Conquer the Clutter - Getting Your Home Organized

Recently I worked up the courage to enter my basement and witness what has become my personal urban landfill. I have approximately 1,200 square feet of stuff in boxes, bags, shelves, and containers. The room is packed to the hilt with clear evidence of my inability to make decisions. One of my last thoughts before drifting off to sleep each night is "I have to get that basement organized . . ."-but then I am distracted by anything that doesn't involve digging into the mess. So finally I decided to face my clutter and get some professional help on tidying up. I grabbed

my internet connection and started clicking on how to get organized.

One of the first sites I entered was

www.lifeorganizers.com, which was filled with ideas to help people exactly like me. The formula for organizing any room in your home boils down to three steps:

• Remove clutter by throwing out or giving away things you don't use.
• Assign a "home" or a place for every object; for example, a storage container for out-of-season shoes.
• Have the proper tools-hooks, boxes, garbage bags, dust cloths, vacuum cleaner, etc.

According to Karen Syren, a certified organizational coach, getting rid of the clutter in your home or office will

• Start with the rooms that bother you the most and place two cartons in each offending area labeled "toss" and "save."
• Place all items in one of the boxes-no excuses, it either goes in the toss or the save box.
• When you have completely emptied the area and divided the items, give the room a good scrub.
• Now look at the toss carton and divide what should be given away from what is trash. Make the call right away.
• Your final task is to organize what's left in the save box, but that shouldn't take long, right? Proceed in the same

  manner for each room of concern.

"Depending on the size of the area, the degree of clutter, and the amount of time you spend in that environment [i.e., office, garage, bedroom], any one of these projects can be accomplished easily using the same process. Don't try tackling an entire room at one time-break it down into dresser, desk, night stand, silverware

She further suggests getting the whole family

involved, but advises that there be no tossing of items

scrounging through the toss carton to retrieve items.

place! A good rule of thumb is if you haven't used it

chanting a new mantra-"when in doubt, throw it

Here's advice from expert Sarah Aquirre of

www.about.com on how to clean your living room in

Grab your supplies

It's a great idea to keep all your cleaning supplies in a

cleaning products you use. Having all of your supplies

middle of cleaning up. Everything is handy when you

Put all items that do not belong in the living

room in a container

belongs. You will waste time running to all ends of the

Tackle the couch

Brush off the cushions. Retrieve any missing items from

interior of the couch onto the floor. Replace and fluff

Dust the coffee table and arrange its contents

properly

contents.We're not shining the furniture meticulously or

Neatly arrange the magazines and books

Don't try to weed out magazines and books that you've been thinking about storing or tossing. Just arrange them

Vacuum or sweep the floor

Don't move furniture to do so. Don't try to vacuum

items for when you have more time. Do, however,

of the couch.

Put away your dust rag and vacuum or broom

yourself.

Here are four tips for organizing your kitchen from

Clean your cabinets

One great way to keep your kitchen cabinets

months. That allows you to keep stock of what's in

has damaged packaging.