Tips and Tricks
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Back to School Organizing Basics
The beginning of the school year brings with it fall weather, a more hectic schedule, and new demands on everyone’s time. While children look forward to a new school year, it can cause chaos in your home. Try a few of these ideas to get organized before school starts and the transition will be easier. Great tips and tricks for readers.
Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi Help You Embrace Imperfection
The philosophy of Wabi-Sabi applies not only to nature but to our living spaces. Beauty is expressed in the minimal and simple. It increases our appreciation of simplicity. The blank wall with one work of art. One treasured keepsake on the desk. One elegant flower in a thin vase alone on a bare table. All simple, yet so beautiful.
Declutter Like You’re Paying Someone To Move Your Stuff
People pay their hard-earned money every day to store things they no longer need. Think about it. You buy extra hangers because you have so many clothes, half of which you never wear. You keep old toys in a playroom when what you really need is an office. I say: Get rid of everything you don’t need like you were paying to move it.
Hanger Hack - Zero Effort Decluttering
Most likely, if you haven’t worn something in the past six months, you won’t wear it again. It’s time to let it go: donate. And, donate with joy. A quick, easy hanger hack is to turn all your hangers backwards. As you wear an item, turn it forward. After six months, you’ll be able to see what you wear and what you don’t. A simple and effective hack.
Perfectionism - Your Home Will Never Be Perfect, Get Over It
With decluttering and organizing, there is no such thing as perfectionism. No such thing as a perfectly decluttered and organized house. It’s always a work in progress. Even my house, that of a professional organizer, is constantly being updated and decluttered. I try to keep only what I absolutely need or love.
Paper and Piles: Oh My! How to Declutter Paper
A single sheet of paper takes up little room, which makes it very easy to accumulate far too many papers before you realize it. If you don’t approach the paper selection process with a commitment to getting rid of almost everything, you will barely make a dent in the volume. Keep a pending box for those items that need immediate attention.
Don’t Put It Down, Put It Away
By putting things away instead of putting them down, we are able to stop clutter in its tracks. Clutter tends to accumulate when we do not put things back in their designated spot or they do not have a spot to live in. Everything needs to have a home so it has a space to accommodate it. That trick reduces clutter and disorganization.
Toss Box - How to Declutter Your Closet In No Time
Each time you touch an article of clothing, and the clothing doesn’t look right, you know you’ll never wear it again. The same is true if it’s too big or small, or it has a stain that bugs you. Put these in the “toss box.” Then, when you are ready to make the pilgrimage to the donation store, or a collection box, you’ll have things to donate.
Gifts and Guilt - Let It Go!
There are always questions that go with deciding whether or not to return a gift. Will I hurt someone’s feelings? Will they notice that I don’t own the gift anymore? Should I regift it? (I’ve seen horror stories around this one!) Should I try to take it back? What happens if the return shows up on the giver’s credit card statement? Nightmare.
Declutter Deck® - A Quick and Easy Way to Get Organized
Declutter Deck® is an organizing miracle for those who just can’t get started or don’t know how to take the first step toward organizing their life and surroundings. It is completely DIY, self-paced, fun, engaging, inexpensive, and a quick way to make decluttering part of your daily routine. Pick up a deck today! Only $19.95/Declutter Deck®.
Someday Syndrome - The Cause of Clutter
Why does she keep a pile of recipes she will never make? That’s the question for any clutter we know we don’t want but still keep. Most likely, she’s suffering from “Someday Syndrome” and having trouble letting go. “Someday Syndrome” is a form of procrastination and avoidance that keeps us stuck in clutter and old habits.
Our Hybrid Re: Method®- Marie Kondo Meets The Uncluttered Life®
At The Uncluttered Life, we worked with efficiency engineers to design the Re:Method. The Re:Method is based on engineering principles of lean manufacturing. This, in a nutshell, saves you money and waste. We help you organize and declutter, create a home where you actually know what you own, and why you own it.
Boxes vs. Baskets - Which Is Better For Organizing?
In the debate between which is better for organizing, boxes or baskets, boxes win hands-down. Every time! “Why?,” you ask. There’s one simple reason: it’s hard to put two baskets together without creating an awkward space in between. And, when you have a lot of things to store, you need that extra storage area so all space is used.
The KonMari Method® - Abbreviated
The KonMari Method® (by Marie Kondo) is a very cool process. It actually works. I’ve been trained in the method, and have achieved the Master Organizer distinction. It’s 1500 hours of work, lots of clients, and multiple reporting sessions. I find that each organizing opportunity gives me insight into the way people think about clutter.
Save vs. Spend - When Is It Time to Call In Professional Organizers?
Most people don’t have time, plain and simple. They work, raise kids, cook dinner, feed pets, and everything in between. Where do tasks of cleaning out a closet, kitchen, drawers, laundry room, etc. fit into that schedule? It’s hard to find time. We have developed Declutter Deck® to break organizing into simple bite-sized chunks of time.
Dorm Room Organization
Creative decorating and organization for a college dorm room are a real thing. As I’ve watched my friend pack a headboard, hutch, sheets, pillows, European pillows, decorative pillows, mattress pads, towels, and toiletries (just to start), I’m thinking to myself that I didn’t get this much stuff when I got married. Times have really changed.
Feng Shui
When we have too many things occupying one space, or things that aren’t being utilized, this creates a blockage of energy flow. Feng Shui practitioners refer to this as clutter. A simple technique in this tradition is referred to as clutter clearing. Clutter clearing is a way to look at how to let go of things to clear energy and clutter.
Closet Clutter Chaos
Our main mission in the decluttering and organizing process is to allow you to be your best self, optimize what you already have, and make life easier and less chaotic. When we remain in the present, instead of worrying about the past or the future, we are in better touch with ourselves. This is great for our mental health.
Disguised Storage - Decorganize®
In our last blog, we talked about products that do double duty. Like storage ottomans and mirrors with hooks for jewelry. We love storage that doesn’t look like storage. We love ways to disguise storage, to make it look like it fits right in. We call it Decorganizing®,” which is organizing with beautiful and functional decor items.
Organizing Hacks 101
Everyone loves a good organizing hack. It’s what saves you all the buying, returning, rebuying and trying to figure out exactly how to handle the annoying space that isn’t just quite right, no matter what you do to organize it. Organizing hacks are tricks that we’ve learned from working in so many homes that are all different. Try some!