Showing posts with label home maintenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home maintenance. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Ideas For A Weekly Cleaning Schedule For Each Room In Your House To Keep Everything Tidy



Here is an example of a weekly home cleaning schedule for each room in the house:

Monday:

  • Kitchen: Wipe down counters, clean sink, sweep and mop floor
  • Living room: Dust surfaces, vacuum furniture and floors

Tuesday:

  • Bedrooms: Change bed linens, vacuum or sweep floors, put away clothes
  • Bathrooms: Clean the toilet, shower, and sink, sweep and mop floor

Wednesday:

  • Laundry: Wash, dry, and fold laundry
  • Office: File papers and tidy desk

Thursday:

  • Dining room: Wipe down table and chairs, sweep or vacuum floor
  • Hallway: Vacuum or sweep floor, clean mirrors and light fixtures

Friday:

  • General cleaning: Wipe down baseboards, doors, and windowsills, clean windows
  • Declutter: Go through and get rid of any items that are no longer needed

This is just one example of a weekly cleaning schedule, and you can adjust it to fit your needs and schedule. You may also want to add additional tasks on a monthly or quarterly basis. The important thing is to find a schedule that works for you and stick to it as much as possible to keep your home clean and organized.

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Resources For Home Maintenance


There are many good resources available for learning about home maintenance. Here are a few options:

  1. Websites: There are many websites that provide information and tips on home maintenance, such as HomeAdvisor, This Old House, and Bob Vila. These sites often have a wide range of articles and videos that provide step-by-step instructions for a variety of home maintenance tasks.
  2. Books: There are many books available on home maintenance and repair, such as "The Complete Guide to Home Repair and Maintenance" and "The Homeowner's Handbook." These books often provide a wide range of tips and techniques for maintaining and repairing different areas of the house.
  3. Apps: There are also many smartphone apps that provide home maintenance information, such as HomeZada and Fixr. These apps often have a wide range of tips and techniques for maintaining and repairing different areas of the house.
  4. Social media: Many home maintenance experts and influencers share their tips and ideas on social media platforms, such as Instagram and Pinterest. You can follow these accounts for inspiration and find new ideas for maintaining and repairing your home.

By using these resources, you can learn about a wide range of home maintenance tasks and techniques to help you keep your house in good condition. 

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Cleaning and Organizing the Inside of Your Kitchen Cabinets


Cleaning out and organizing your kitchen cabinets can be a big task, but it's a great way to make your kitchen more functional and efficient. Here are some helpful steps for thoroughly cleaning and organizing your kitchen cabinets:

  1. Remove everything from the cabinets: Take out all of the items from the cabinets, including dishes, glasses, food storage containers, baking equipment, pots and pans, and any other items that are stored in the cabinets.
  2. Discard any items that are damaged or no longer needed: As you remove items from the cabinets, be sure to safely throw away any items that are broken or that you no longer use.
  3. Wipe down the inside of the cabinets: Use a mixture of warm water and dish soap, if appropriate, to wipe down the inside of the cabinets. Be sure to get into the corners and along the edges.
  4. Sort items by type: As you put items back in the cabinets, try to group similar items together. For example, you could keep all of your baking equipment in one cabinet and all of your pots and pans in another.
  5. Use bins or organizers: Consider using bins or organizers to keep items organized and easy to find. This can be especially helpful for smaller items, like bags of tea or packets of hot chocolate mix.

By following these steps, you can thoroughly clean and organize your kitchen cabinets, making it easier to find what you need and keeping your kitchen running smoothly.

Friday, January 6, 2023

Tips or Reminders For Seasonal Maintenance or Chores Via Owners Instruction Manuals or Professional Services


Check to make sure smoke detectors are working properly 


Check to make sure carbon monoxide detectors are functioning properly


Check expiration dates on fire extinguishers and make sure it is current 


Maintain lawn care


Professional yearly heating and cooling inspections 


Car inspection and maintenance 


Snow removal


Gutter inspection  


Leaf removal 


Tree maintenance  

Thursday, January 5, 2023

An Example Of A Weekly Home Cleaning Schedule For Each Room In The House


Monday:

* Kitchen: Wipe down counters, clean sink, sweep and mop floor

* Living room: Dust surfaces, vacuum furniture and floors


Tuesday:

* Bedrooms: Change bed linens, vacuum or sweep floors, put away clothes

* Bathrooms: Clean the toilet, shower, and sink, sweep and mop floor


Wednesday:

* Laundry: Wash, dry, and fold laundry

* Office: File papers and tidy desk


Thursday:

* Dining room: Wipe down table and chairs, sweep or vacuum floor

* Hallway: Vacuum or sweep floor, clean mirrors and light fixtures


Friday:

* General cleaning: Wipe down baseboards, doors, and windowsills, clean windows

* Declutter: Go through and get rid of any items that are no longer needed


This is just one example of a weekly cleaning schedule, and you can adjust it to fit your needs and schedule. You may also want to add additional tasks on a monthly or quarterly basis. The important thing is to find a schedule that works for you and stick to it as much as possible to keep your home clean and organized. 

Sunday, November 6, 2022

My Organize Your House Planner


really enjoy writing about home organizing and also my faith. Today I wanted to mention a book that I published a little while ago. My book includes cleaning and organizing tips for the following areas of your home: entryway, kitchen, dining room, living/family room, bedroom, closets, bathroom, laundry room, basement and garage. The book includes helpful motivation for decluttering projects and organizing goals. You can also write your own lists of individualized chores/tasks. This title is available on the Bookemon site or at Amazon. 

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Getting Organized: How To Tackle The Big Tasks


How many times have we put off doing those large tasks because we know how much effort and energy they will require? Just thinking about doing them wears you down. Soon you might find that this large job that you once had weeks to accomplish must be done in days. In this article we will look at ways to take on big tasks so they are more manageable. We will look at the best times of the day to tackle certain things to get them finished and checked off of your to-do list.


Most big tasks can be broken up into smaller manageable tasks. To get then done with as little stress as possible, this is what could be done. If you’re looking to spring clean your home, for example, divide the house up room by room. Then list everything that needs to be done in each room. Once you have your lists you need to prioritize what needs to be done first, second and so on. 


Once this is complete you can get going. Making lists of smaller tasks and checking them off as you get them done gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Instead of one huge task you can reward yourself for doing the series of smaller tasks. You’ll see things start to take shape and feel better as the task suddenly becomes smaller.


Big tasks in some ways are a mixed blessing. There are things that you like to do and things that you may dread. When you have your list of what you want to get done for that day, if at all possible do the least desired task first. You energy levels are usually highest in the early part of the day so giving it to those tasks you really don’t want to do will get them checked off of your list much faster. Waiting until later, when you are tired and slow, will virtually increase the risk that the task will get put off. 


Big tasks seem quite daunting, however; nearly all of them can be broken down into small tasks. By doing this you’re making the large task much more manageable and even enjoyable at times. The next large task you know you have coming, plan in advance and break it up. You’ll find it isn’t so bad.

Organize Your Household Mail


Most people need to deal with paper on a daily basis. Some common examples are the following: bank statements, bills, pay stubs, newspapers, magazines, calendars, take-out menus, shopping receipts, and school permission slips. With an organized plan of action and some discipline, the paperwork can be conquered. 


Begin by taking a look at the type of paperwork that’s overwhelming you the most. Are you the most stressed by those bills that go unpaid when you can’t locate them? Or is it the amount of artwork your 

children have created and decorated your refrigerator with? Perhaps it’s the constantly changing after school schedules or meetings. 


Once you determine the most invasive paper culprits, next it’s time to line them up and sort them out. A successful filling system has three main components. A file for those things that need to be acted on immediately, one for those that are part of a household’s ongoing management, and one for those that are more infrequent but nevertheless crucial, such as tax records, insurance policies, and home maintenance documents. 


It is important to remember that when conquering the paperwork, make a good routine of dealing with each item the first time you handle it. Get out of the habit of looking through your mail and tossing it aside. Set aside time each day to open mail, go through paperwork in your inbox and sort and file appropriately. 


Decide if each item is something to be paid, something to be done, or something to be filed. At the end of each week, take out each file and respond appropriately by paying the bill, responding to the request, or moving items that need to be filed into their permanent locations. 


Of course, if you know something is urgent and can’t wait until week’s end, clip it to the front of your file box or place it in front in a folder labeled Urgent and act accordingly. 


Save telephone time by keeping calendars, schedules, take-out menus and phone lists into clear page protectors in a 3-ring binder. Flip through the household notebook to quickly check meeting dates or find phone numbers. 


Organize magazines and newspapers into baskets kept near couches and living room chairs for people to look at during their free time. Be sure to keep in the habit of sorting through this on a regular basis and filing those magazines you decide to keep and tossing old newspapers and magazines you wish you toss. 

Thursday, June 2, 2022

How to Keep Your Home Free of Clutter in the Future


Decluttering is a little like losing weight. No matter how well you deal with your problem in the beginning, it will keep coming back unless you understand the concept of maintenance. If you have gone to the bother of decluttering your home and making it more minimalist and free of mess, here are some tips on how to keep it that way. 


Regular Maintenance


This step refers to simply keeping things the way they are by possibly selling or donating certain items when you realize you don’t need them, instead of stashing them in a pile that needs to be sorted over and over. You can read your mail and make a habit of appropriately dealing with it. There is no excuse for papers to be lying all over the floor or dining room table.


When you buy something from the store, put it where it is going to be kept immediately instead of setting bags on the floor and table. After the laundry comes out of the dryer, fold it and put it away immediately in the proper rooms and drawers. When you have five spare minutes, use it to tidy and clean up anything lying around. This is how you can keep huge messes from forming again.


Declutter Regularly


In addition to your regular maintenance, it is important to declutter on a regular basis. You can decide to have a serious decluttering day every three months, every six months, or just whenever your home starts looking cluttered. Make it a serious appointment and tidy your home from top to bottom, giving yourself another clean slate to work with.


Stop Buying Unnecessary Things


One of the biggest ways you can stop clutter in its tracks is to stop buying unnecessary things. By only allowing what you need to enter your home, you will cut down on the number of items you need to clear out later. Before you buy an item, think about whether you really need it, or if it is something you will regret at a later point in time.


Get Everyone on Board


You can’t conquer clutter alone, unless you live alone. If you are part of a family who lives together, or have roommates of any kind, you will need to make everyone a part of the decluttering team. Talk to everyone about your wishes to maintain a clutter-free haven, and talk about the many benefits of living in a more minimalist way than you have been. Let the other household members know that everyone’s efforts will benefit everyone else, and that you expect cooperation and teamwork.


Decluttering is only half of the solution. In order to maintain a beautiful home, you will need to take steps to keep it that way after the original clean sweep. Use these tips to keep your home free of clutter for years to come.

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Garage Organization Made Simple

You may have conquered your house, your home office, and your car, and you’ve mastered the art of scheduling and cooking in bulk. But your garage may still be a cluttered and unorganized mess. As with everything else, a neat and organized garage is attainable with some planned effort and simple storage solutions. 

First, you can get a handle on the mess by temporarily moving everything out to sort through what goes and what stays. Large, clear plastic containers can help you do this. They're great for clearing away the clutter and then using for storage. Take your time during the sorting and purging process. 


Consider adding a cabinet to your garage, if needed for storage. You may want to look for units that offer the option of keyed locks. The garage is also where most of kid’s sporting goods land. To keep bats and balls organized, you could purchase a hamper-style organizer. You may decide to designate a section for each child. Add a bin or shelf to temporarily store messy, muddy shoes as well. 


Find a workable storage solution for all the little things in your garage. You can carefully organize bolts, screws, fasteners and other small parts into small clear containers so you can easily see what each contains. Then, you can label each container and find a safe, appropriate place to store them. For long-handled items, such as rakes and shovels, look for storage units to keep everything straight. 

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Tips for Differing Standards of Tidiness within a Household

Family life and having roommates are both rewarding, but each can also be a challenge at times. One of these times is when you are trying to find a balance between keeping everyone happy in areas where they differ.


When some members of your household are neat freaks, and others are more suited to audition for a hoarding television show, it is not an easy task for everyone to live together. Here are some tips on how your household members of various levels of organization can dwell peacefully together.

Have a Group Meeting

The most important tip on how to negotiate this dilemma is to keep your lines of communication open. Hold regular meetings to discuss the issue. Make it a time where everyone can input and try to keep it light-hearted and as fun as possible.

Decide on Common Goals

Although some family members or roommates may be drastically more or less comfortable with disorganization than others, there are sure to be some common goals you can all agree on. Some of these might be to have a regular group clean-up time, or to keep the living room clean since this is where your visitors spend most of their time when they are over. Choose deadlines that everyone can agree on, and talk about a minimum level of cleanliness that everyone agrees is important.

Decide on a Reasonable Compromise

Perhaps the messiest individual of the group simply may not be able to stay consistently organized, nor leave things spotless all the time. Maybe as a group you could choose certain rooms that need to be tidy, and others that are not so important.

Bedrooms are generally an area where organization can be left to one’s personal choice. This way, if someone has items that need to be put away but they don’t have time to do so immediately when they return home, they know that they can put the bags in their own room or another appointed "messy zone" until they have the time for it.

Make other compromises such as letting family members or roommates switch their cleaning duties with someone else if they are running late from work or have an especially busy day ahead of them.

Let Each Person’s Strength Be Highlighted

No two people are alike, even in the same family. Everyone has different strengths, and this can be capitalized on when you are creating your cleaning schedule. Perhaps one of the household members loves cleaning the kitchen after supper, while another prefers more time-consuming but less frequent tasks such as vacuuming. Create the schedule to cater to everyone’s likes, dislikes and natural abilities.

It can be a challenge to live with someone who is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to household organization, but there is no need to let it destroy your relationships or living arrangements. Stay focused on what you love about each of your roommates, whether it be family or friends. Appreciation for each other and a commitment to working together will help you to live in harmony while taking responsibility together for the home you live in.


 

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Organizing Your Household Mail and Papers


Most people need to deal with paper on a daily basis. Some common examples are the following: bank statements, bills, pay stubs, newspapers, magazines, calendars, take-out menus, shopping receipts, and school permission slips. With an organized plan of action and some discipline, the paperwork can be conquered. 


Begin by taking a look at the type of paperwork that’s overwhelming you the most. Are you the most stressed by those bills that go unpaid when you can’t locate them? Or is it the amount of artwork your children have created and decorated your refrigerator with? Perhaps it’s the constantly changing after school schedules or meetings. 


Once you determine the most invasive paper culprits, next it’s time to line them up and sort them out. A successful filling system has three main components. A file for those things that need to be acted on immediately, one for those that are part of a household’s ongoing management, and one for those that are more infrequent but nevertheless crucial, such as tax records, insurance policies, and home maintenance documents. 


It is important to remember that when conquering the paperwork, make a good routine of dealing with each item the first time you handle it. Get out of the habit of looking through your mail and tossing it aside. Set aside time each day to open mail, go through paperwork in your inbox and sort and file appropriately. 


Decide if each item is something to be paid, something to be done, or something to be filed. At the end of each week, take out each file and respond appropriately by paying the bill, responding to the request, or moving items that need to be filed into their permanent locations. 


Of course, if you know something is urgent and can’t wait until week’s end, clip it to the front of your file box or place it in front in a folder labeled Urgent and act accordingly. 


Save telephone time by keeping calendars, schedules, take-out menus and phone lists into clear page protectors in a 3-ring binder. Flip through the household notebook to quickly check meeting dates or find phone numbers. 


Organize magazines and newspapers into baskets kept near couches and living room chairs for people to look at during their free time. Be sure to keep in the habit of sorting through this on a regular basis and filing those magazines you decide to keep and tossing old newspapers and magazines you wish you toss. 

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Designing Your Own Organizing System


By reading my blog you are taking a step closer to getting your home and your life more organized. Have you been feeling the clutter in your life is getting out of control and more chaotic? Do you waste a lot of valuable time searching for items around your house? I know for myself, even with being home so much more throughout last year during the Pandemic, I feel like I don’t have enough time in the day to get things done like I used to in the past. I think a lot of the reason is because I am cooking even more now throughout the whole day, which means more meal preparation and clean up time afterwards. 

It seems like before the Pandemic, I had more of a consistent routine daily/weekly schedule. Do you ever think how much better your daily life would be if your house was really organized? I have read so many wonderful books and articles about organization throughout the past several years. 


Sometimes it is easy for life to seem to get somewhat out of control, such as with all of the changes in 2020. You may feel overwhelmed with so many daily responsibilities to accomplish, without enough time for you to relax a bit. You may even begin to feel anxious and depressed about the situation. 


Maybe you actually started to spend money on shelving units, bins and containers, hoping to bring order to counteract the chaos. Don’t lose hope or motivation. You can turn your situation around. Start with a small, manageable project that won’t take too much time. Be consistent and keep going with this reasonable project until it is completed. It could be cleaning out and organizing one kitchen cabinet or drawer. Successfully finishing smaller tasks will help to build your confidence to tackle larger projects. 


It is very important to understand that organizing is not all about throwing things out, but about identifying what is important to you, prioritizing and maintaining access to what you routinely need. Clutter control and finding the ideal storage area for your individual items are important keys to good organization. Home organization requires patience and consistent efforts. However, the end results are so rewarding.


By learning helpful organizing skills and techniques, you can begin to restore order and balance in your life. Organizing your home and cleaning may provide comforting, peaceful order to your life. 


When families collect too much stuff, the unnecessary clutter can interfere with the tranquility and calmness of the home environment. Too much clutter can actually cause feelings of despair and frustration. Clutter takes up a lot of precious space in your home that could be used much more efficiently.


One of the first things I learned when I was studying to become a professional organizer was the major importance of assigning everything in your house a specific place or “home” so that you will know exactly where to find that item in the future when you are searching for it. This is a good habit to teach all of your individual family members.


You could start in your foyer/entryway area of your house and place a small basket or dish to hold your keys. A larger basket set on an entryway table could temporarily hold library or school books, so they don’t get lost and remain quick and easy to find. A coat rack could nicely hold your seasonal coat and purse. 


I know you can think of several areas throughout your house for organized storage of various items. In the bedroom you can use drawer dividers for socks and tiny items. I have found useful, multi-purpose ottomans to store many things, such as seasonal throw blankets in my bedroom. They are also handy to store excess books. 


In my own closet, if I find clothing that I haven’t worn for a year or is no longer my size, I decide if I want to sell or donate those items or store them. I use slim color coded hangers to display only the clothing that is currently my size and that I plan to actually wear often.


One thing I routinely do with my kitchen items is to try to donate a small appliance at the time that I purchase an upgraded model. I have a small kitchen with limited counter space. I do a lot of cooking every day, so I try to prioritize things carefully in my kitchen. It takes a decent amount of time, but I need to really maintain order inside my small kitchen cabinets for adequate storage purposes.


I find that my dining room table can easily get cluttered with excess grocery supplies or with mail/bills, etc. It definitely is a fabulous habit to keep your kitchen and dining room table clean and free of all clutter. Hopefully, you may have a spare desk or even a dedicated cart of some kind to keep your mail and bills, along with your writing supplies, calendars, notebook and menu planners. 


I keep at least three boxes in the house labeled the following:


1.) Donate

2.) Sell

3.) Put Away


Then when I straighten out rooms throughout the week, it makes it easier to keep things tidy and organized.


There a few things to consider when you are deciding to donate items, such as:


1.) Have you used the item in the past year?

2.) Do you have duplicate items?

3.) Have you upgraded to a newer model?

4.) Are you holding onto the item just for sentimental value?


Part of organizing is deciding what is important to you and finding an appropriate place for your items, so your home can be maintained in an easy manner. You will reap the benefits of a calm, happy, “clutter-free” home environment. Hopefully, you will have more available quality time to spend enjoying your favorite things and more relaxation. Organizing is not about throwing out a lot of household items or buying lots of storage containers.


Don’t feel guilty for accumulating a lot of stuff over the years. Developing a unique smart organizing system that will work for you and your whole family will certainly help you maintain your household.


To create a lasting, successful organizing solution, make your system fit your personality so you feel comfortable with your home surroundings. Create neat order, clear surfaces, simplify your life by designing your own organizing system unique for you and your family!

Step-By-Step Goals For Organizing Your House

The truth is you can really increase your productivity a great deal by simply organizing your belongings around your home and office. Here are some tools to help you when first starting on your goal to organize your life. It is so important to develop a plan. There is nothing that is more potent to achieving your goals than having a specific plan to start off. 

A lot of people set far too broad goals when first embarking on any area of their life. In order for your plan to succeed, you need to have realistic, precise goals that are well-defined and written out. It is a good habit to set long-term and short-term goals. For instance, your long-term goal could be getting your whole home completely organized in a year's time. Your short-term goal could be getting one room in order within a month. 

After you have your goals in mind, write them down on paper and put that paper in a place you can view it often. Maybe you may want to use a planner notebook or a digital app. Knowing a target in your head is not enough; it needs to be in a place where you can view it often and constantly motivate you to achieve your goals. 

Finally, you need to determine the reason why you want something. It may not be enough to simply want to get organized. You need to know why you have this desire. Without wanting something whole-heartedly, it will be harder to achieve it. 

While the above tips may seem simple, it is incredible how many people set out to achieve a target without knowing what they want to get done. The simplest and yet strongest force to achieving your goals is knowing where you are going and why you are going in that direction. Follow these tips to help you get organized and enjoy the process!

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What Area of Your House Needs Organization?


I would like you to think of what area of your house has been causing you the most frustration?

Some examples:
  • Is it your cluttered kitchen or bathroom cabinets?
  • Could it be your desk with piles of papers?
  • Maybe your family room is not being used for it's fullest potential because clutter is taking up a lot of space.
  • Can you relax in your bedroom area, or do you have disorganization with clothes and books lying around?
  • Do you have unfolded clothes in laundry baskets sitting in your family room on the couch?
  • Is it taking you too long to cook and prepare family meals because you can't find what you need inside of your disorganized, cluttered kitchen cabinets?
  • Do you get frustrated just thinking about cleaning and maintaining the bathroom every week because you haven't figured out the appropriate storage for that area?
  • Do you dislike walking into your basement because you have been storing so much of what you have accumulated throughout the years in boxes downstairs?
  • Can you park your cars in your garage, or do you use that area to store extra boxes of items that you need to sort through?
  • Does it look nice around the entrance of your front or back door, or do you have shoes, mail, magazines or pet supplies lying around?
I think you probably get the picture. I believe that you will begin to easily see a huge positive difference in even one small area in your home that you declutter. Hopefully, this will get you motivated to continue with your future home organizational plans!

After reading many of my examples, you may decide to start in the one area of your home that causes you the most frustration.

You will want to begin by planning your organizing or decluttering project.

Plan an appropriate amount of time for your individual projects. Four hours may be a great amount of time, but even if you have an hour or 30 minutes, you may accomplish a decent amount of work. 

After you become accustomed to decluttering and organizing your house, you may easily find that even 15 minutes a day may be helpful if you are busy.

Get your supplies ready such as: garbage bags, boxes for sorting, labels, etc. You will want to wait until you declutter to buy specific storage containers that you will need to use on a long-term basis.

It is helpful to decide in advance what you want to do with any items that you definitely decide to get rid of for sure. Some examples: local charity, local consignment store, junk removal service or a future yard sale. 

It is helpful to have items removed quickly after your organizing project is completed. It is always a good idea to completely finish one project before you begin another.

Remember to stick with one area that you are working on and do not jump into other rooms at the same time. Focus on one project at time to increase your efficiency.

Some people enjoy working with an accountable friend and they find that method to be motivating.

Others may have a need or desire to hire a Professional Organizer to help them develop specific organizing systems and storage solutions.

Here are a few stumbling blocks or excuses that people may commonly use when deciding on what to get rid of in their homes.
  • People sometimes want to hold onto things because they think "they may need those items someday."  I am a strong believer that it actually becomes much easier and quicker to access items in your home after you get rid of what you don't use or want anymore.
  • Many times, people just do not know what to keep, such as paperwork. I am planning on developing my Paper Management Workshop possibly in the future to discuss this separate topic. For now, here are a few examples of purposes for keeping paper: taxes, legal certificates/proof, property documents, legal agreements, receipts/claims.
  • You may feel guilty about getting rid of an item that was given to you originally as a gift. However, it is important to remember that the "act of giving" is the factor involved. If you definitely do not like the item or need it, please don't feel guilty.
  • We often save certain objects for sentimental reasons. An item may be associated with an familiar memory. You can decide to even take a picture of the object and keep that to help preserve the memory. One big excuse that people use to hold onto their "stuff" is because they paid decent money for an item. Please decide if the item is useful for your life today. You may decide to have a yard sale or even use a local consignment shop as an option.
Here are some excellent organizing principles for you.
  • When you purchase a new item in a certain category, you may decide to donate or sell another item that you already have in that category. This is sometimes referred to as "the one in - one out" principle. So, you won't have a tendency to accumulate too much again in the future.
  • Before you decide to buy a new item for your home, try to visualize where it will " live" or be placed in your home. If you can't figure that out, it may be better to hold off on the purchase at this time, if possible. 
  • Buy containers after you declutter, so you know exactly how many you will need and the correct sizes.
  • You can label your containers with name of the contents, so you and your family will be able to quickly find your items when needed.
  • Focus on one specific area when you are organizing your home. If you happen to find certain items that belong in another room, you can collect them in a separate box and put them back where they belong when you are finished with your organizing project. This will save you some time and keep you from getting distracted.
  • Finally, make sure you have a maintenance plan to keep your house organized.