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 only 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 Toronto Interior Designer, Architectural Planner and Organizational Coach Erica Swanson, has to share on the subject:

I detest the word ‘clutter’; it’s a misnomer that fails to get to the heart of the issue.  Clutter isn’t so much about our stuff as it is about how we feel about our stuff.  Until we get honest about our relationship to the things we own, our things will continue to own us. If we spent half as much time critically thinking about our purchases as we did storing, cleaning, rearranging, insuring and generally complaining about our belongings, we’d have a whole lot of time left over to focus on the things that matter most.  And who doesn’t want that?

Getting real isn’t easy but think about this: stuff doesn’t just mysteriously appear in your closets, your cabinets, your front hall closets, your junk drawers, under the bed, and in your desk drawers.  You let stuff creep in. There are thousands of books on the market that do a phenomenal job of teaching you how to strategically purge your stuff.  Set aside the time.  Be ruthless.  Divide and conquer, baby.  But next time, when you’re standing in the checkout line with yet another jar of face cream, box of doodads, or fill-in-the-blank shiny new toy, ask yourself if it’s something you really need.  I mean, really need.  Because ultimately, clutter control is simple; stop filling your home with things that don’t fill you.

Erica’s website, www.ericaswansondesign.com will be up in April.

Another Toronto Interior Designer, Carol Reed had these great tips to offer:

Having a place for everything is key and the right type of storage organization is also key. Assess what it is that is out of control and that will help determine what type of storage you need to keep it contained, accessible and neat looking. It sounds basic but these are things that people overlook.  Acquiring shelving and buying organizing accessories is something we rarely intentionally go shopping for.

Unsightly items should be concealed behind doors, or inside cabinets (textbooks, files, media components) and attractive items or collections can be stored (displayed) openly. Select furniture that has shelving or drawers or hidden storage compartments, i.e. end tables with lower shelves or ottomans with flip tops. Avoid end tables, hall tables and night tables that have no shelves or drawers. Control visual clutter by going neutral. If you’re the type of person that has lots of ‘things’ and likes to keep them on display or likes an open shelving style kitchen, than keep the rest of the space neutral. Lots of colors plus lots of things on display will create visual clutter. 

These are my favorite ways to organize clutter. They are all inexpensive, easy to do and look good:

Trays: My favorite ‘clutter’ accessory. These are a must on surfaces, they contain your clutter and make your things look organized and appear more like they’re on display. Use them on coffee tables, entry hall tables, console tables, bathroom vanities, the back of toilets and even the kitchen counter.

Baskets: After trays, this is my next favorite clutter accessory. Not only do they add natural organic texture to a space (which I think every space needs,) they can fit under tables, on top of armoires, on closet shelves or on bookcase shelves. You can use the kind with lids or without. Today you can find a wide assortment of sizes, shapes, colours and styles from chunky and rustic to tightly woven tailored looking. Ikea, West Elm, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel are great sources for these.

Interior Dividers: They go in your drawers, they are super inexpensive and you can fit twice as much in a drawer with these and things are easy to find.

Hooks: I’m hooked on hooks these days! They are super inexspensive, easy to install and lots of styles can be used in almost every room, hooks can go at your entry door for canvas shopping bags, in the bathroom for towels, in the bedroom for necklaces, in the mud room for keys, leashes, coats or hats, in the kitchen for pots and pans. I’m seeing a beautiful selection of hooks around in all styles and finishes. Some of them are so pretty you don’t want to cover them up!

Canvas Shoe Holders: These are a great storage device for the inside of closet doors for all kinds of things.

Vintage: If you run out of closet space to store your stuff away, antique crates and old suitcases are great for off-season or seldom used items and can double as side tables.

Wire Management: Visual clutter! It drives me crazy to see a mess of media wires or computer wires in a space. There are lots of wire management accessories in the electrical department at the building centre.

Tech Gadgets: One of my favorite tricks is to store the media components behind doors in a media cabinet or bookcase. You can buy a simple device that switches your remote controls from IR to RF (infra red to radio frequency) which means you can operate them even when they are behind doors.

Rechargables: Imagine how many cell phones, digital cameras and iPods you can find in the average house- you can buy great looking docking stations for all your rechargeables that contain the cords and that house all the other paraphernalia that go along with them.  

Cupboards: Kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanity cupboards without any pull-outs are a really poor use of space. Install pull-out wire organizers, pull-out shelves or recycle bins that let you take advantage of the cupboard’s depth and keep it all easily accessible. A wide assortment of these are readily available in building centres.

Great resources for organizational accessories: Ikea, Kitchen Stuff Plus, Solutions, West Elm, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel.