by Lorri Mealey

Created on: December 16, 2006   Last Updated: April 20, 2011

If you are in desperate need of "decluttering" (one of my favorite things!) then start with one room and DO NOT work on any other rooms until you are finished with the first one. I managed to declutter my whole house with this technique by cleaning every saturday during late March and Early April. That is mud-season in New England, so there isn't alot of yard work to do yet, and spring just "feels" like a good time to declutter. I began in my kitchen, emptying all the cupboards and drawers, and making a "keep", "donate", and "throw" pile. I did this in every room, including all the kids rooms.

Once I had gone through all the trouble of sorting, and getting rid of stuff, I felt a lot more compelled to keep clutter to a minimum. Some things I do every day that help keep the house looking somewhat presentable are:

• I sort the mail as soon as I get it. I NEVER put in a basket to look at "later". I put bills in their spot, throw out junk mail, and well...that's about all I get for mail.

• I do a load of laundry, and fold a load everyday. With four kids, including one who feels he must dress in "layers" , if I skip a day, I am done for. I'll spend the entire weekend trying to get caught up. I also make the older kids take care of their own laundry. This means it has to be in their dresser, not on the floor, under the bed, or piled in the closet.

• I have a schedule of things to do each day of the week, like Mondays- Wash bedding,Tuesday- clean the bathrooms, ect... I usually only stick to this loosely, but having it posted where I can see it (next to the computer) gives me an instant "to-do" list when I feel overwhelmed.

• Twice a year (spring and fall) I sort through all the clothes in the house, all the toys and clean out closets. After doing this a couple times, it really cuts down on the amount of junk you keep. When I cleaned out my clothes closet this fall it took about 10 minutes!

• Every night I try to do a quick pick up of the living room and kitchen, so I won't wake up to a pile of dishes, or toys scattered about.

Hope this helps you do some "decluttering" of your own!

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