The past few weeks we have been indoors due to the coronavirus. You probably started tackling those organizing projects throughout your home. Following are quick tips to help you continue to tackle those trouble spots to gain control of not only your space but your life. When you tackle one area at a time ( which you may already know) before you know it your home and life will be organized. So let’s begin…
Closets– It is easy for a closet to become unorganized because all we have to do is close the door and forget about it. I am challenging you to open the door and be honest with yourself about what you use and don’t use that you have in your closet.
- Bedroom- Is your closet full of clothes you can’t or don’t wear while the clothes you wear and love hang outside the closet, thrown across a chair or the banister in the hallway? If your response is yes then it is time to get rid of what you don’t use to make room for what you do.
- Linen-Are you wondering why you don’t have room for towels and bed linens after the laundry and therefore you find places throughout your home to pile them? If this sounds familiar then it may be time to purge. We all have reasons for keeping towels that have out lived there use but they don’t need to take up space in your linen closet. Only keep what you currently using in that space and remove the rest.
- Coat/Entry-Every season just like you do your bedroom closet you need to purge the coat/entry closet. I recently pulled out my winter gear and I realized I have a head wrap I don’t wear anymore. I wore it when I had shorter hair. That was over 4 years ago and I don’t plan on a short style in the future so I will donate it along with a blue scarf.
Drawers– A drawer like any other place in your home needs a purpose. Once it has a purpose of what will be stored in it you can reduce the chances of it becoming a junk drawer. Just in case you were wondering a junk drawer is designated for the storage of various miscellaneous, small, occasionally useful items of little value according to Wiktionary. Most drawers need to be purged and sometimes paired down because there can be too many similar items stored in them. Following are a few suggestions to get you started on
- Place receipts in a envelope or scan
- Use magazine boxes to store menus
- Store cords and chargers in a container
- Keep all batteries stored together and when replacing them toss them in the trash
- Keep a few pens and pencils handy in the drawer
Countertops and Surfaces- It is convenient to just place things on the countertops and surfaces for convenience to deal with later. The problem comes when each time you look at the pile you continue to decide to do it later until you become overwhelmed with the amount that has accumulated and you don’t know where to start.
The simplest solutions is not to pile but that is unrealistic. Schedule quick organizing sessions throughout the week to tackle those piles. I suggest you do the following
- Schedule 15 minute organizing session at least once a week
- Take items out the bag ( sanitize) and place in the room they belong
- Have one location to place all incoming mail and information
- Have designated place for your keys
- If you take something out put it back
Papers- Piles are developed when we delay in making a decision. The problem is that overtime the small pile becomes bigger until it becomes too overwhelming to handle. One solution is to go completely paperless when it comes to your bills and statements or at least to reduce the amount of paper that remains in your home. Here are a few tips I share with clients:
- Toss circulars you don’t need into the recycling bin.
- When opening mail stand by the waste basket and recycle inserts you don’t need
- Instead of clipping coupons search for coupons you can download
- If you need to keep a copy of a document scan it and save to the cloud
Boxes –Are there boxes that are taking up valuable space that have remained unopened for 1, 5, 10 years or more? If yes then it is time to start opening those boxes and toss or donating those items.
- Tackle 1 to 2 boxes a week in your home.
- If it is old and no longer usable toss it
- If someone can use it donate it
- If you feel it has some value consider selling it online
What area are you going to focus for your Organizing Project? Is it a closet, drawer or eliminate those boxes that have been unopened? Please share I would love to hear from you. If you need support with your organizing project schedule a FREE 15 Minute Virtual Session with me.
