will just result in a bigger mess.
Take comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone. In fact, an entire industry has sprung up to assist with situations like yours, and a nationwide group of specialists, the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), now exists to help.
So what do these professionals advise? Most subscribe to a system based on the four "Rs", defined as Review, Reduce, Reorganize and Replace.
Review
Take one household area at a time and assess the mess. What do you really need? Ask yourself if the item has been used in the last year. If not, consider finding it a new home. Not used in the last three years? Move it out unless it has high sentimental value.
To keep this activity from being overwhelming, divide up the house into areas which can be tackled in three hours or less, like the back part of the basement or the right half of the garage. Work through parts of your home over the next several weeks. Remember, you didn't collect all this overnight. It will take to time to go through things and decide what you want to keep.
Reduce After determining what you plan to retain, put all the rest in bags or boxes. Label each with "Garage Sale" or "Donation". Your goal is to make that pile of boxes or bags as large as possible.
Allow the pile to remain overnight. This brief time will give you the chance to reconsider if you've
included an item that you'd ultimately regret giving up.
Reorganize
The items you've decided to keep need to be organized in easy to find containers that are clearly labeled; "Mittens & Scarves", "Camp Towels", "Deck Chair Cushions", etc. Waterproof bins of varying sizes are terrific for seasonal items, sporting equipment, out of season clothes, linens and holiday decorations. See-through plastic boxes with adjustable compartments, like the kind used for storing fishing lures, are great for small craft parts, tiny toy pieces, and bolts and screws. In workshops and garages, hooks are helpful for hanging tools, bikes, and extension cords. Even canoes and surfboards can be hung on a garage wall. Make sure your front hall or mudroom has pegs for hanging outdoor clothing to prevent them from ending up on the floor.
Locate the containers as close as possible to where the items are actually used. The easier it is to put something back, the more likely it will happen. Containers that share your daily living space should be attractive and compliment your décor. Baskets, wooden boxes and chests are good choices for most spaces.
Make the process as enjoyable as possible by playing your favorite music. Go ahead, turn it up!
And finally,
Replace
Train yourself to replace items after you are finished using them. As you exit a room, stop and look back over your shoulder. What's still lying about? Scissors, screwdriver, golf clubs? Go back and put them away now.
Before embarking on your organization and storage effort it is important to consider that this activity ultimately benefits you, by providing a greater feeling of control and an enhanced ability to find objects when they are needed. Everyone feels better and less stressed, in an uncluttered environment. So do this for yourself - you'll appreciate the results! And being able to actually find the things you own will be a real joy.
How about those traditional problem areas? Below are some helpful tips.
Mail
Most households receive mountains of mail that pile up on coffee tables and kitchen counters. To avoid this, get in the habit of sorting your mail over the wastepaper basket. Be brutal. Ads for services you'll never use? Toss them. Solicitations for yet another credit card? Shred and discard. Remember, you're giving yourself the gift of control, plus future time and living space, by addressing this now.
Create a temporary filing system for the remaining papers until you can sit down to pay bills, review financial statements and answer invitations. Get an attractive file holder and brightly colored files, or a simple accordion file folder. Label the files and tuck each day's mail in as you sort.
Weekly, take the files to your desk and review. Set up three ring binders to hold credit card and utility bills, bank and investments statements, and personal correspondence. Store cancelled checks in attractively papered photo boxes purchased from craft stores. This system will keep your desk clean and when you need to verify a figure next, you'll be able to find the information quickly.
A number of financial organizations publish recommendations for how long you should retain bills, health and employment records, canceled checks, tax documents and other papers. Check with your bank or credit union for brochures. Clean out and toss the old records at least annually, perhaps as a part of your New Year's tradition.
Newspapers and Magazines
Daily newspapers arrive on the doorstep each morning, are read at breakfast and then instantly become clutter. Make it easy to discard these newspapers promptly with a bin or basket placed near the breakfast table. Get in the habit of dropping the papers in the bin as you take your breakfast dishes to the sink, so you don't have to come back to a mess later.
Magazines are delivered on a regular schedule too and if they aren't disposed of on a similar timeline, they begin to accumulate. Get a magazine rack - not too large - and clean it out once a month.
Clothes
You've probably heard the old adage that if an item hasn't been worn in a couple of years, it's time to get it out of your closet. Perhaps you are waiting to drop a few pounds. Have you been waiting for several years? Unless there is a strong sentimental reason to keep an article (like a wedding dress or your son's first communion suit), consider that someone else could be enjoying the item. Sell it or give it away, and buy yourself something new when you drop those pounds.
Books
Books, like clothes, go out of fashion or cease to spark your interest. And like your clothes closet, your bookcase needs a periodic cleaning. If you are saving a book because it contains small bits of reference information that might be needed sometime, don't. The library and even the Internet, with its wealth of information, will be there if the need arises. Box up your unused books and free up space on the bookshelf.
If you can't bear to part with any of your books, buy another bookshelf and get your books organized by subject and size. Check them annually to see if some can be passed on to other readers.
Toys
Outgrown toys present a wonderful opportunity to reinforce that most difficult of concept for many children - sharing. Encourage your kids to imagine a child a year or two younger than themselves and to remember how they enjoyed that now unused toy when they were "little". Remind them of all the other toys they still have.
Or, if you decide to sell your surplus, allow your children to keep the proceeds from the sale of their items. This provides a tangible benefit in return for giving up clutter.
How do you find new homes for your excess items? Below are some options.
• Have a yard sale and make whatever deals are necessary to sell your surplus. See if other families on your street are interested in having a block sale that includes many houses, as these often generate more traffic.
• Sell items through consignment stores or run an ad in your local newspaper.
• On-line auctions provide another avenue for sales of specialty, antique or moderately valuable items.
• Give clean, unbroken items to your local school or church if it holds a seasonal sale.
• Donate to the Salvation Army, Good Will, battered women's shelters, homeless shelters, medical charities and other not-for-profit charities. Give women's business clothing to the Bottomless Closet, a nation organization devoted to providing office attire to low income women entering the workforce.
• Contact your public library to see if they accept book and magazine donations. Magazines can also be shared with friends, taken to your health club for reading while on the stepper or given to a local hospital for use in their waiting rooms.
Check your yellow pages directory and call for individual organizations for specific guidelines.
Donations to many charities offer the additional benefit of a tax break. Create a simple list of the items being donated, with values equal to what you'd expect to pay in a second-hand store. Have the person who accepts your donation stamp, sign and date your list. File the list with your tax records.
Like reading and balancing a checkbook, organizing is an acquired skill, not an inborn trait. And like any other skill, with practice, you can master it.
By reviewing, and then reducing, the unused household items you own there will simply be less "stuff" in your home. Reorganizing the remaining things into logical groupings, clearly labeling them and then locating them near where they will be used will make items easy to find and easy to put back. And getting in the habit of replacing items when you are finished using them will free up time, surface space and energy for more enjoyable pursuits.
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