February is on its way out and spring is just around the corner. That could only mean one thing. No, not warm weather, not blossoming flowers… spring cleaning! It’s time to de-clutter your house and if you wait any longer you’re going to regret it! But we all know that getting rid of clutter can be an intimidating task. It’s messy, it’s complicated and it’s exhausting. But the rewards will certainly outweigh all the work when you’re home is spotless and all your neighbors are jealous. So we’ve asked the experts and found some de-cluttering tips to help you get through the war known as cleaning!
This is what Austin Interior Designer Heather Blue Harkovich, of Heather Scott Home and Design, has to share on the subject:
The first principle is try to prevent clutter altogether. It seems a lot of clutter comes from paperwork. When you bring in the mail (usually from the car or side door into the laundry room), have an area to sort it immediately and drop the junk mail and catalogs into the recycle bin, shredder or trash. I suggest an organizer or basket in the area where you bring the mail in- put bills in one slot, put items you want to read later in another. Do not bring the paper past that sorting area. It helps to make that area look nice/fun with accessories, such as cute containers for pens, envelopes, stamps, etc. Make the area a mini post office.
In a family room a lot of times clutter comes from too many ‘things’- whether it is magazines, remotes or accessories. Try to cull through the magazines weekly. Have a storage area in another room for magazines you want to save or read again, and just leave out one or two. Have a basket or lidded box on the coffee table or ottoman for remote controls. Everyone loves framed family pictures, but when you have too many for the space, the area starts to look cluttered. Also, people have a tendency to collect a variety of frame styles over a number of years. The frames can get dated, so a home owner should take a step back and look at the picture frames with fresh eyes. I recommend clients have a few (perhaps 3) coordinating frames in a particular area. You can always take those extra photos and put them in a basket or scrapbook to sit down and flip through at any time.
I highly recommend installing a closet organization system, such as California Closets. It isn’t inexpensive, but you will feel like it is great money spent. You can fit all your clothes in one area- versus having them spread out in coat closets or guest bedroom closets. For one project, we hired ‘ The Clutter Consultants ‘ to come to the client’s house and organize the re-hanging of all the clothes into systematic categories.
Here are some more great tips from Austin Interior Design Writer, Adrienne Breaux.
De-clutter: You’ve not only heard this organizing tip, you’ve probably seen it, read it and even experienced it yourself a time or two before. It doesn’t get any easier, but the number one thing you can do to get yourself re-organized is get rid of stuff first! Don’t try to tackle it all in one day—just take a room per week. Systematically go through every drawer, door, cabinet and even evaluate furniture to see if you need (notice I didn’t say want) an item anymore. Don’t stop to reminisce, and don’t second guess yourself.
Know who you are: People create messes in different ways. Some people are dining room table pilers. Others are leave-a-trail-of-stuff-as-they-walk clutterers. Still others let chores pile up until the tasks seem impossible. Knowing how you create a mess is your first line of defense. Do you pile everything onto your hallway table as soon as you walk in the door after work? Move the table. Do you always leave your shoes and coat in the living room? Incorporate a basket to stash your stuff. Always losing bills? Place a mail sorter right inside your door for immediate filing.
Do the daily 20: Any search on the Internet will give you tons of great organizing ideas from customizable cubbies to under the bed storage to pricey and detailed closet hardware. If so much of this is available to us, then why are we still such a mess? Because many people don’t invest the time needed in keeping themselves organized. After dinner or right before you leave for work in the morning, set the kitchen timer to 20 minutes and use those organizing tools you already have in place—place loose paper in your filing systems, put laundry in hampers, rearrange your shoes on those expensive shoe racks you bought. You’ll surprise yourself with how much time you actually do have to devote to organizing even when you think you don’t have a minute left in the day to spare.
Know the zones: An old trick I use in my own life is paying special attention to a home’s main zones. These are spots in the house that when clean, even if other parts of your home are a mess, will make you feel like you are cleaner and more organized than you really are. Some examples of the zones: the kitchen sink, the couch, the dining table, the bed and the bathroom counter. So what’s the point of only organizing a few spots in your house? Well, if you really don’t have a lot of time in your day, spending your 20 minutes on zones will be a good start in organizing your whole house. And, believe us when we say that a house that even just seems more organized will make you feel a ton better, and make you want to organize more!
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