With Christmas a whole four days behind us, we are ready to move on to the next thing. Which often means a lot more work to get your beautiful home back to its former beauty. Do you have boxes full of the kids gifts that still have not been assimilated into the playroom or toy box? If you are like me those places are already over filling with stuff. The sock drawer already doesn’t close, I have to heave my body weight into the closet to move clothes over to hang up new items, yep stuff is getting a little tight around here and that is not just the pocket book after massive holiday spending. Chances are if you are anything like me, you may just have too much stuff. And if you have been an excellent, purger, re-oraginizer throughout the year and everything has a purpose and a place AND you have children, I want to give you an award, cause that is a near impossibility in this busy house.
So where do you start as you stand staring at the amassed clutter and chaos that once was a near spotless floor. Well, here are a few tips and items you can buy ON SALE that will help with your re-organization project.
STEP ONE: BOX TO BOX/ROOM TO ROOM
So as not to get overwhelmed, start your organization efforts slowly and methodically. Start with the busiest, most used room first, usually this is the kitchen or living area. Before you tackle the gift boxes and extra stuff coming in, go to your storage areas and be ruthless about what you have used or needed in the last year. If you haven’t used it or needed it and it doesn’t have MASSIVE sentimental value, then it needs to go.
Grab a garbage bag, a donation bag and a re-gift/return bag and start to it. Don’t feel bad about throwing out broken, over used or stained items. If they can be put into the recycle bin, then recycle them, otherwise toss them out, they have served their purpose and over extended their usefulness.
If you have items that you don’t use anymore that are in good condition, put them in the bag for a donation to a thrift store so that others may benefit from their use.
And if you got an item you know the kids won’t play with or you can’t use, which is new and unopened, consider re-gifting it to a friend, church or planned parenting/mother’s support center who may really need it.
Now that you have separated what stays and what goes, it is time to better organize the remaining items in the space. Here are some stores that are offering great deals on containers and space savers.
THE CONTAINER STORE: 30% Off Elfa Organization Products
http://www.containerstore.com/welcome.htm
ORGANIZE.COM: 20% OFF SELECTED ITEMS
Maybe you are in the mood for a whole customized closet and make your organizational dreams come true, with having a place for everything.
STORABLES.COM: 20% OFF CUSTOM CLOSETS
STEP TWO: ROOM BY ROOM/BOX BY BOX: PUT BACK ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY
Now you have found the perfect items to put all of the things that you want to save. Make sure to go through room by room and address clutter and issues in each one. And remember the more you are able to get rid of and comfortably store, the more time you will be eeking out for yourself that you otherwise be bending over, picking up or shoving into a space that doesn’t have enough room.
As we head into 2011, we want to make sure that Mom’s sanity is in check and that we pave the way for a more stress free, happier and more organized life, cause at the end of the day, we adore our families, but we don’t love their clutter. So it’s time to get rid of the old to make way for the new.
