As part of my New Year Resolution, I am going to try to get my house to be a clutter-free zone. That is a tall order to fill, but even taller when you have kids. After doing bunches of research on some of my favorite organization sites and blogs, I have discovered a common element in all the clutter-free tips. The element is three-fold.
First, you must purge - this step probably takes the longest. You must take each room, part-by-part, and make sure that the things in the room are actually used. A good rule of thumb, if you haven't touched it in a month then you probably don't need it. This is easy in some rooms, like kitchens and bathrooms, and harder in other rooms like kids' rooms. Kids seem to want every toy they have ever played with even from birth and there is no reasoning with them. My seven year old has a valid reason to keep everything, but we don't have the room or the time to keep all of this organized. So a couple times a year, I make sure to have her purge her toys and I have to be firm. She must get rid of at least half of what she has - especially toys that I have never seen her play with in months. This takes a good deal of coaxing and sometimes even just outright "No you cannot keep that" commands, but eventually we get it done. To keep this step from becoming the end of your inspiration, keep it manageable. I have set up a calendar to do a room a day for cleaning and purging. This keeps me from feeling overwhelmed and keeps my family from feeling like I am getting rid of everything they own. (*Psst...they don't even realize it....because they think I am just cleaning)
The second element of having a clutter-free home is to organize - this is my favorite step. I just love rearranging items into pretty, neat, little containers and new areas of organizations. This is easiest done for kids' rooms by having multiple bin storage. I label my 7 year old's bins because she can read, however I have to include pictures on my 3 year old's bins so that he can begin learning to pick up as well. Using containers is one of the easiest ways to combine the purging and organizing elements. When the container gets full it is time to get rid of the older stuff and make room for new stuff. Plus, containers can easily be labeled and easy for kids to manage. Mason jars are awesome containers for kitchen, office, and bathroom items.
The third element is to set routine clean-up. There are several ways to accomplish this step. I have a cleaning schedule set-up where I clean one room a day from top to bottom and in this clean-up process I use the following "clutter-free" suggestions. 1. Use the "don't leave the room with empty hands rules" - this allows you to pick up items that are accumulating and return them into their proper place.
2. Another way is to use the basket technique, as you are doing your daily chores keep a basket with you to toss in stray items and when the basket is filled empty it by returning items to their proper place.
3. The final way to continue to keep clutter at bay is to have a donate box always available. I keep this in my laundry room, and when I see items that I don't want or the kids don't need - I toss it into this box. When the box gets full, I make a run to my local donation store and drop off the contents. It keep clutter down and keeps myself mindful of buying items that I will actually used and not objects that catch my eye.
DIY - Donation Box
Step 1: Get a cardboard box. I use a box from an online order from Bath and Body Works. It already came cute with inside pattern. If yours does not come with a premade patterned inside, you can always cover with patterned contact paper.
Step 2: Pin the flaps down. I used gold brads and poked a hole in the corners with an ice pick.
Step 3: Put on a pretty label and add decorative border to bottom. This is the step where you can make it your own.
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