8 Answers

• Reputation: 13 Q&A: 0 0 0 13 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 2 topics Living Inside Clear the Clutter Follow Following 0

  3 0 I usually start in the one place where I feel I'll get the most bang for my buck AND where I'll get to appreciate my work. If the living room feels as though it's covered in newspapers, or you've used every dish in the kitchen and can't find anything, start there. I love the layering approach: recycle or trash the most obvious things, fold items, clean things and give them a home. As you work and "reveal" that particular room ('I can see the counter!') you may feel lighter and lighter and it'll be the encouragement you need to move on to another one. Good luck! Beth Award answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 42 Q&A: 1 0 0 23 1 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 2 topics Living Inside Clear the Clutter Follow Following 0

  2 0 Cheryl- Usually, I work systematically through a room with a client. If the item you are sorting and purging is all over the home - then bring them all together for a clear idea of your inventory for the purge. I often work with craft enthusiasts who may have knitting all over the house. The first time we come across knitting in a room, we can add it to the room whose function is knitting (say you are in the dining room and the family room is where knitting is to occur) or if we are in the family room, then we will collect from around the house and start the downsizing. Paper is a better example. Bring it all into the office and start sorting. Paper is the toughest for most people and what I support people on the most. Happy Organizing, Denise Denise Allan answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 167 Q&A: 1 0 3 113 27 0 Classifieds: 1 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Scalpel

  1 0 I'm not an expert, but here's what works for me: 1. I go through each of the rooms I'm cleaning and I deal with the low-hanging fruit. I get rid of stuff that is clearly trash, I move all the empty glasses and cups into the kitchen, etc. 2. I then concentrate on one room or one section of a room, and start working through everything there and putting it into one of three stacks: Trash It, Donate It, or Keep/Move It. The first two are easy, but the third one is all about the question of whether to keep that item in the room, or move it to someplace else more appropriate in the home. Don't be afraid to be brutal at this stage! Are you ever going to read that book again? Not really? Then donate it. Do you truly need to hold onto those copies of Maxim? Into the trash with them! Having less "stuff" lets you better enjoy the stuff you do have. 3. Once you've stacked everything into those three stacks, you should hopefully have a slightly smaller pile of stuff to put away into other places in your home, or to put away in the room you're in. 4. Sometimes the issue is not cleaning up, it's putting away. It may be that you have stuff everywhere because there's no place for it to "live" in your home. In that case, you either need to think about making/buying a home for all those cookbooks/DVD cases/yarn, or getting rid of it. After all, are you really ever going to learn to knit, or could that yarn do better in someone else's home? I'm sure the experts will give you an answer soon, but hopefully these suggestions will help you de-clutter a little in the meantime! Scalpel answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 40 Q&A: 0 0 1 22 2 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 Sometimes an easy way to start is with just one drawer. Select a junk drawer or utensil drawer and remove everything. Clean the drawer and put back only what you absolutely need. Donate or trash the rest. Continue with another drawer on another day. Work your way to the closets. Do everything the same way - take everything out to start with. People who move tend to get rid of things because actually handling stuff makes you realize it's "dead weight". So this works the same way, helps you really evaluate what you need. Christy O answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 2 Q&A: 0 0 0 2 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 1 topic Clear the Clutter Follow Following 0

  0 0 I recommend one room at a time. Here's an exercise that can be help - take a piece of paper and label for each room in the house. Stand in each room and write down all the things that need work for that room then prioritize the list. Once you've done this for each room then prioritize the rooms. That will give you a good idea on where to start. Within each room try to start with the storage area, so if there is a closet purge there first, as you'll need that space to put other things from the room. Remember to set your self up for success and not failure so work in small chunks of time and tackle one project at a time so not to be overwhelmed. Good luck - can always call me for help! sara@nestseattle.com sara @ nest answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 6 Q&A: 0 0 0 6 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 1 topic Clear the Clutter Follow Following 0

  0 0 First decide on the SCOPE of your project. IS it a drawer or a room or what? The point is DEFINE your scope before you start. It matters less what that is, more crucial is the question: Do I really have the time and energy for this scope right now?? What ever you start with: First Sort without making decisions, (except really easy ones) Second Purge those categories. Third ask: Where do these things live?? This is when you go get containers, not before! And Last: How am I going to Maintain this? RebeccaRoss answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 26 Q&A: 1 0 0 9 3 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 As Sueann Nivens says, Think of each room as a big clock: Start at Midnight, and work your way around. You'll be done in three shakes of a lamb's tail! As you work, make a pile of the things from the room that you intend to put elsewhere in the house, or get rid of. Don't deal with it until you are finished with the room. At Chez Vel-DuRay, I do the Sala Grande first, then the bedrooms, then the bath, and finally the kitchen. That's where I have my pile of things to put in the basement, attic, etc. Once I'm done with the kitchen, it's onto the basement. I run the laundry machine while tidying the Rathskeller, guest room and downstairs bath. Three hours or so once a week keeps everything shipshape. Of course Mr. Vel-DuRay and I are not blessed with children. Just four yappy little dogs and a antisocial cat. Catalina Vel-DuRay answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 3 Q&A: 0 0 0 3 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 I go through our house 1 space at a time since that keeps the project manageable for me. Sometimes, it is as little as spending an hour going through a "box of miscellaneous" and other times I end up spending half a weekend going through the office. I basically use scalpel's method otherwise and then make sure I IMMEDIATELY take all the donate/trash to goodwill/dumpster so there is no second guessing (my husband sometimes likes to sneak things back to the closet). For paperwork, what I have found works great is just scanning my documents and keeping them organized on my computer, though the trick is staying reasonably on top of that. We keep a back up drive and if you label things well, you can really reduce a lot of the clutter! ariane answered in Clear the Clutter about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

  Share this answer with a friend: