Create an appealing catch-all. No, not your top cabinet drawer (aka the key-cemetery, battery/chip-clip/hair-tie/post-it/business-card black hole.) This space or container is for things we use daily and don't want to spend time racing around the house to gather before each trip out the door - things like our keys, cell-phone, and wallet. It can be as simple as a basket by the door or a nifty shelf on the wall. The point is, it saves time and reduces random clutter.Put stuff away, right away, in the right spot. Ugh! Who likes doing that? People who don't want to feel frazzled every time they enter a room and who want their house to appear tidy and kept with less than 3 minutes of effort. Sure Junior's toy-box exploded across the family room. Between the two of you I bet it takes 90 seconds to remedy the disaster. Is your make-up/hair-spray/tooth-paste cluttering your vanity? Let than 60 seconds! Continually remind yourself that one quick minute of picking up can save you two days worth of fretting over the "huge mess" you are telling yourself really exists.
Just DO IT and do it small! You have to start somewhere. If you are like me, you probably get analysis paralysis often. You sit down with your Ultimately Organized Home chart you just found on Pinterest and suddenly you need a nap. Throw away the charts and checklists and promise yourself you get to take a nap in 15 minutes. Now get down and dirty and organize the cleaning supplies underneath your sinks (ten minute task). What!? Suddenly you are overcome with an empowered suzy-homemaker feeling and move right on to the medicine cabinet... then the pantry... It will happen, I swear!
Get a label-maker. You know you want one and I'm telling you, you deserve it. You need it. This is the best way to maintain what you've already accomplished in your mission to organize your life. Besides, if it says it goes there, it goes there!
Separate and group things. Do we really need Windex under every sink in the house? Do we need rubberbands in the kitchen drawer and in the office. If you keep like-items all in one place, you always know where they are and you always have a handle on your inventory for when it's low. Which leads me to suggest...
Keep stuff where you use it. It's much easier to stay organized and save time if things are right where you need them. If you charge your phone before bed every night, the charger doesn't need to be kept with the rest of the chargers downstairs, this is counter-productive. It's new spot is next to your bed. Are your stamps in the black-hole-cabinet-drawer because you are always rushing for postage when heading out the door to mail a bill? Just say no! Stamps go in the office next to your 4-compartment filing wonder station where you have the outgoing bills. They may even be in the container labeled "postage". Woot!
And finally the fun part...
Get some matching storage containers. Nothing is more exciting than a trip to The Container-Store, am I right? Okay maybe not, but having the same hangers in your closet, bins for your cleaning supplies, boxes for your keepsakes, tubs for toys, baskets for laundry (you get the picture), really does something for your mental state. It eliminates noise and creates order. Which, let's be honest, is really what we are going for when we say we are trying to de-clutter, save time, and organize.
Ashley Hamerlinck is a licensed REALTOR® in IL & IA. For more information on de-cluttering your home and getting it ready to sell email ashleyhamerlinck@gmail.com or visit www.ashleyhamerlinck.com. You can also find Ashley on Facebook at AshleyHamelrinckHomes.
