OK my friend, let’s get REAL for a second here. We are being swept up in a whirlwind of people and companies giving advice on how to reduce what you have in your home and how to get organized, and A LOT of that basically points at you needing to buy more “product” to make any of this happen. I don’t completely agree with this, in fact I want to shift gears here a bit and share with you my TOP 3 STRATEGIES to get you going on decluttering + organizing in your home RIGHT NOW, today, as you read this blog post. These strategies will work and will make a difference. I want you to get ready to put them into action on your home ASAP. And no, I am not going to tell you have to go buy any products to get started, I promise!

So let’s go ahead and dive right in.

STRATEGY #1: You need to slow down.

No really, SLOW DOWN! You need to slow your roll…and you can approach it two ways.

ONE, in general start slowing down when you are doing any daily task in your home. Notice how you are feeling during them, are you frustrated, do you find yourself looking for things, are things falling on you while you try to perform a basic task like grab something from the pantry, etc. Also, which tasks are smooth as butter? Which ones are so simple and mindless and easy to complete? We need to pay attention to both. Write them down or take mental note of both conditions as you see fit.

TWO, another option is to look at one specific area of your home you know is a big pain-point for you. For example, your laundry room is driving you nuts, it feels disorganized, it doesn’t look good in there, you have issues finding things and keeping things in good stock and you generally dislike being in the space. Write down every layer of what is an issue and what obstacles seem to be present making it a frustrating space to be in and complete basic tasks in.

STRATEGY #2: edit + sort

After you have slowed down and you’ve decided to focus on one “problem area” that you’ve taken a moment to identify things that are causing you grief, let’s now start focusing on change. Before we do this, we need to start with editing + sorting.

Remove items in the space that are:

✔ broken

✔ not used

✔ need to be in another area of your home

✔ have too many duplicates of

✔ you dislike or have a negative associate with

✔ is not essential, useful or valuable to your day to day

With whatever is left + you are keeping, do the following:

✔ group items into “like categories”

✔ group items by type, shape and/or frequency of use

✔ you might need to apply several of these to one category as you see fit, but just get started and see where it goes

✔ example // junk drawer groups: writing utensils, scrap paper/notebooks, tools, office supplies, misc. Lay each item out in their appropriate group on a table for a closer look with strategy #3 next

STRATEGY #3: tap into YOUR RHYTHMS to truly get organized

OK, so you have created piles of things into groups that make some basic sense for you and you’re further along than when you started. EXCELLENT. Let’s get things put back in a way that’s intentional, efficient and looks good.

Let’s talk RHYTHM. How do you use this space? What essential activities are happening here?

You can apply this to something as large a room or as small as a drawer. Rhythms are relevant everywhere because it cues your brain on what to do and how to do it. You want this to be as simplified as possible.

I’m going to use the laundry room example again. Let’s say there’s 3 major things you do in here: you manage all the laundry, you store dog supplies/food here, and it’s a catch all for household supplies/tools/etc. So your RHYTHMS are all centered around these 3 tasks (doing laundry, taking care of the dog, and grabbing a household item/tool).

Now you can start to put things back into the space based on these RHYTHMS you’ve identified that need to occur in the space. Laundry essentials go back together, dog essentials get grouped together, household essentials put back together.

And LAST BUT NOT LEAST (and probably your favorite topic to discuss)…

Let’s talk ORGANIZATION. This is where RHYTHM, FUNCTION + BEAUTY all come together. 

Within each group of items that SUPPORT A RHYTHM (or essential activity) you’ll organize your items with these guidelines:

✔ items you need to see and reach/grab daily or frequently make them easy to access

✔ create simple groupings within these high access or low access groups by shape, size and/or by color + style, and labels are always great to remind you what you have and maintain order

✔ further corral random sizes of things that support a rhythm but don’t really “go together” or maybe don’t look very good together by gathering them in a container, basket, box,tray, etc. Giving them a boundary is essential or it can get chaotic and spread out fast.

✔ aim to shop your home first for these containers - you can always swap them out over time as needed but the edit/grouping/organizing will already be done!

OK, IT’S ACTION TIME!

Go put these strategies to use, test them out, and tell me how it is working for you! My goal is always to transparently + honestly teach you the tools to help you to be immediately active in improving your home environment as soon as possible. It will always be worth the effort, even in small chunks. Set a timer for 15-30 minutes and see what you can do. I think you will surprise yourself.

P.S. If you’re feeling like you want even more help with decluttering + organization / you’d love to take the guess work out of it + clarify where you should start? I’ve got you. Click HERE to learn more. As always, please feel free to email me with any questions you have. EMAIL: fuzzyhippodesign@gmail.com

Thanks for being here.