WHAT IS CLUTTER?
Merriam-Webster?s Dictionary defines clutter as ?a crowded or confused mass or collection.? Does this sound like your house? What about your office at work? Maybe in your car? Clutter follows you everywhere and if you have clutter in one place, more than likely, you have clutter in every place you come in contact with.
To begin, you don?t just need the basic definition of clutter from a dictionary; you need a valid list of things that are considered clutter. Once you have a clear idea of what clutter is, you can move on from there.
What is clutter in general? How do you know what clutter is to tackle the job of clearing it out?
* Items you love, but don?t really use or need
* Items you find, but are not sure what they are or where they belong (such as small toy pieces, buttons, etc)
* Anything unfinished
* Things too pretty to touch
* Piles of papers ?to be filed?
* Items that we don?t use and don?t enjoy
* Anything that does not enhance your life
Do any of these ring a bell? Can you look around the place where you are sitting and see the clutter? You don?t have to be at home, it could be your car, your office at work, the backyard. If so, then it?s time to take action. The main course of action is to stop the clutter and stop it now before anymore is created.
STOPPING IT BEFORE IT GETS A CHANCE TO GROW
Everyone needs a starting point. Here is a list of things you can begin with to start and continue the process of becoming organized. The main point with becoming organized is to stop being disorganized right now and turn a new leaf. Start here.
* When the house gets too messy, do a ’10-minute tidy,’ where everyone in the family drops what they are doing and cleans for ten minutes.
* Divide your house into sections and then spend five minutes in each of those areas when the house is in disarray. Use a timer to keep you on track.
* To minimize the amount of time spent on errands, keep a running list of what tasks need to be done, then try to do them just one day a week.
* Prioritize what is bothering you the most. Once you have a list, you can go from there and figure out what to do first.
* Assign chores with job descriptions and alternate them among children each week. For example, one child can be assistant cook one week, and part of the clean up crew the next.
* Sort and recycle mail as soon as it arrives.
* Limit your laundry duties to one day a week.
* Have a basket for small items instead of having them here and there.
* Keep a basket in the living room for anything that needs to be put in another room at a later time. Empty the basket each night.
* When you purchase one item and bring it into the house, pick one item to leave the house either through the trashcan or the charity shop.
ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS FOR THE ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD
When it comes to organizing, everyone needs tips on how to get started and ideas on what to do. For most people, they are in the dark as to how to take their mass of clutter and create an area of solitude.
The following pages will give you tips on organizing every part of your house from the kitchen to the bathroom to the garage. These ideas are meant for you to get started with organizing. Feel free to expand on each idea to make it fit you and your family in the best way possible. Good luck!
Kitchen
* Purchase some shoe box sized plastic containers from the store and use them to create inboxes for each family member, as well as one for incoming and outgoing mail. You can then purchase a book-shelf style shoe organizer to store them. Use these boxes to help clear up paper mess, such as phone messages, school permission slips, mail, etc.
* Labeling things in the kitchen is always a good idea. You can purchase a label maker or just use some stick on labels and a pen. Labeling food items and the day you purchased them will be a clear reminder of what things are and then they expire.
* Limit the number of items that are on your fridge. This will help you give a tidy look to the whole kitchen. Some companies sell picture frames made of clear plastic that have magnets on the back. If you like to hang up your kids artwork, limit your fridge to one frame per child, and change the artwork as they bring home new ?masterpieces.? Since the magnet is already on the back of the frame, your fridge will automatically look neater.
* Stack bowls inside each other to save on space. You can purchase adjustable wire shelves to place over plates and put the smaller plates on the wire shelves. You?ll have more space in your cabinet if you do this and it will look better as well. Purchase a holder for all the lids to your various pots and pans. Don?t forget ? pots can stack inside each other as well as skillets. Feel free to do this, but keep them that way!
* You can also purchase a rack to hold baking sheets to keep the clutter down. Don?t feel bad about throwing some baking sheets out or donating them. You only need a few on hand. Look at your oven space to determine how many you need. How many baking sheets can fit in the oven at one time? Figure that number out depending on the size of you oven, how many ovens you have, and the size of your pans. It is reasonable to have one to two more than you can fit in your oven at one time if you like to prepare ahead of time when it comes to baking.
* If you can, dedicate a cabinet for all your appliances ? toaster, blender, mixer, etc. Keep them in the cabinet until you need to use them. Believe me, most people don?t use these daily so if you can put them in a cabinet instead of out on the counter, you will find the cabinet looking less cluttered. Keep the appliances that you don?t use often on a high shelf or a cabinet down low that you don?t use often. You probably only use the roasting pans twice a year so keep it hidden until you don?t need it anymore.
* As far as canned goods and spices go, you can purchase expandable shelves to put in the cabinets. These will hold more cans and some are quite decorative for spice racks. These also let you see what you have so you aren?t over purchasing when it comes to grocery shopping.
* As far as cabinets go, if they are becoming cluttered with appliances, dishes, bowls, pots and pans, take the time to go through all the items. If you haven?t used the salad maker in more than a year, set it aside to give to charity. If you don?t use your grandmother?s favorite serving dish, consider putting it in a china cabinet and don?t leave it to take up space in your cabinets in the dark.
* If you wish to get even more cabinet space, think about utilizing your ceiling. Purchase a pot rack and hang from the ceiling to put all your pots on. That will really free up space in the cabinets and could also become a decorative piece for your kitchen.
* Make sure you have a silverware tray in one of your drawers. Don?t overfill it either. Put all extra silverware in a Ziploc bag and place it in the extra space between the end of the tray in the back and the back of the drawer (if there?s room). If you can?t fit it there, place it in another drawer with other utensils. In the drawers with extra utensils, par it down to just the bare essentials.
* If you can, purchase a spinning holder for all your spatulas, spoons and other utensils that you use daily for cooking. These sit on the countertop and don?t take up much space. In the drawer would be extra items that you use sparingly, but need. Don?t let them get more than one layer deep. If it becomes two layers deep, go through the items again and get rid of those that you don?t need.
* Everyone has a junk drawer, so the smart thing to do is buy an organizer for it. They are usually made of plastic and have dividers in them. Some dividers move, some don?t. These are good for separating odds and ends so you can see them better. Get a file folder for coupons, restaurant menus and such to place in the junk drawer. There should be room on top of the organizer. Just make sure it doesn?t end up falling into the cabinet below.
* Purchase a special holder for foil, plastic wrap and the like. This keeps them up off the floor or off a cabinet shelf. One item that is handy is an over the door hanger. You can put canned goods, plastic bags, trash bags, etc on it and you are gaining extra space. Consider purchasing some hooks to hang on the inside of cabinet doors to hand cooking utensils on them. This clears out drawer space if you need some extra space. Take old shoeboxes with lids and store items in them on the shelves. Label them to easily see what?s in there when you need to.
* Take care of things in the kitchen as they occur to keep clutter down. While dinner is cooking, wash the dishes that have already been used. Right after breakfast is over, rinse the dishes and place them in the dishwasher so they aren?t there when everyone returns home at the end of the day. Run the dishwasher overnight and empty it while everyone is eating breakfast or getting ready for the day.
* A good tip is to learn to borrow items and appliances from other people. That way if you have an appliance that you don?t use often, you can donate yours and just borrow it from a friend when you need to use it. It is possible they can do the same with something of yours.
Family Room
* If your family likes to play board games, buy one of those ottomans that not only act as a foot stool, but also as a chest that you can store your games in. If you have lots of games and their boxes are falling apart, try removing the contents of each box and storing them in small plastic containers along with the game’s directions. Corral plastic bags in a basket or shoebox. Game boards can be folded and stacked together nearby.
* Anytime you can use a piece of furniture for organizing, please use it. Possibly you have an oversized entertainment center or a large armoire. Use it to store DVD?s CD?s and games.
* Keep an attractive basket with a lid in the family room to store even more small, regularly used items.
* Keep the coffee table clear of items. If an item is put on the table, it needs to be picked up and placed where it goes. Remind others in the family to keep items off the table. Placing a nice vase of flowers helps people to realize it?s a nice piece of furniture, not a dumping ground.
* Keep only a minimum number of items on end tables and on the top of your entertainment center. The less you have out, the less cluttered it looks.
* Be sure to keep the bookshelves nice and tidy. Get rid of books you no longer want to read or will never get to. Try to keep the number of books to a minimum, but if you have a lot, try to break up the monotony by dividing them up and placing a nice item in between them. You have the knickknacks so use them wisely.
* Look around for wasted space in your living room/family room. Is there space under a staircase where you could knock the wall out and create storage space? This is another option and it doesn?t take up floor space.
* Another good idea is purchase furniture that has storage space. An earlier tip was to have an ottoman for storage. Furniture makers have sofas that have storage drawers underneath. Storage can also be found under cushions as well or in the arms of the sofas. If your furniture has space underneath it and you can put under-the-bed storage units under the sofa, try that as an option for keeping toys, extra pillows or blankets for guests.
* Pillows on a sofa are great and look nice, but they also provide clutter. Most people sitting on the sofa take them off so they can sit on the sofa so the floor looks like a mess. They also get thrown on to the sofa so the easy thing is to get rid of them.
* Take a look at your walls. Are they full of pictures, artwork and shelves full of knick-knacks? One easy way to make a room feel less cluttered is to only have a few pieces of artwork hanging on the walls. Just have a few family pictures placed throughout the room on the walls. The same goes for a fireplace mantel. The less you have on the mantel, the less cluttered it looks and it is more appealing to the eye.
Bathroom
* Purchase a shelving unit to place above the toilet to hold towels, shampoo and other bathroom essentials.
* Kids enjoy having toys in the tub while they take a bath. Purchase a net from the store that can suction cup to the tile to keep toys picked up when they aren?t in use.
* Don?t feel that you have to keep all the towels in the house in the bathroom. Place just a few bath towels, hand towels and washcloths in the bathroom and store the others in another room. This helps children use their towel for as long as you want them too and it keeps you from having to have them taking up space you could be using for other items.
* Keep as little as possible out on the counter. Store hair bands and barrettes in one container underneath the sink or in another cabinet. Place hairbrushes and combs in a container as well to keep them together. Use storage containers for cotton balls and Q-tips and other items that are small or large in quantity. Keep everything underneath in cabinets or on a shelf and off the counter. Put toothbrushes in a toothbrush holder to keep them off the counter and to help them dry out. Put toothpaste in a holder or on a shelf.
* Once every few months, go through all the items on the shelves and in the cabinets. Do you have things you aren?t using that you thought you would be? Do you have old bottles of shampoo and conditioner that are half empty? To create more space, take these items and either give them to charity or throw them away. More than likely, you won?t use them anymore and someone else can benefit from them.
* Be sure to throw out old medicine and make-up every six months. Using old medicine or old make-up can cause illness. A good tip is to keep medicine out of the bathroom as the heat and moisture can make them expire faster. If you aren?t sure how old something is, the best thing to do is throw it out.
Bedrooms
* Many stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, have pre-made organizing pieces for closets. You can purchase the items that will fit into your closet and create a customized look.
* If you have a very small space, store clothes that are not in season in order to save your closet space for needed items.
* Many furniture makers are making attractive furniture that includes hidden storage space. If you are going to be buying new bedroom furniture soon, you may want to look for some with built-in organization.
* If your children have a lot of stuffed animals, keep them up and out of the way with nets that attach to the top corner of a wall.
* When organizing your kids? rooms, keep them in mind. Keep things at a height that they can reach, so that they can help put things away.
* If your children are too young to read, use a color coding system or put pictures of the item on the outside of the drawer so that the child can easily figure out what goes inside.
Entryway
* Something simple to occupy the entryway and decorate it is an item that not only keeps clutter down, but dirt to a minimum is to have a rug at the door to clean off shoes as you enter the door. Having a place to sit down and remove shoes is a good thing. A bench works well or a couple of chairs.
* Have a place for each person to put their shoes when they take them off. Color-coded bins help younger children to know where their shoes belong. This central location can help for when children are looking for their shoes each morning. It is keep to keep the area clean and organized daily.
* Have a designated place where kids put backpacks, sports gear, jackets, umbrellas, etc. when they come home. Many people use their mud rooms for this, if you don?t have one, create an area near the front or back door for hanging coats up and purchase (or build) a bench with storage units underneath for putting other gear.
* Keep wet umbrellas in a plastic shopping bag to catch the water. Having a container full of plastic bags near the door will help. (Be sure to check when the umbrellas are dry to throw the water out before mold sets in.)
* Have a place to hang your keys as you are coming in. If you keep them in one place, you won?t spend time looking for them. Have one place for charging a cell phone or PDA. In this same place as the keys, place your sunglasses as well.
* Make sure you have an area for items that need to be taken care of the next day. Dry cleaning, library books, etc. need to have a place by the door so you will remember them on the way out.
Seasonal Items
* Have a place for these items. Purchase storage bins to put all the decorations in. Use a black marker or a labeling system to label the outside of the bins. It?s best to get clear bins so you can see through them, but if you have non-clear ones, label them well! Make sure the bins are stackable so they store easily. You can also purchase colored coded tops: red for Christmas, orange for Halloween, etc.
* When you purchase the totes, most stores have specific ones for wreaths, ornaments and Christmas lights. Get rid of all the boxes of ornaments and put them all into one with the dividers. If they take up more than one tote, go through the ornaments and donate the ones that you no longer want. One tote full of ornaments is enough for one tall Christmas tree.
* Each year, go through your decorations and if they are broken, throw them out. If you no longer wish to use them, donate them. If ornaments are broken, throw them out. Most can?t be fixed.
* Also, look at how many of certain items you have. You really only need one Christmas tree so sell or donate any others you have. How many ?little? decorative setups do you have? Only keep those with sentimental value and sell or donate the others.
* Double check your Christmas lights. If you don?t have replacement bulbs and more than ten lights are out on a string of lights, it?s time to throw them out. It would be cheaper to purchase new lights than bulbs. How old are the strands of lights? If they are clearly outdated, throw them out wisely or donate them to local organizations.
* You can either put your bins of seasonal decorations on shelves or purchase racks that hang from the ceiling to keep them out of the way. You only need to get to the decorations a few times a year so this is an easy option and it doesn?t take up much space.
* Get a storage bin just for holding wrapping paper, tape, bows, etc. Get rid of the gift tag packages and put them into a baggie. Place this where you can get to it easily for whenever you need to wrap a present. (Christmas isn?t the only time for wrapping packages.) Place scraps of paper that no longer fit on the roll into to gallon size self-sealing bags. If you have a lot of Christmas bows, put them into a large shoebox and label the box.
Garage
A garage is a little different than most rooms as it is used for many things. Not only are you supposed to park your car in it; you have to have a place for tools, gardening supplies, kids sporting equipment and more.
Some garages have the laundry room in there as well, which can create another entire area for organizing. A good thing to remember is to store everything according to frequency and use. If it?s use less frequently, store it towards the back. Things you access often, put towards the front.
Purchase a bike rack that hangs from the ceiling. This keeps the bikes in once place and keeps them from taking up space on the ground.
* Put sporting equipment in clear bins with lids. Label the bins. Keep them where the kids can easily get to them, but where they can easily put them up too. Be sure to check the items as the seasons change. Keep winter sports gear in one area, summer in another, etc. Depending on how you have this stored, put winter items on high shelves during summer so children do not get into them and it is a good way to keep them out of the way and safe.
* Put a pegboard on the wall and hang tools on it. Have little storage bins for screws and such and put them on a shelf in the garage. You can also save baby jars to store screws and nails. These are good for wire or string as well.
* If you have room, place cabinets along one wall to store paint cans, tools, gardening supplies, etc. Sometimes you can put these on roller casters to move them around.
* Hang hooks on the wall to hold rakes, hoses and other gardening tools or brooms. This keeps them up off the floor and saves space on the floor for other things. Also, they?ll be right there on the wall for easy access.
* Don?t forget about your garbage! If you keep it inside the garage, be sure to have trashcans large enough to hold several bags of trash. Make sure the trashcans have lids and that the lids fit. The same is true if you have recycle bins. You?ll create more clutter is you have trash or recyclable items lying on the floor.
The Car
One place that is keen on finding clutter is the car. Have a trash bag in the car at all times. Either keep plastic shopping bags in the car to put in the trash bag for easy removal or purchase bags in a popup container.
* Be sure to keep cleaning supplies for messed in a container in the back seat of the car or in the trunk. A vacuum is a good thing to have. Several companies have cleaning products specifically for the car. Invest in some to keep in case of emergencies.
* Make it a habit to take everything that doesn?t belong in the car inside the house every evening. That will help keep the car looking clean. If you have children, have them take their items inside. Make it a rule and it will be easier to follow. Make it fun and the children will enjoy cleaning out their belongings from the car.
* For the children, have them carry their belongings in a bag that they can keep near their seat for when they are in the car. Make them take them inside at least once a week to throw out any trash they have put in there.
* If you need to keep phonebooks or other reference materials in the car, put them in a clear tote and put them in the trunk. Put a local phonebook in the glove box along with a state or city map. Other maps can go in the trunk.
* One good tip is to clean out the car weekly if you can?t do it daily. Also, right before you go to have the car vacuumed and washed. It is easier for the car wash employees to vacuum a clean car.
CONCLUSION
Organization is an important part of anyone?s life. Whether one decides to become organized or not, it is vital that a person tries to become organized in one part of their life. Whether it is their closet or kitchen, their garage or their bathroom, if even just one part of their life is organized, then slowly the rest will become organized as well.
Organization is a process; it is not something that just happens overnight. Once a person realizes this, they can do better at creating an organized existence. Taking care of a little clutter each and everyday helps a person to slowly become organized and before the person knows it, they have everything taken care of and are prepared for anything that enters their organized areas.
Taking all the previous tips into consideration and actively trying each of them will also help with the process of becoming organized. Remember to take it slowly, one step at a time and only tackle what you can handle in a small amount of time. Remembering those simple tips will help you to excel in the act of becoming organized.
With these tips, a person can definitely become organized either in a matter of weeks or months. But the key to all areas of organization is staying organized.
Embedded in the tips are little pieces of advice on how to continue with staying organized. Get your family involved. Give the kids responsibilities and create ways to keep them encouraged to continue with the organization.
You don?t have to keep it fun just for the kids, keep it fun for yourself and your spouse. Have tidying up the living room made into a game. See how long it takes for people in the family to clean up an area. Have the kids help with dinner and get your spouse involved too.
Over time you will see that staying organized can be fun for everyone including yourself. You will want to keep everything in its place, as it is easier to find items when you know where they are. Become an organized person not just for now, but for the future and beyond.
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Read the original: What Is Clutter
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