How to Declutter a Closet
The very last time you washed your clothes or grabbed your dry cleaning, have you had a difficult time fitting it into your closet?
Closets can easily turn into cramped as well as cluttered, particularly when clothing styles adjust constantly, keeping up with fashion, or it can be just you who have changed, maybe you might be overweight now and cannot easily fit into your clothes anymore, or even the opposite, you became slimmer and now your clothes are too loose. Consequently it is the time to do something regarding your closet.
Late fall and late spring usually are good seasons to work on decluttering a closet. Late fall and late spring considering that the weather becomes more constant. Absolutely nothing is worst than packing away your summer clothing in early October and then, all of a sudden, you get a week of ideal Capri and short sleeves weather.
Handle this particular task when you have all day long to accomplish it. Most likely, you will end up using the bed to store clothes and stuff you retain in the closet and also you do not wish to get to the point of placing everything back again simply because it is getting late and you would like to sleep.
Working in decluttering your closet starts in advanced ahead of the actual “event”. Look first into your closet to determine what exactly you need to really make it organized. Are your accessories all over the place since you are lacking of a proper space to place them? Do you need to buy additional racks or shelves? Do you need to save your shoes in the closet? For suggestions on what sort of storage containers you can buy, check websites like The Container Store.
When you finally know what you need, you may purchase those items in advance, by doing so you will have everything set to go on your “decluttering the closet” project.
Begin this task by taking away your clothing and judging them one at a time. Ask yourself questions such as how has it been since you haven’t wore them, if it has been more than a year, probably you will not use it anytime soon. Additionally check for the condition, if it is not so good, make use of a bin where you are separating clothes that would go to charity.
In the same way, go through your shoes and accessories. As soon as your closet is empty, then you can certainly clean it. Wipe down the shelves, racks and the clothes bar, then vacuum the floor. Once it is done, you can start placing things back in an organized manner.
Do not take any space for granted, particularly if you have a small closet. The back of the closet door is a great place to put hooks, an accessories rack or a shoe bag.
If you are not having enough room to store shoes, there is a great alternative, purchase a bin with wheels on it that can easily slide under the bed. Buy bed lifts, if there is no space under the bed for the bins. Vacuum bags will also be ideal to store seasonal clothes in, if you do not have room in your closet for all your seasonal wardrobes.
One tip to store your clothes is that you could save time switching your seasonal clothing if you store your clothes already on hangers. They do not need to be hung up; they can be stored neatly with the hanger intact so that putting them in and out of the closet is easier.
You may want to think about investing in a permanent organizational solution. There are many companies like The Container Store which specialize in utilizing the space that you have in order for you to maintain an organized and clean closet forever.
Decluttering your closet can be easy to do. You simply need to take your time, utilize your space and consider the best organizational solutions for the job.
How to Declutter an Office
Decluttering an office might be the best thing that you can ever do for you and your career. It will be worthy for you, just the feeling by itself, come to your office and everything is in place, in order, you will have a proactive day at work and less stressful.
Having an organized work space allows you to save precious time by not having to look through clutter to find the information you need. You will also make a good impression to your clients and/or boss. People want to work with someone who is organized.
Start seeing around your office; clear all the walkways between your office furniture and equipment; from your desk to the file cabinet, from the door to your desk, seats, etc.
Think in the amount of space you have; if it is a small space, you need a small desk otherwise a large desk in a small space gives a cramped feeling. If you have a large room with a small desk, you can add a table next to your desk, be sure that it is the same height and color, so it will look terrific and elegant and serve as an additional working area.
Do you have the proper furniture in which you can hold all of the office essentials like a fax machine, photo copier, printer, etc? You will have to give some of your office essentials their own separate space, you would gain some work space; for example, your printer or multifunction copier should not be on your desktop, investing in a printer stand will keep it within a usable distance and will free more of that valuable desk space. Plus, it will give you some more shelf storage space for accessories such as printer paper.
Do you have enough room for files or books? You might need to invest in a book shelf, either freestanding or built-in.
Also, by placing your desk to make it easily accessible to the other office equipment is extremely beneficial as well. Maybe you are the type of person that is constantly needed to go in and out of the file cabinet. An easy solution to the constant getting up and down from your chair is to place the filing cabinet directly behind your desk. Or you can make the path wide enough to be able to roll your chair back and forth to the other office equipment.
The desk itself is an area that can easily get cluttered and unorganized. Ask yourself what are the things that need to be on the desk? The answer for this is paper organization. It is the key to create an un-cluttered desk top. The Container Store: Home Office > Desktop Collections > Natural Materials
Make sure that you label all project folders and/or manila files sitting on your desk. You can get rid of the stacks of files by placing them in a step file holder on your desk which will enable you to see at a glance the various projects that need your attention. You might also be able to use stacking trays which are ideal for your “inbox” and “outbox”. They save space and are another great way to keep your office desktop neat.
Pay attention to the drawers of the desk as well. Office supply stores and chain retailers have an assortment of plastic trays and caddies, including those that are designed to fit perfectly into a desk drawer. You can use them to get your office supplies organized by placing those loose pens, markers, paper clips and thumb tacks within them.
Check around the floor of your desk to make sure that this has not become a dumping ground for things that you don’t have a space for.
Once your office is well organized, it really is simple to keep it that way. At the end of the day spend five to ten minutes putting things away. This is a simple way to guard against things getting out-of-control once again.
Declutter Your Bedroom In One Day
If your bedroom is full of clutter, you are missing the feelings of relaxation and comfort than an organized bedroom offers and the benefits of reducing stress after a long day at work. Let’s declare a declutter day when you eliminate clutter from your sacred place, your bedroom!
De-cluttering a bedroom is not that difficult and can be accomplished in just one day. So, don’t allow the clutter staying any longer and follow the next advice, at then end you will find a perfect room to relax and have peace.
First thing to do to start de-cluttering your bedroom is: take a notepad and a pen and make yourself a few notes. Look around your room and ask yourself: Where is the clutter congregating? Is it close to the nightstand? on top of your dresser?
What are those essential things that you would like to keep close to your bed and what are those things piling up and cluttering that space up?
Do you like to read at night? Is there a pile of books and magazines out of place? You might solve that problem just setting up some shelves by the side of your bed.
Maybe there are pieces of garbage scattered over the top of the nightstand, then you should take a note to buy a small trash bin to keep by the side of the bed. Or perhaps is it dirty clothes that are piling up all the time? then make a note to buy another hamper and place it on that spot that seems to collect most of the dirty clothes.
Check to see if there is enough space to store your clean clothes, probably clean laundry ends up on top of the dresser because there is no space in the drawers to hold it all, you might need to buy storage bins.
Also, check under the bed and think how to organize it, maybe you need to purchase a couple of bins with wheels that easily slide in and out from under the bed. You might need to purchase bed lifts to create the space for the bins.
All is about how to organize it better, after you have the list of things you need to organize your bedroom, purchase the items and continue with the next step.
This time what you need to do is create your organized space. Did you find in step one that fair amount of clutter near your nightstand? Once you made adjustments like shelves, bins, etc, go through things and remove those that you don’t need in your bedroom.
Are you reading those books or magazines at the moment? Can those books be placed in another shelf of another room at home? Perhaps giving them away? Are those magazines old ready to be put in the recycle bin?
Are those clothes on top of your dresser fitting you? You can give them away instead of moving to a new dresser and never use them again. Separate your clothes within categories like, socks, underwear, pajamas, etc, rather than keep them all in one drawer, remember you are not only de-cluttering, you are organizing too.
Maybe you found that most of your clutter was found in your storage under the bed. See if you can store some of those things somewhere else in your home. Ask yourself if those things need to be in your bedroom.
Things that are good to store under the bed are shoes placed in a bin and also seasonal bedding in an airtight bag. Keep in mind that if you don’t see what you are currently storing under the bed, then you have too many things under there.
Creating a relaxing space is so easy. With organization and a clear picture of what you want, you can make your bedroom the space of your dreams.
Declutter Your Home
Let’s be realistic, your home did not get disorganized in a single day therefore it certainly won’t only take one day to declutter your home. You might want to try setting aside some time on a daily basis to tackle this issue.
Start by getting three baskets or boxes, maybe four if you plan to sell also, one labeled “charity”, “garbage”, “storage” and one labeled “to sell”, if you have the intention to do it. Line the “garbage” box using a garbage bag for an easier way for you to take away your trash.
Focus on one room of your home at a time. Keep in mind that the goal is declutter your home but get it done the smart way, I mean with “organization”, so do your task in an organized way.
Start along the entrance of the room and work your way clockwise around the room. Tend not to skip anything. It is usually hard trying to determine what things are important to keep and which ones are ready to go in the charity or garbage baskets.
You should ask yourself a number of different questions when contemplating how to proceed with a particular item. Get started with by asking how you feel about the item. Do you love it? Does it have a sentimental value? Does the item make you feel sad or guilty?
It is probably not sufficient reason of keeping an item around which is cluttering up your home simply because somebody gave it to you and you just feel a sense of guilt about removing it. Another thing to question yourself about an item is if you have used it during the past year. Do you find it broken or in poor condition? Is there a different one that may be better? These are generally all excellent reasons to get rid of a particular item.
Once your “charity” basket or box is full, take it towards your car or truck to go to your local thrift store or donation center later. You could also want to consider selling your items. Your items might earn you a bit of cash by putting them on eBay or craigslist.
You may not have realized the amount of things out of place in your home until you have looked at your “storage” basket once you have began to unclutter a room. Once this box is full, stop your decluttering and put these items away. You should not place the basket or box in a closet, down the basement or in an attic with the best intentions of getting to it later. You know that you will never get around to do the work until it’s about time to declutter your basement, closet or attic.
When working throughout each room you are decluttering, don’t skip such things as shelves, drawers or furniture. This is the perfect time to begin to unclutter that space as well. For example, if one of the pieces of furniture is a desk, look through and organize the drawers. Ensure you have a proper and efficient place for such things as pens, envelopes, stamps, and bills.
This could also be the place where you keep important financial papers. Proceed through these papers as well. Get rid of anything that is old enough to be shredded or set up a different spot at home where you are able to keep important financial information for several years.
Decluttering your home is not as overwhelming as it seems. You just need to remember to take the time and be diligent in returning to it each day until it is done. Keep a piece of cloth on hand also to clean as you go. When you are all finished with your decluttering, you should browse through the room again to place your special items decoratively and make each room of your home just the way you would like it.
