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How to Reclaim Space and Get Your Home Back in Order

So you look around your house and cringe. When did things get SO out of hand? Piles of stuff covering every surface, junk drawers exploding, closets bursting with things you haven’t seen in years…

It happens in the best of homes. Stuff piles up when we’re busy with work, kids, and life. Soon, you feel like your things own YOU instead of the other way around!

The good news? With some effort and a few simple steps, you can totally get your house back in order and reclaim space for the things (and people!) you love most.

Clear The Clutter

A great first step is what we call the “outsider eye” exercise. Pretend you’re a stranger walking through your home for the first time. What areas look the most painfully messy and crammed with stuff?

Make a list of the worst spaces, like the coat closet that rains jackets when you open it, the vanity drawers exploding with half-used lotions, or the spare room you shoved boxes into and closed the door quickly.

Then, set a timer for 15 minutes and radically declutter ONE of those embarrassing spaces. Stuff gets tossed without overthinking – ripped clothes, expired lotions, and anything you don’t actually need or use. Fill bags for donation or trash ASAP.

When the timer goes off, take a step back. Do a little happy dance at the new space you created! Even just 15 focused minutes make serious progress. Commit to doing a quick blitz on a different cluttered area each day. Small and mighty is the name of the game here.

In a week, you’ll have space opening up all over your home. It feels great, we promise!

Deal With Paper Piles

Mail, school work, medical paperwork…it piles up FAST. But finally, getting it sorted will lift a weight off your shoulders you didn’t even know was there!

First, make space. Whether it’s file folders, binders, albums, baskets, or shelving, create a dedicated real estate to organize paper so it stops drifting onto counters.

Next, sort piles using this system:

  • Delete: Toss junk mail, expired coupons, and drafts of old projects immediately. Be ruthless!
  • Delegate: Move anything that belongs to other family members into their spaces.
  • Do: Assign action items like bills to pay, emails to respond to, and forms to fill out.
  • File: Keep important documents tidy by creating labeled folders and adding them to binders. Date things for easy reference later.

Stay on top of papers daily so they don’t re-pile. Even 5 minutes of tackling a little bit keeps overflow at bay. Tick those to-do’s off your list!

Give Everything A Home

Have you ever spent 20 minutes digging for the ketchup or your kid’s soccer cleats? Annoying, right? Get your precious time back by ensuring everything has a designated spot at home.

Think through categories and where they logically belong. Sporting goods get sorted in labeled bins on garage shelves. Arts and crafts live in clearly marked totes so kids can grab supplies and make messes independently. Return it all there when finished!

Battery station. Snack nook. Shoe rack. Charging zone. Take advantage of wall space, baskets, shelving, and other storage furniture to create “zones.” It takes things from chaos to neat-o!

Over time, this home becomes second nature for everyone. Ask the kids to put the Legos “away,” and even little ones know their colorful bucket by the family room. Ahhh…..

Purge What No Longer Serves You

We all get emotionally tied to stuff, sure. But take this completely practical view:

If you haven’t used an item in, say, 6 months to a year, odds are you don’t need it. Let that vintage concert tee go to someone who will rock it. Ditch the size 2 jeans from 20 years (and 20 pounds!) ago.

Releasing things that no longer fit your lifestyle allows what you truly use and appreciate to shine. Clear surfaces lift your mood instantly. Who feels relaxed staring at cluttered counters filled with random stuff? Not us!

When you crave more freedom from excess, call professionals like itspurgepros.com to conveniently carry away large discarded furniture or piles of stuff all at once instead of doing lots of small trash runs yourself. Then that area stays cleared for good!

Out with the old, in with the new mental space to think and breathe. Now, go relax on the sofa you uncovered and enjoy your progress!

Start Maintaining

With all this organizing, you’ll hardly recognize your “new” home! Nice job. But now the work begins to stay on top of it and not slide backward.

Maintaining organization just means consistently doing little habits that create a big impact:

  • Do regular 5-10 minute pick up bursts around the house;
  • Deal with incoming papers and mail right away;
  • Assign family chores and rotate for fairness;
  • Continue decluttering areas little by little;
  • Schedule an “Organizing Day” monthly to tidy everything.

When everyone pitches in on micro-tasks daily without being asked, it makes all the difference long-term. And cuts way down on nagging from you. We know you hate feeling like that!

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