Clutter can make even the nicest living space look dirty. It slows down cleaning and creates visual pollution. Any cleaning starts with an attack on clutter.
A place for everything and everything in its place
Everything should have its own place. If you don’t have a place for it, you probably just have too much stuff. It’s almost impossible to keep a place clean if there is clutter that doesn’t have a home.
Most organizers recommend following this order for serious cleaning
Have a Vision for How You Want the Area to Look
Create a clear and firm vision in your mind of what the room (and entire apartment or house) could look like if it were uncluttered and clean. What would each area be used for (so what things go there)? Keep this vision clearly in your mind as you clean. If you find a lot of things that don’t have a place
Sort
Start in a room and pick up anything that doesn’t belong in that room and move it to the room into which it belongs. Don’t worry about neatness at this point, just get everything into the room it belongs.
Once that is done, do the same thing for each area of the first room you plan to tackle. Put what belongs in that area in that area. This helps you know what you have and get it all together in one place. Now you know how much room you will need to put it away, or if you have too many of something.
Purge
Now that you have collected all the things that belong in each area, it is time to purge. You may not have realized you had 6 staple removers until all your office supplies were together. Get rid of the extras. Have stuff you actually don’t use? Then you don’t need it.
Be honest and real with yourself. If you aren’t using it, get rid of it. This is important. Many of us say, “I may need that someday.” True, you may, but what are the odds really? Start by giving yourself the gift of being honest with yourself about who you are- not who you may be someday or pretend to be now.
For checking on clothes in a closet, put something in as a marker on the far left side of the clothes bar. It can be as simple as a sign on a coat hanger that says ‘marker’. Over the course of the season, newly washed or cleaned clothes only go to the left of the marker. At the end of the season, get rid of anything for that season to the right of the marker because you haven’t used it.
Completely empty drawers and only put back what you actually need AND wear (or use for non-clothing drawers). Purge the things you haven’t worn, you plan to wear when you lose weight, or someone gave you and you know you won’t wear. Also get rid of anything that requires more care than you are willing to give it (hand washing, line drying, ironing. Be honest about it. Get rid of anything that doesn’t make you feel good about yourself.
Throw
Deal with everything else (the stuff still on the table: if things belong in another room, put them there. Throw out trash. Recycle recyclables. Be tough). If you have things you are not sure you will use, pack up all the questionable things into a box. Obviously if you have a lot of stuff, you may need to label the box by where the stuff came from so you can find it if you go looking for it. If you haven’t gone looking for it at the end of six months, you probably really don’t need it. Get rid of anything still in the box at the end of six months unless it’s a seasonal thing; in which case, get rid of it after a year if you haven’t used it.
Refine
Go over each area with a critical eye. Be sure it’s pleasing to you. If you are happy with it, take a picture, print it and put it in the area to remind you what that space needs to look like. This will help re-incentivize you to stay on top of the clutter.
Maintain
OK, you’ve put the work in. Now the big challenge is to keep it looking good. This is a habit. I found when I spent months clearing my house that had collected stuff for 30 years, that I had a great deal of incentive to stay on top of it (I never wanted to work that hard to clear out again). Still, you will occasionally let things slide. When you realize the clutter is retaking your space, fight back. Set time aside for reclaiming the area(s) that needs attention. Don’t forget the “hidden” areas- the closets, drawers and pantry. After all, you deserve a nice, clean ordered environment, free of dust gathering clutter, so give it to yourself.
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