Avoid Clutter Build Up

The biggest and easiest way to impact your home’s appearance is to eliminate clutter.  When items don’t get picked up or put in their proper place they can take over any house.  Sometimes, storage of our accumulated items becomes an issue.

Before you can reduce the items lying around making a home look cluttered you need to decide what is needed or wanted and what isn’t.  Once you’ve done that, if you still have a lot of items remaining without a place to put them storage for those items is going to be needed.  Go through each room and identify where extra storage space is needed.  Once you’ve decided where you need the storage space, it will be time to decide on what type of storage pieces to purchase.

Many storage solutions are available, everything from bookcases and chests to ottomans.  The room in which you need the storage in will somewhat dictate what type of storage you will need to purchase.  For living room storage consider an ottoman with built in storage, for a closet there are many options for organizing from hanging shelves to shoe storage. Is your storage in your bedroom limited?  Try under the bed storage pieces or nets that hang from the ceiling.  The nets are a great option for storing kids’ stuffed animals.

Now that you’ve got your storage it’s time to tackle de-cluttering your house.  Don’t feel like you have to de-clutter the entire house all at once.  Focus on one room at a time or if that is too overwhelming for you do one drawer at a time.  Start small and work your way up to the bigger things and you will find that you have de-cluttered the entire house.

Just a couple tips to help you accomplish your goal of de-cluttering and keeping it that way:

When sorting, make several piles: a keep pile, a sell pile, a giveaway pile and a trash pile.

Schedule a thirty minute clutter cleaning session once or twice a week; this will keep you from having to spend several days clutter cleaning once very few months.

Once you are done reading a newspaper or magazine dispose of it, either in a recycling box or in the trash.  If there happens to be an article you want to read later just clip the article.  It will take up much less space this way.  Post it somewhere you’ll see it such as a bulletin board so you’ll remember to read it and then get rid of it.

Put items away when you are done using them.  Leaving things on counters can pile up fast and make a room look messy and un-kept.

Each night go through each room in your home, place items that belong in that room but are out of place where they belong and place the items that are misplace in a large basket.  Then go through and place the items in the basket in the rooms they belong in.  It shouldn’t take long and it will help clutter stay at a minimum.

Make use of every minute.  If you happen to be on the phone, grab a sponge and wipe down the counters, fold laundry or take care of other quiet chores.  A hands free earpiece works great for this.  Allowing your hands to be free will give you the opportunity to be multi-tasker and keep your home clean and neat.

Use these tips and your home will be and stay free of clutter build up.

How To Avoid Clutter Build

One of the easiest ways to make a big impact on your home’s appearance is to take care of clutter.  We all accumulate things, and when they don’t get picked up they can easily take over an area of the house.

Start by going through each room and identifying where extra storage space is needed. After you have figured out where you need storage, you can decide what type of storage pieces to buy.

There are many types of storage solutions to choose from, and you can certainly find some that will fit into your home’s décor.  You can choose from bookcases, chests, and ottomans for your living room.

When it comes to the bedroom, you can go to your local department store, such as Target, and find all types of closet organizers in that you can fit together to create customized storage solutions.
You can also find pieces that fit under the bed as well as nets that hang from the ceiling. These can be great for storing kids’ stuffed animals.

After you have figured out where you are going to put your things, you can start sorting through them.  If the task of de-cluttering your home seems overwhelming, focus on one room at a time. And if that seems overwhelming, focus on something small, such as one drawer.  When you are finished with that drawer, move on to another drawer or cabinet.  Eventually, you will have made your way through your home.

As you are working, you may find it helpful to make several piles.  Put everything you plan to keep in one pile, things you can sell on eBay in another pile, things to give away in a separate pile, and things to throw away in the final pile.

If you tend to be a pack rat, try to break free from your old habits.  For the most part, things that you haven’t used in the last year can be sold, given away, or thrown out.  If you are unsure of whether you will use it or not, put it in storage.  If another six months go by and you haven’t used it, it is time to let go of it.

Now that you have gone through the trouble of de-cluttering your house, here are a few tips on helping you avoid clutter build-up in the future.  It is a lot easier to schedule a 30 clutter cleaning session once a week than to spend several days de-cluttering once every few months.

* Don’t let newspapers and magazines pile up.  After you’re done reading them, put them in a bin and when it’s full, take it to a recycling center.  If you are hanging onto it for a specific article, clip the article out and pin it up on a bulletin board. It will take up much less space and will be a visual reminder that you wanted to read it.

* Instead of leaving things out on the counters, put items away when you are done using them.

* Use the time you spend on the phone to wipe down counters, fold laundry, and take care of other quiet chores.  You can get a headset for your phone so that you are audible to the person you’re speaking to, yet have both hands free to take care of other things.

* If you have a big house, buy a large basket with handles.  Each night, start in one room and place the items that do not belong in that room into the basket.  Make your way through each room, putting away things that belong in that room and placing items that belong somewhere else into the basket.

Frugal Living Tip: Clothing

Everyone thinks they need that they need to latest and greatest when it comes to fashion. Most of the time, this just isn’t so. But if you feel that you do need to keep up to date, then be sure to shop sales.

A good tip if you want to buy name brands at well-known stores, is to find ways to get gift cards for that store and sign up for mailings to receive coupons either through the mail or your e-mail. There are many websites on the Internet where you can read e-mails, surf websites and more to earn points that will get you free gift cards for different stores.
If you feel okay with not being on the up and up, shopping at discount stores, consignment stores or Goodwill stores are good places to find good clothes at good prices. Check around and find out when they are having huge sidewalk sales. They usually mark everything fifty percent off or more.

Get a tear in the knee of your pants? Don’t throw them out! You can purchase a pack of iron-on patches for a small amount and fix the hole. If it’s a small hole, sew it up quick before it gets any bigger. Same with buttons or the seam comes undone on a shirt. Don’t throw it away, be proactive and sew it up!

Think you might have too many clothes? Not sure which ones you really wear that often? Take one day to go through your entire closet. Try on all the clothes. If they are too big or too small, put them into a pile. All the clothes that are the right size put them back into the closet.

Hang the hangers all in one direction. Once you wear something, when you go to hang it back up again, turn the hanger in the other direction. If after a month or six months, you still have items that haven’t been turned around, take all those clothes out.

You have three options (at least) when it comes to the piles of clothes you’ve just made. You can donate them, take them to a consignment store or have a garage sale to earn some extra money to save for later. If you have children, you can take the clothes they’ve outgrown and hand them down to others you know. Some moms with large families love hand-me-downs and the kids enjoy new clothes.