BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Living Simply What is your best declutter tip?

I know many of you have your own tips for eliminating clutter in your homes, cars, offices and storage areas. Please share something you've tried that really works for you. <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

Ha,ha! Walking around the house in the morning and putting papers in their place including: newspapers, ads, bills, correspondence, table napkins, stray kleenex ... also books and magazines.

At work we use a lot of fixtures and if I have not used one in a year I pitch it.

Also at work I try to store things in trays or clear containers because for some reason if it is in a closed cardboard box it gets set aside and sometimes lost in the shuffle. If I have to use a box I write on the box what is in it and when I packed it.

As soon as the paper is read off it goes in the trash. Clean out refrigerator every week empty trash cans when half full. Have baskets for every child to store their toys and make them use them. Give magazines away to friends before they pile up, sort thru out of date catalogs and pitch. I could go on and on.
Darlene

Yeah, I am pretty good about magazines - I read them on the treadmill and then donate them to the gym when I'm done. My big problem is if they have a cover story I love, like a picture of the Battlestar Galactica crew, or Pirates of the Caribbean or something. I am such a sucker for the sci fi and fantasy stuff. I guess if I am keeping those I should put them under plastic and call them a collection! (and then sell them on Ebay whenever I decide to unload my large colection of Trek stuff..)

Susan, I can just see you creeping around in the morning, picking stuff up and finding homes for them, coffee cup in one hand! heeheehee <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

Kris, I know what you mean by see-thru containers. Out of sight, out of mind for me too. I love to containerize everything and am constantly experimenting with containers, baskets, bins, buckets, totes...sometimes I think the containers themselves become clutter!

What kind of fixtures at work are you refering to?

Jill,

Mostly display fixtures. I manage a card and gift store so with the seasons come different setups. Sometimes fixtures are reused only once a year and sometimes they will change the setup and use new different fixtures. If you do not stay up on it, it can really eat away at the space you have in the backroom and when the holidays come around you really do not have much room to spare back there.

Large skip and a will of iron....

honestly..."just get rid of it!"

I repeat that over and over and over and over and over

Meg

I do something every time I pass thru a room and that way there is little to actually do other than vacuum and maybe dust (I say maybe because I frankly do not care one way or the other about dust, or the tops of things I cannot see, or the underneath sides, or the backs either for that matter)...when it is really time to "clean" as opposed to "decluttering" which I do not define as the same as "unloading"..

It may well be I am an existentialist housekeeper...if I cannot see it it does not exist! Sadly, I CAN see clutter.

I read in a book on organization once - never handle anything more than once-ie when you get the mail, sort it and put it where it belongs when you get it or shred it right then. Don't move piles around and go through them over and over.

Wheeled drawers, shelves, and tables... I have a small storage room and I have craft supplies, bird supplies, beer-making supplies etc each on wheels. I can easily move them around - pull them out to use, roll back to store. It also gives me a specific place for tidbits that get left around. I used to think my husband was overly AR when I met him because he would label drawers and ONLY those items were allowed in there. Well ... it works so now I guess we're both AR!

I need to figure out how to part with books/magazines. That's one area we can't seem to get under control.

wow - a whole crafts room! I am GREEN with envy! I like the idea of the rolly carts for each hobby area.

ohhh no ... it's so full of things on rollers there's NO room to work in there!! The carts just mean less clutter everywhere else!

Yeah, the roller carts are awesome. The hardest part is keeping THEM uncluttered.

I love this show "Neat". Here are their tips on clutter:

5 key questions to cut down on clutter

At least once a month, I clear out papers and "stuff" from my home based office. If I don't, the stuff takes up space in my mind and zaps my energy as being those things that "one day I will get around to." I simply set the time aside and do it.

In other areas of my home, I make it a habit to keep up on the organization of things. If I am putzing around in a room, say the kitchen, I may spend a few minutes cleaning a cabinet or drawer. By staying on top of things a little at a time, it doesn't become an overwhelming process.

Kathleen Gage

Every Sunday trash day my kids take a trash bag and do the 27 bogey fling. They go in their room sand find 27 things to throw out, trash, papers, broken toys, empty lotion bottles, etc.

I learned this from The FlyLady


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I'm curious as to the meaning of the number 27...it's personally one of my favorite numbers.

ooo! I love the Flylady! She has changed how I do everything!

When I'm working at my desk in my home office on a craft project, etc. I like to put everything back into its place when I'm totally done (not at the end of the day's work and I know I'll be back on the week-end).
When I do this it kind of clears the air for me and brings closure to that project. Then I can move on to the next bit of business with a clear mind. Somehow, this makes me feel more creative and less blocked.

I try to apply this principle to the house in general as well. But it seems to take a bit longer to get the house in as good an order as I would like!