Four Tips For Clearing The Clutter

Spring?. Fresh breezes through open windows, sleeping trees come awake with bright new leaves, flowers begin to bloom and the grass becomes green once more.

Now along with the obvious, there is another sign that the season has arrived, our yearly pledge to clear the clutter and organize our homes.

I'm not sure why this happens, maybe we humans after months of cold, gray winter days are over come with the feelings of clean, fresh and new.

Well, whatever the reason, we always start with good intentions, but like those New Years Resolutions, many of us rarely follow through.

So let's try something new this year by making a pledge to really get stuck in and finally accomplish our task. The following are a few ideas and tips to help make the "Clear The Clutter" task a little easier and maybe even fun.

1. One Room At A Time

The first thought to keep in mind is that this particular project is not one you can hurry up and have done by yesterday. By working through one room at a time, you will have a much better chance of successfully completing the job. Here is a thought to keep in mind. "You didn't accumulate all this stuff in a day, so why does it have to be cleared out in a day".

2. Sort Items Into Categories

Your first step will be to sort items into the following 3 categories, it will make the task go a lot easier.

Have to Keep

Maybe?Not 100% Sure

Definitely Not

Once you have completed this part of the project, you will more than likely find the "Definitely Not" pile is the smallest one.

What is it a professional might call this "Separation Anxiety"? However, don't worry, almost everyone ends up this way, after all it is not easy parting with our things, even if it is something you have not used in years.

3. Re-Sort Once More

Try to be as realistic as possible here, remember the goal is to "Clear The Clutter".

Not Sure Group:

This group is easy: If it is already here, more than likely, you will never use it so into the "Definitely Not" pile it goes.

Have To Keep:

This could be the hardest pile to sort, so a tip to remember: If you have not used something in the last year, chances are you probably will not use it again. This applies to everything from shoes to car cleaners; however if there is something you never use but has a special memory attached, keep it.

Gifts can be a tricky area, one thing to keep in mind just because someone gave you something, it does not mean you must keep it forever. So that figurine that great aunt Edna gave you years ago or the bird made of shells from a friends vacation does not need to keep collecting dust on your bookcase.

Now, you may wonder about things from your children. I use to keep everything my daughters brought home from school. Finally, I decided to go through and keep one or two items from each grade, put them into a plastic storage box labeled Sherri & Ashley ? School ? K-12. Now all school memories are safe and in one place, this is a useful idea for grandparents.

Once you have finished your resort, you have a couple of choices for those "Definitely Not" items, depending on their condition, either just pitch them, give them away or have a tag sale and make yourself a little money.

4. Organize & Store What Is Left

Now is the time to put what is left away, by organizing you will not only have tidy shelves, closets and cabinets but you will be able to put your hands on what ever it is you need.

There are numerous storage options for every room in your home.

Plastic boxes come in a variety of sizes and colors and are inexpensive.

Stacked on a closet shelf, clear smaller sizes make perfect storage for extra shoes, winter gloves, pictures or how about extension cords, nails, packages of hooks or hand tools.

Larger sizes can keep extra winter coats, blankets, odd season clothes or seasonal decorations neat and in one place. Baskets, hampers even seldom used suitcases can be useful, stacking plastic milk crates are perfect for kids room.

How about those cluttered kitchen cabinets, plastic tiered risers work wonderful for stacking cans of soup, veggies or spaghetti sauce, this makes use of wasted space and you are able to see at a glance what you have.

One area everyone has is the famous "Junk Drawer"; these can be kept organized with silverware trays. By buying individual pieces in different sizes, you can customize each drawer to fit exactly what you need.

The lesson here is that by having a little patience, taking your time and giving some thought to your storage needs, you can not only "Clear The Clutter" but also have an organized home.

This article is shareware. Give this article away for free on your site, or include it as part of any paid package as long as the entire article is left intact including this notice. Copyright ? 2005 bonnie carrier.

Bonnie P. Carrier is the creator of Savvy Home Decorating. She is the mother to two grown daughters and a very spoiled 4yr old Blue Merle Sheltie named Toby.

Stop by Savvy Home Decorating -http://www.savvy-home-decorating.com - for ideas and tips on budget decorating:

detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Four Tips For Clearing The Clutter

Get Organized - Organization