About a month ago (or was it two? What is time?) I went on a massive decluttering and organizing purge. We live in a small city space with a very minimal amount of storage, so the stuff piles up SO. FAST. It seems this very much intrigued you all (and slightly stressed you out? š) When I posted all this clutter I was purging on Instagram stories. Many of you asked for my de-cluttering/organizing tips, and as someone who is about as far from type A as one can get, I donāt have any personal tips for you. The truth is, I just couldnāt take it anymore and I wanted everything gone! (I love the good old KonMari method and I can be pretty ruthless about getting rid of stuff when needed!)
Of course, fast forward a month laterāand I somehow feel like Iām losing sight of my organized home already. (#Life.) But there are a couple tricks I learned from Kelly that I am trying to put into practice to keep the clutter in check. (As well as two ārulesā I think are helpful!) Keep in mind, these work best AFTER you have done a giant deep-dive purge of your whole house and are looking to move into āmaintenanceā mode versus damage control mode. š
The basket trick:
I think this is the easiest and most genius. Any time you have a few extra minutes, take a small basket that you have lying around, and fill it with stuff to donate. Keep a larger bag/box/etc somewhere hidden out of the way and place the items in there, and when itās fullātake it to Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc. This feels very attainable to me and because youāll always be motivated to fill up the basket, itāll help you clean spaces out more quickly!
The ā5 thingsā trick:
As an alternative (or in addition to), you could use Kellyās ā5 thingsā trick. She tries to do this daily which admittedly is just not in the cards for me, but whenever I think about doing it, itās easy to do! Just 5 things a day to get rid of. This is so easy. It could be toys, socks that have no matches, extra cups (you donāt need THAT many tumblers!)āwhatever! Itās very easy to be able to find 5 things to toss every day! Like I mentioned above, having a large box or bag to store donations in makes it easy and keeps them out of sightājust donate it when itās full!
The āeverything needs a homeā rule:
Okay this one isnāt actually from Kelly, itās just a well-known rule Iāve seen again and again and I know it to be true. If everything in your house has a āhomeā it will drastically reduce clutter. This is where I always get into trouble, are when new items come into the house and are not assigned a home. Thatās when things start living on the counter, on desks, tables, etc.
Identify and enforce āno clutterā zones:
This is just a personal preference that I think is very individual from person to person, but the rule in general works across the board. Everyone is different in what makes them tick. What one person sees as clutter, another person might look straight past. So identify what āclutter zonesā you canāt stand and make a rule that you wonāt leave things there. This is easier said than done, but when Iām speed cleaning, I try to focus on these zones first as this gives me the most ābang for my buckā in the clutter department. Even if the rest of the house isnāt perfect, if these zones are clearedāit makes the whole house feel picked up.
For example: toys should be out of sight. (Juneās toys either fit in her cupboard or are hidden behind the couch. If at any point they are spilling out of these two areas, I know itās time to purge them. I am RUTHLESS about the toys.)
Two other common areas for us: The dining room table (which is the drop zone for everything and it drives me CRAZY) and the kitchen countertop. When dealing with a small space, itās virtually impossible to never leave things on these two surfaces but it makes me a feel a lot better when I regularly ensure theyāre cleared off and I obey my rule that nothing gets āleftā there (aside from the appliances that āliveā there).
I hope this was helpful and happy purging!
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