Today I am featuring Laura from I'm An Organizing Junkie. I recently read her book, Clutter Rehab, where she shares 101 quick-and-easy tips to getting your house in tip-top shape.
Laura gives these tips in such manageable, you-can-actually-do-it type steps that it takes the stress out of organizing and helps you painlessly
tackle the piles of toys, stacks of paper and over-flowing drawers in your home.
Rather than making Home Organization an over-night (hence, overwhelming) project, you can use Clutter Rehab to make organization a way of life so that you will have time to enjoy your life and your stuff without letting your stuff take over your life.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that "stuff" is temporary and it needs to serve a purpose. If it's not serving a purpose, it might be time to get it out of my home.
My Top 10 Favorite Tips from Clutter Rehab
1. Organizing Doesn't Have to be Expensive--Make Do This has been kind of a hang up for me, but truthfully, I could make a stop at the Dollar Store and get a few baskets here and there to get things in order a bit more.
2. Attach hooks on the backs of doors for extra storage. A great way to use vertical space!
3. Get kids involved with organizing. I love this. "Organizing is a skill to be taught, practiced, and improved upon like any other, and we aren't doing our kids any favors by not teaching them at a young age." This picture below is actually a combination of several of Laura's tips. First, it is getting the kids involved. This rather large elephant is cute, but takes up a lot of space in our tiny living room. It wasn't getting used that much so I asked Caleb if he wanted to keep it or sell it at our garage sale. He said he would sell it. (Believe it or not, he seems to have a grasp on the concept and if it comes down to it and he changes his mind at the sale he can have it back.) :)
4. This picture also reflects Laura's suggestion to take pictures of sentimental clutter and to banish clutter excuses. Which in this case is, "I Don't Want to Seem Ungrateful". The elephant was a gift from my sister to my son and I kept hanging on to the elephant because I felt bad getting rid of it when truthfully, it was just sitting in the corner. Laura says, "You don't always have to tell the giver that you and the item are parting ways....Whatever you do, don't hang on to something out of a sense of obligation..." Well, the fact that I'm blogging about this means my sister might actually know we're giving the elephant up for adoption (Sorry, Anne!) but it utilized 3 of the 101 steps so I figured it was worth writing about. However, since I have the picture of him on it, the sentimental part of me can deal with the parting a little better now. :)
5. If you don't like something, change it or stop complaining. This is great. "Pay attention to your inner dialogue. When you're dusting your knick-knacks or tripping over your floor clutter and are mumbling and grumbling about it every time you do it, you've got to ask yourself if it's really worth it. So often we aren't even conscious of these negative conversations going on in our minds, and it's a lot of mental clutter taking up valuable brain space."
6. Purge Clothing at the End of the Season, not the Beginning. Brilliant....because it's still fresh in your mind if you actually even wore the item. If you didn't, chances are you won't wear it next season either.
7. Give Everything a Designated Space. This is hard for me, but I'm pretty sure once I master it I won't be wasting time looking around for things wondering where I put them. Like the time I was trying to find my Clutter Rehab book so I could finish my review...:)
8. Never Leave a room Empty-Handed Such a simple tip, but one that packs a mighty punch at the Disorderly Giant!
9. Use Containers to Set Limits and Boundaries I had already been using this tip when organizing our children's out of season clothes, but it's a great idea to apply to lots of other areas of our home, too.
10. If You Haven't Used Something in a Year, Get Rid of It! This one could be hard folks, but it can be done. At least that's what Laura says...:)
I hope you have found these tips to be helpful. There are a lot more really useful tips in Laura's book so grab a copy today!
Click here to receive Laura's weekly
organizing product offers at discount prices. Laura has a fantastic blog with lots of tips and inspiration so check that out and while you're at it, be sure to follow Laura on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest for even more tips on organizing.
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