Before and After #2

Sometimes the simplest projects can make all the difference in a room. For instance the following pictures show the before and after of a bookshelf I organized. This room didn't have a lot of furniture in it but the way objects were placed made it seem cluttered.

We sorted through and donated unwanted books, then removed anything that wasn't a book from the shelf. We organized books by size and put magazines in new holders on the top of the unit.


Before


After

Declutter

Are you constantly trying to declutter your space but only seem to be moving piles from one place to the next? Follow these simple tips to increase your declutter skills:

1. Stay Focused: Go through one area at a time. Don't wander from pile to pile or room to room. Focus on one task and finish it before moving on to the next. Sounds easy, but it's not.

2. Downsize and Purge: Clutter slowly creeps into your home. It starts small and grows with every passing day. Go through each room and start purging. Throw away what you can and downsize what has to stay. For example:

• Are you moving that pile of magazines from one location to the next? Do you really plan on re-reading the entire magazine? Try cutting out only the articles that you will use in the future and recycle the magazine. (Keep the articles organized by topic in a recipe box, or taped to a piece of paper and filed in a binder.)



• Does your mail pile up on the kitchen counter or the office desk? Do you only go through the piles when it becomes a fire hazard? If your mailbox is down a long drive, use that time to pick out the junk mail. Throw it in the trash can outside and don't even let it in the house.

3. Start Small: Does the thought of tackling the clutter in your entire home make you want to cry? Anything is manageable in small quantities. Just try working in small blocks of time (15 minutes/day) Pretty soon, you'll be finished decluttering and hopefully you will have created an organizing habit.