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I am going to start a series here with four broad tips on how to organize your ENTIRE house. Today’s post will be about the methods that I used to get our house under control and out of clutter which is important for the feng shui of the house but also extremely important when you have little ones. Mainly, I think I have been driven to ultra organize my house because I wanted to make sure that my curious little baby didn’t stumble into some kind of danger. After we discuss the broad ideas I have on this topic, I will write some follow-up posts with tips and tricks for each room of the house. So stay tuned if you are at a loss for getting your house in order.

Bag organizer- Daffysdream

So here goes:

1. Be motivated!

It is a lot of work to organize a house that has been lived in for a few years. We all get busy and let things go, closets pile up, boxes get out of control, drawers are hard to find anything in… have you ever simply wanted a pen and you couldn’t find one? Been there. Not fun. So my first piece of advice is to be extremely motivated this is actually going to be a lifestyle change not just a clean up day.

2. Start big. 

Start with a large space, like your garage or living room and spend an entire day or weekend if it takes that to methodically organize and clean up the space. Why a large space? Though it takes much longer, once completed it is a HUGE accomplishment that furthers your motivation to keep moving forward with the rest of your house.

3. (Decide) Keep it, Toss it, Donate it, Store it. 

Attack each space the same way. Make piles of Keep it, Toss it, Donate it, Store it label them if you need to.

Keep it– if you actively use it on a weekly or monthly basis

Toss it– if you haven’t used it in years and are hanging onto it “just because”. (don’t forget to recycle)

Donate it– if you know that someone else can use it more than you and you haven’t used it in a year or more

Store it– if you haven’t used it in more than a year but can’t let go of it for sentimental reasons

4. Maintain it.

Everything takes work and since we often are doing housework on a weekly basis, simply try to maintain your organization while doing your chores.

For instance, you just got something new and it came in a cardboard box. Don’t keep the box, break it down right then and recycle it. I learned this the hard way and recently had to clean out our garage which was mostly full of  empty cardboard boxes taking up space. 

Wooden Makeup Brush Holder- Address The Mess

So there you have it these are my four main tips for starting to get your house under control. They can be applied to organizing anything from a silverware drawer to a home office. I will follow-up with a post on this topic each week until we tackle organizing the entire house. I will give you room by room tips. Can you tell I’m excited?? I love organizing, it’s sick I know but I love “a place for everything and everything in its place”.

And, for those of you out there thinking how in the heck can I do this with toddler’s in tow, I will have a special post for tips on organizing while taking care of children. It can actually be fun for them too.

Do you like organizing? What is your problem area?