Building New Habits to Create Uncluttered Spaces

By Andrew Johnson

If you find yourself forever picking up little messes all over your house, or you never can seem to find things like your scissors, your keys or important papers, you may simply have way too much clutter in your house.

If your house is looking more like a warehouse than a home, you may need a little help getting rid of unnecessary clutter and organizing what is left. Here are some tips that you can use to help you get organized and stay organized.

Tip 1 Build New Habits
Like any habit, hoarding and keeping things you do not need is something that you have learned to do, and that is great news. Because if you learned to collect clutter, you can learn to get rid of clutter as well. First, take a good look around and realize that something has to change, and when you really want to make that change, kicking the clutter habit will be easier than you think.

Tip 2 One Step at a Time
The trick to changing any habit I to do it gradually. If you try to completely remake yourself overnight, you will most certainly fail, but if you break the clutter issue into bite sized pieces, and tackle it one room at a time you will be amazed at how quickly you will find yourself happily living in a clutter free zone. Start with a small project, like a kitchen cabinet.

Tip 3 More Storage Just Means More Clutter
When clutter is pushing you out of your home, it is tempting to think that more storage is the answer to your problem. Perhaps the real answer is owning fewer things that need to be stored.

Tip 4 Tough Decisions
Realize that your storage space is finite, and it always will be. So as you thin out clutter, realize that you will be parting with some things that you may want to keep. Take a deep breath and let them go.

Tip 5 Develop a Sorting System
The easiest way to go through clutter is to build piles like Keep, Trash, Donate and Undecided. Try to limit what you put in the undecided pile; use it as an option instead of getting stuck trying to decide what to do with an item. When you are done, if you have room, you can choose from your undecided pile things you may want to keep, or you may decide to get rid of something else from your keep pile and switch it with the item in your undecided pile.

Tip 6 Throw Away Trash
If you have trash, just throw it away. All too often you will find that when you simply throw away old newspapers, magazines, junk mail, old bills and broken furniture, you may not have to get rid of as many treasures as you thought.

Tip 7 What to Donate
If you have possessions that are in good working order, and you know that you will not be using them again, donate them to someone who can. Old clothing, furniture, games and electronics may find a happy home in another family who really needs these things.

Tip 8 What to Keep
The things that you keep are only things that you use. You can give them a new purpose; for example a garden grille can become a beautiful wall hanging. Now that you will have room in your home to decorate, look for elements that you can use as you redecorate your new, clutter free space. The oil painting that was hiding in the garage, or an old window frame tucked away in the basement both make an interesting and beautiful addition to your walls.

Article Source: http://interpret.zar.vg

About The Author
Andrew Johnson is an award-winning freelance writer who works for www.americanartisanart.com/ and has years of experience in design with metal wall hangings and metal wall art.