Organizing Tips to De-clutter Your Home 

by Patricia Wagner

You've been looking around your home and something isn't right. It has lost its freshness and is starting to look dull and uninteresting instead of being a restful haven from the world.

 Are there boxes of odds and ends in your attic, basement or spare bedroom? How about the garage?

Do you have bags of discarded curtains and half-empty paint cans anywhere?

So what to do?

It just may be time to organize your stuff. If you read this article through, you'll discover helpful organizing tips.

Guess what, if you're considering any redecorating project for your home, it's time for spring cleaning first -- even if it isn't spring yet.

Be honest, are there piles of this or that sitting around all over the place? It's time to get uncluttered. For that you may need some organizing tips.

Removing the clutter will make any room appear larger and will focus your attention and other people's attention on your treasures instead of on the clutter.

So for your benefit, here are five organizing tips:

1. When in doubt, throw it out.

Give it away if you can't bear to throw it in the trash. You may be surprised to learn that the fewer pieces of furniture and stuff you have sitting around in your home, the more floor space you'll have.

If any room in your home is overflowing with stuff, you probably won't feel relaxed. Your home won't be a restful haven for you stuffed with stuff! That's because clutter is busy and not at all restful.

2. Invest in storage units and containers for belongings you decide to keep.

You can fill the containers with collectibles you don't want to display but don't want to get rid of either. Then put the containers in closets or on shelves in whatever room or garage relates to that item. This organizing tip means you can keep stuff without feeling guilty.

In children's rooms you can purchase brightly-colored plastic stacking crates.

Office trays are helpful in a home office.

Consider purchasing plastic shelving units for displaying belongings in children's rooms.

3. Be ruthless with junk mail.

No list of organizing tips would be complete without considering what to do with the daily deluge of mail. Be sure to have a large enough wastepaper basket to handle each day's collection. I'm sure you've noticed that unwanted mail piles up quickly. Don't handle those letters more than once. Decide immediately if you want them or not.

When you go through your mail, have a wastepaper basket beside you. Put mail you need to answer on a table and throw the rest in the trash right there and then. That way you only have to decide once what you are going to do with all that paperwork -- and not grow piles of it to go through later.

4. Here are organizing tips for collectibles.

First take a good look at the collectibles you may have displayed on tables, mantels or ledges. You really shouldn't have more than three items on an end table. Display your favorite pieces. Put the rest away and rotate them periodically. Too many items can be overwhelming! That way you'll actually be able to see your furniture and dusting will be so much easier.

Another benefit is that you'll have a place to set things down.

Consider investing in a glass-front display case for the numerous collectibles you may have acquired. You won't have to dust them very often and they'll be on display without giving a cluttered appearance to your home. When shopping for furniture, also consider purchasing glass-front hutches, cabinets, bookcases and shelves. That's an organizing tip that will save lots of time eliminating unwanted dusting!

5. By the way, for a spacious look, it's best to have a few large dramatic pieces as opposed to a lot of small items.

Whew, this could be quite a job, but you'll feel so much better when your stuff is all organized. Your home will appear to be more restful. You'll actually feel as though your home is more spacious and -- wonder of wonders -- you'll finally be able to park your car in the garage!

So ready . . . Get set . . . Organize . . . with these five organizing tips!