Let's get organized. Who's with me?

I usually go through all my stuff once a year. I sort, organize, donate, recycle, throw out. And it feels really good.

The last two years I have been up to my eyeballs in remodeling, so I have been slacking. Maybe just "slacking".

I began getting really serious about de-cluttering our home in 1998 when I read this terrific book by Karen Kingston - "Clear your clutter with Feng Shui".



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The book isn't actually so much about Feng Shui as it is about clutter clearing and it has this amazing effect on you that you can hardly wait to put it down to start throwing stuff out and get organized. If you need someone to light a fire under your tush, this is a great book.

In 1998, when I read the book for the first time, I got to the paragraph that mentions "dead" things in your home, such as dead flowers, I walked around my house and counted at least 30 dried flower arrangements of one variety or another. By the end of the day I had thrown them all out.

I later went on to get her book: Creating sacred space with Feng Shui. Another terrific book.



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It's a bit more alternative than the other book.  It's kind of about throwing a party for your house. To get stale energy out and fresh energy in. If that's your thing, then this book is awesome.

Every year since then I have gone through all our stuff once a year. Except for the past two. Now I am ready to get back into it.

A couple of weeks ago I happened on this site. She has a calendar with prompts. This one is from 2012, or you can sign up for the one for 2013. It's free. Here is a sample of January.



I might look at this for prompts and I might just pick a cabinet like I did this morning.

Here is my napkin/candle cabinet.

I have not always had a whole cabinet just for napkins and candles, so my collection was not always this big. My love of candles and napkins is perhaps only rivaled by my love of ribbon...

This is what my cabinet looked like this morning.



It's not the worst mess in the world, but there is definitely room for improvement.

Here is how I tackle organizing.

First I empty the whole thing and wipe it down.



Then I throw anything out that I identify as trash such as empty packaging, damaged items etc.

Next, remove anything that does not belong in the cabinet and put it in a pile.

Then I do the same thing with the bins. Empty, clean, sort, organize.



I decided that I was ready for three bins of candles instead of two. I had room for it and I candles.

Next I sorted all the napkins by size.



Then I put everything back into the cabinet. On the top shelf I have runners and table cloths. My bigger table cloths and my new table runner will go in my linen closet upstairs.

Then my cabinet looked like this.



Side by side - before and after.



Then I took all the items from the "does not belong here" pile and put them in their rightful place.

The whole point of organizing is to start small and make it manageable. If a whole cabinet is too much, start with a shelf.

Try one drawer and then see what it feels like.

Are you still with me? I am going to be doing my clutter clearing on Instagram. I will take a before picture before I start and an after picture after I am done with a shelf, a drawer or a cabinet. Want to join me? Follow me on Instagram and I will follow you back!

Edited: I switched to a Windows 8 phone yesterday and I am just now realizing that there is no instagram app (yet) for the Windows phone. Boooo. So I will do the clutter clearing on Facebook instead. You can follow me on Facebook here

Let's get organized!

In December I got around to clearing out my closet. Then DH got in on the action... So now I have these bags ready to go to Salvation Army. I will put them in the back of my car so that I can donate them this week when I am in that neighborhood.



Here is my most embarrassing area. You know, just to get that out of the way and just in case you thought I do not have any clutter to deal with.

Introducing to you my paint storage area. Or a-bomb-went-off-here area. You decide.



My organizing is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. Realistically I will not be able to get to this area until February at the earliest. Probably March. Maybe April... But I will get to it.

I hope you will join me, or cheer me on from the side-lines

Monday's post is going to be a lot prettier. I am going to show you the new rug in our living room that just arrived on Friday.

Do you have messes as big as my garage? Do you have any great organizing tips?

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