Clutterbugs Unite!!

If your home is truly cluttered, here is what I have learned. I grew up with a pack rat. While not quite reaching the “Hoarder” level, we were often half way there. So how did I make myself get rid of things? The answer is VERY SLOWLY.

When I got married, we moved into a two bedroom apartment. The second bedroom was full of junk. My junk, yes. Still junk. Then I started watching T.V. shows about junk filled rooms. And I got inspired. Over the first two years of our marriage, I went from a junk room to a junk closet. It took two years! But now, I can honestly look at things that come through my front door and know it is headed straight to the trash can. No regrets.

So what would I tell you if you’re just starting out?

• Watch some TV shows to get inspired. The ones they use the junk in a yard sale and use the money to make the room beautiful.
• Make three buckets (ok, this idea is not original, but it is effective): Keep, Toss, Give. A fourth: Decide later, if you need it.
• Learn that “If you don’t like it, don’t keep it” really can be your philosophy. If you still feel bad getting rid of it because your cousin’s friend’s brother gave it to you… TAKE A PICTURE and take it to a secondhand store so someone else CAN enjoy it. The picture is a permanent reminder of their thoughtfulness, and takes up far less room. If someone asks you where the whatever is, say, “I am not sure where it is at the moment. If I looked hard, though, I’m sure I could find it.” You didn’t lie, and you didn’t offend either.
• Learn that if you can buy a new one for less than twenty bucks, having it here now is NOT worth your sanity. If you can’t store fourteen boxes of macaroni noodles without using counter space and aggravating yourself, WHO CARES what a great deal you got on them??
• The statement, “A place for everything, and everything in its place” helps greatly. Just make sure your “place” is within arm’s reach of the place you use it the most. For instance, if your bookshelf is in the back bedroom, but you read in your recliner in the living room, expect a stack of books on that table.
• When you clean, expect to find all that stuff you lost. When I helped my mom organize her computer/ Sunday School storage room, we found 28 rolls of scotch tape, 5 boxes of a thousand staples, 3 boxes of brads… and so much more! By putting it all in one place, she now knows where to find each thing. Before she just bought more because she couldn’t find the one she already bought.

Do not expect to become organized overnight! If you try to ride a bike for the first time, you will not be doing tricks off of a four foot ramp at the end of the day. If you want to become a baker, you don’t make danishes at the end of the first day. It will happen… as long as you do not quit. Find something to encourage you (one organized place where you can find everything as if by magic), and stick to it!