Winston Salem Declutter and Organize – Page 3

Do you ever just feel it in your bones… it’s a good time to declutter. This past weekend was an unusual weekend… It was the first time in a very long time that I was not working on Sunday. And what will I be doing on this day off, you might wonder. Perhaps sleeping late, or going to brunch. Maybe getting a long overdue mani/pedi?

None of the above. It’s a good time to declutter my own house, of course. Believe me when I say that it’s been a while and is overdue. Even as a Professional Home Organizer, sometimes time can get away from me. We’ve recently had to have a series of unwanted home repairs and in tending to these items, we’ve been forced to pull all the stuff out that had been lurking in the forgotten corners of my attic, garage, and trickling residually throughout other areas of my home. And now that a lovely pile of “stuff” is sitting in my guest room staring at me, I have no choice but to declutter it because before I know it, summer guests will be coming my way.

As I was looking at the pile and thinking about how these items had been shoved in the corner totally forgotten about, I can hear myself in my head saying the same thing that I tell my clients on a daily basis…If it’s been sitting in a corner totally forgotten about, you probably don’t need it. Old storage bins from my college days, a mountain of bedding from when we used to have 15 friends come and stay with us all at the same time at the beach YEARS ago, all kinds of miscellany that I can absolutely live without, various travel bags that don’t fit our travel style anymore.

But here’s where it gets tricky. Although those things may be easy for me to say goodbye to, there is one item that has somehow escaped many, many decluttering sessions over the years. And that item, is my bicycle. That I haven’t been on since about 2009. Somehow it made the cut in the move from Virginia to North Carolina, and has been hanging dutifully from a hook in the rafter since. I’m not sure why this one item has survived all the decluttering. I’m not sure how much longer the bike is going to remain there. I know I should donate it to someone who enjoys riding bikes so it can have a little more love in its lifecycle. I see some soul searching in my near future to figure out what the right course of action is for me & my bicycle. And sometimes, even a Professional Home Organizer has that one item that we might not be ready to turn the page on.

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If you need help with your decluttering journey, we’re here to help! Are you local to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and surrounding areas? Contact Organized Jill to schedule your complimentary consultation.

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I am going to share with you the one thing that I know you’ve all been waiting for,
direct from your favorite Home Organizer: How to Declutter your Home in 30 Days

Before You Start

Decluttering an entire house can easily feel overwhelming, but with a few considerations you can combat overwhelm and set yourself up for success. I happen to be a decluttering expert, so you are in the right place for tips!

Set Realistic Expectations

It’s important to have realistic expectations. Each room is a mini-project and comes with its own set of challenges, which becomes a bit easier to manage when you go systematically room-by-room. If you have kids or other people living with you, then you might feel like you can never keep up, but progress is always progress and each room you declutter will continue to become easier to reset.

Items Without Homes

There’s a simple rule in the world of decluttering, “If something doesn’t have a home, it’s clutter and needs to be removed so cleaning can happen.” This can be a hard rule to live by and the decisions this forces us into can be quite rough. One method to make this a bit easier is to use bins to help sort through your homeless items. Once you’ve gone through a room, revisit this bin and see if there are enough useful items that you could make a home for, but be careful not to simply create more clutter by keeping items you don’t really need.

One takeaway in this section is to be ready to make hard decisions as you declutter.

Sorting Items

As mentioned above, it can be very useful to designate bins to categorize your items. Having these bins at the ready can help keep you in the flow of decluttering. Instead of taking that rogue toy to the playroom, just toss it in a designated bin and take those items to their home when you’re done decluttering the prioritized room.

Some good categories for your bins could be:

Keep – for items you’d like to keep, but can’t find the best home for just yet.
Move – for items that have a home, but need to be moved to another room.
Donate/Sell – for items that are still in good condition, but you haven’t used enough to justify keeping.
Trash or Recycle – any remaining items

Keep Momentum

Practice keeping your momentum by breaking each room into smaller segments. This can help you feel the progress you’re making and avoid discouragement when you don’t have time to complete a full room. As we all battle for time, set yourself up for easy wins by starting simple with a table top, a small cabinet, or a category (like shoes) that can be completed in a short amount of time. If you don’t have time to continue, then you still made some progress. If you have time to continue, then use the momentum you generated to keep going.