Spring Cleaning is in the air! When it comes to home organizing, there is just something about getting the house clean and decluttered after being locked in due to the snow (and that can’t be a truer statement after this weekend!).

Decide What Matters Most

When it comes to cleaning and organizing, the most important thing to remember is to avoid feeling overwhelmed. If you start to feel anxious, I like to focus on one task at a time and complete it entirely before moving on to another.

If you’re cleaning the kitchen, start at the top and finish the entire space (I do advise to do the floors on each level last in order to maximize the cleaning time and effort!) before you move on.

If you’re decluttering or purging a closet, bring trash bags or containers and label where the items are going (trash, donate or consignment/sell) so there aren’t large piles of clothing on the floor around you.

Organization is a beautiful thing because it can be catered to the individuals needs and helps you find the things you need in your home!

Establish New Cleaning Habits

Set yourself up for success! A clean and organized home isn’t just about having a clean environment, but it actually changes your mental state.

Leo Babuta, a zen habits blogger, states that you want to “make it so easy, you can’t say no”.

Start with something small. When you make dinner, make it a habit to clean up the dishes before you go to bed. When you get home, always hang your jacket and keys in the same place.

Building these habits overtime can help you grow into being more organized.

Something my dad always said helps me set my standard for keeping a certain habit: “Leave the place as if you had never been there”. This has always been a good mantra for me keeping my kitchen clean!

Set A Timer

To keep yourself on track, set your organizing or cleaning time to a specific goal to stay motivated. Set your timer to 20 minutes and focus on one area to keep up the pace you’ve set to clean the house.

Giving yourself spurts of productive time can help keep projects manageable and keep you from feeling overwhelmed. This can also be a helpful way to break up the day when you’re working from home. Set a time to get up every 2-3 hours to complete a task or do a quick chore.

Letting chores and tasks build up can make the to-do list feel overwhelming, so breaking it down and setting a time limit can make the process manageable (maybe even fun?? or at least not tortuous).

One “easy win” you can achieve within this time limit is organizing the junk drawer. We like to clear out these spaces, add in some drawer organizers and dividers and call it a utility drawer!

Change out/Clean Your Shower Curtains

Something not many people think of is switching out your shower curtains.

You can either fill a spray bottle with vinegar and wipe down the plastic curtain or you can simply switch them out once a year. If you’re going to clean the curtain, I suggest taking it down from the rod (don’t want it to come crashing down!) and laying it out with the plastic side up. This will give you full access to clean and disinfect the surface.

You can also throw your actual curtain in the wash (if it’s fabric) — this will help make your bathroom feel fresh and new!

Closet Clean-up (Winter Items)

Since winter is drawing to a close, it’s time to start moving a few of your heavier sweaters out of rotation. Whether you do a seasonal switch-out or you have room to keep everything in your main closet (lucky!!), be honest with yourself about what things you wore this season (or even refer back to last season).

A good rule of thumb here is to ask yourself, “would I buy this item if I were at the store right now?” If it’s a no, then maybe it’s time to throw it in the donation bag.

If you need additional motivation, check out our blog posts on why it’s normal to get rid of things or our Ultimate Guide to organize your home in less than a month!

Clean up the Washer & Dryer

Another way to refresh this spring is to clean out your washer and dryer. If we want our clothes to stay clean, we should keep the washing machine clean and fresh as well.

I like to throw in a washing machine tablet in once a month and always keep the door to the washer open to keep the machine fresh. Another good tip is to switch over your laundry quickly after the cycle — leaving clothes in the washer can create a mildew-y smell that will be hard to get rid of.

As for the dryer, you can take your precision attachment to your vacuum and get deeper inside the lint trap. Another area you can vacuum is your dryer vent tube. Lint can accumulate here as well.

Clean out Your Purses

When you change your purse frequently, it’s good to go through all your different satchels and handbags to clear the items you’ve left in them. This can become a fun treasure trove of gift cards and change — you may even be able to take yourself out to dinner.

Cleaning out your purses can make changing out handbags feel like a new shopping experience!

In this closet we did, we categorized the purses into seasonal sections and used them as hanging decor! Check out some before and after photos here!

Paperwork, Paperwork… Paperwork!

Everyone dreads paperwork cleanup. This can be a good yearly cleaning activity to clear out old and outdated paperwork to keep your files updated.

The general rules of thumb for paperwork maintenance include: keep 10 years for business tax history, keep 7 years of tax history (all W2’s, donation receipts and helpful tax info), 1 year for paper pay stubs, 1 month for receipts, utility payments and withdrawal records.

*You can also keep your tax documents (W2’s and other tax forms) for longer to keep a financial record.

With the emergence of online documentation, you can cull down your paperwork into more manageable storage. I like to separate out my business and personal paperwork in these adorable file organizers from Target:

Change Up Your Decor

Another fun and exciting way to get motivated for spring cleaning is to change up your decor. A seasonal wreath or changing out pictures or paintings around the house can make your home feel fresh and new.

You can achieve this through changing out wall art and accent pieces on the coffee table, painting your walls a fresh color or creating an accent wall, or even by updating your pillows!

Squeegee Your Windows

What a difference clean windows can make in creating a new and clean space. The new light of spring is coming in and now that we have lighter evenings, you can enjoy the sunset through your spotless windows.

To take it another step further, you can also take this yearly spring cleaning event to scrub your blinds from dust and grime buildup and clean out the tracks of the windows.

After you’ve completed your spring cleaning, treat yourself to some fresh flowers and open up the windows to let in the sweet breeze.

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions Team

If you’re at a loss for what to give for Christmas this year (because none of us need more STUFF!), here are some fun ideas and experiences to make this holiday special. This especially works if you’re getting down to the wire and you haven’t been able to find that perfect gift for someone on your list.

We all know that it’s the thought that counts and spending time with your loved ones over something that may gather dust on the shelf 6 months from now shows that your gift is truly coming from the heart.

1. A Year’s Worth of Outings

Grab twelve envelopes, and in each one slip a piece of paper with plans for a free date/outing you can do together that month. At the start of each month in the new year, have the receiver open up the envelope to see what fun lies ahead for you two.

This could be the perfect gift for your significant other, or even one a parent/grandparent (I know my mom would love this!).

2. Put Together a Time Capsule

Grab a box with a lock, or at least a lid, and place in it fun memories from this year or years past, like popular clothing items, photos, tickets, or anything sentimental to the both of you. When done, make sure you write on top for them not to open until a specific date.

This gift could be fun with a child or grandchild because the memories will be adorable to look at even 5 years from then! It’s perfect and unique because it’ll just be memories for the two of you -or (grand)parents with each (grand)child!

3. Do Something They’ve Always Wanted to Do

This year for my dad, we decided to take a trip to a nearby observatory. I noticed that he was getting interested in astronomy and using his telescope at the house, so this could be a fun outing for the two of us (when restrictions are lifted, of course!). Gifts like these kinds of experiences are the ones that you remember forever.

This would be a great gift for someone who who eco-friendly and enjoys acts of service!

4. Let Them Have That Thing They Always Borrow

If your friend or family member is always “borrowing” a tee from you (read: stealing and wearing, 24/7), just complete the transition and give it to them. It’ll be the perfect inside joke between the two of you, and now they no longer need to ask your permission!

I did this with my best friend. She always admired one of my winter coats and since it wasn’t something I wore frequently in the winter months, I gifted it to her! She was so ecstatic — sometimes it’s best to get gift ideas from listening or observing the way people interact or look at something.

5. Offer to House-Sit

Whether they’re wrangling a puppy or taking care of a child at home, offer some sitting services by gifting them a night out on the town or a weekend away without having to book a sitter.

Give them the gift of time! Babysitters (good ones at least!) are hard to come by and schedule around an already busy schedule. Overwhelmed parents will definitely appreciate this one.

6. Food — Yum!

Cook a dinner or go full-on Martha Stewart and give baked goodies to all your friends. It’s a gift everyone will appreciate. Who doesn’t love cookies? And there’s a free pass because we are all wearing bulky sweaters.

One year, we made reindeer cocoa bags and cookies for all of our friends when we were in school and everyone loved the little homemade gift — and it was fun to put together!

7. Put Together Your Own Cookbook

Does your friend or family member like to cook? Bake? Mix drinks? If so, compile recipes you love, along with any treasured family recipes. Choose themes relating to his or her life and introduce each section of the cookbook with a little personalized note. If they went to school down South, include a Southern comfort food section.

My sister-in-law made the cutest gluten-free cookbook for my mom and it’s one of the gifts she has used the most since she received it! Plus you can make the excuse to scrapbook!

8. Make a book of Memories with StoryWorth

It’s time to capture your family stories! StoryWorth is this cool new service that sends an email to your family member (this could be a popular gift from grandchild to grandma/grandpa) with a question prompt. The gift receiver then responds to each email (and you get to read all about your family’s fun stories), and at the end of the year, the emails are compiled into a book that you get to keep.

You can learn more about StoryWorth here.

Perfect gift for grandparent from grandchild!

9. Go On a Picnic

Grab some cocoa, soup in a thermos and a blanket to get cozy and enjoy our beautiful Colorado winter! Tell your gift receiver you’ll organize an outing at your favorite park with a blanket, homemade snacks, and maybe a game or two to play on your picnic. Don’t forget to make a playlist for the outing to make it a little bit more special.

Perfect for a couple, a group of friends or family. Time spent together is the greatest gift of all.

10. Give the gift of organizing!

Nothing feels better than having a clean and organized home (we sure love it!). We have been gifting a TON of organizing lately for the holiday season and winter birthdays. Especially with so much time at home, people are starting to realize how much they hate clutter!!

We also believe (not because we are biased or anything), that organizing is the perfect gift for anyone!

Reach out to us here to chat more about giving the joy of organizing!

Talk Soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions Team

We have to limit the number of items in our homes

It is important for us to limit the number of items in our homes, because too many items lead to an increase in stress and clutter.

By having too many items in our home it can make us feel overwhelmed, frantic, and quite frankly like we just can’t get a handle of our things.

Ask yourself a question: how many items in my home do I really use frequently, or find joy in? 

The answer is probably only a few or a handful of items throughout your home, when the average American household has about 300,000 items.

Limit the number of items in your home to the things that actually bring you joy and happiness, and try to reduce the clutter in your home and in your mind.

You get to decide what you keep — it’s your home and your sanctuary

You are the master of your domain, and you get to make the decisions about what lives there.

If there are items that you have had for a long time that you haven’t been using and you’re pretty sure you won’t be using anytime soon, it’s time to get rid of them and someone else may be able to make use out of them.

You control your home and items in it, so it can be liberating to reduce the amount of clutter and actually make it into a place that you love to relax in, rather than it feeling like a storage unit.

If it’s just taking up space… do you really need it?

Have you ever looked around your home, and noticed how many things or items are just taking up space?

Do you really need four different waffle irons, or should you just save your favorite one and donate or sell the rest?

It’s easy for us to just keep adding items and clutter into our homes –accumulation is natural when you’ve lived in the same home (and with the same people!) for a long time.

There are several strategies you can try out to help keep your house clear of the clutter. Some people like the “one in, one out” method. Every time you buy something new, try to donate or gift something you haven’t used in a while.

Some people like to time themselves and organize or purge for a certain amount of time (I’ve heard of the 17 minute method), so they are always are of the things they have in their homes.

The major part of why clutter has become such a big stressor is because when it gets out of control, it can feel overwhelming — many of my clients complain they just don’t know where to start.

You are not going to hurt people when getting rid of gifts or unused items

When you get rid of gifts that you got from family or friends, you aren’t doing it to hurt those people. You are doing it to regain order in your home, and reduce stress and feel mental clarity.

By having less things in our homes we feel as if we are lighter, and it can give us a sense of freedom. 

By owning less stuff and having less clutter, this can help us reduce stress, and make us feel less burdened and overwhelmed.

This is important so we can focus on the crucial things in life, rather than trying to organize at home with 300,000 items.

Feeling sad or sentimental when getting rid of items is normal

We all have good memories when you inevitably find that box of high school memorabilia, or that feeling of nostalgia that make us feel attached, but it’s important to find new ways to enjoy your memories instead of storing them in a dusty box in the attic.

It can be difficult to get rid of these items that bring about thoughts of happy memories, but the memories that we have of them are what is important.

Many of our clients ask us how they can keep memorabilia or what we would suggest about how to store it.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but looking back on the things I kept from high school or college, the things that are important for me to remember now are different, just like your style changes are you grow and mature.

The best advice we can give you as you’re sorting through your memorabilia, is that if it makes you laugh or reminds you of a happy time, that it’s fine to keep it, but only keep those items that do! You can also limit yourself to one box for each “era” if you want to keep things simple.

Think about letting those items go to better use where people will cherish them more

Try thinking about how you are giving away these unused or cherished items to another person, and that they can use it to the fullest extent and fully enjoy it.

This is also a good way to get your kids on board for getting rid of toys they aren’t using anymore.

It can make the transition easier for everyone if you think about the benefits of giving someone else who could enjoy one of your extra waffle makers you have lying around.

Putting in your mind that donating or giving away items you aren’t using will be put to better use, can give you some happiness by knowing that it will be in better hands.

You can also think of people that could use the items or benefit from the item, and it can make you feel good by giving those items to someone in need of them.

It makes it easier if you have to move

This one is pretty simple — the less you have in your house when you move, the easier your move should be. Another perk of having less in your home when you go to move is that it will cost less if you have less to move!

Moving is a great excuse to get rid of things, but don’t wait until you have to move to do this!!

Making a habit out of purging items from your home when you no longer use them!

Minimalism can be a great thing & lead to a simpler life

By reducing the number of items in our homes, and adopting a more minimalistic attitude, you will see that you’ll lead simpler life with less stress.

This change can be difficult to implement, but with a bit of a learning curve, it can also be liberating at the end! When you realize you are keeping the items that bring you joy or are useful to you instead of holding onto everything you’ve ever accumulated, you start to feel like you have more freedom and time for the things you want to do!

Constant chaos and clutter can hold you back from being more productive, spending time on your hobbies, making time for friends or family and overall keep you majorly stressed out!

Clutter can drain your energy without you even knowing it.

Don’t be held back by how expensive something was… it’s time to let go (and maybe get some money back for something you actually want!)

Have you ever not gotten rid of something because you paid a bunch of money for it, even though you don’t use it?

The rule is always as follows: “If you don’t use it, haven’t used it recently and won’t use it in the future (be honest with yourself!), it may be time to get rid of it and create more space in your home for things that bring you joy, happiness or usefulness.

Don’t get stuck on how much you paid or how much it was worth, and rather ask yourself if it should still have a place in your home and whether your time and happiness are worth more.

“Just in case” is an excuse to hold onto things

Don’t live your life by the saying “just in case”  as this can cause you to keep silly items for way too long, just in case something pops up.

A lot of people use this as an excuse essentially to keep more things in their home. Let’s be honest. If you haven’t worn that cardigan that you may wear in this specific situation (that hasn’t ever happened), you can let it go — and get something for a more common scenario 😉.

If you are worried about making some money off of your items in your home, try using apps such as Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Offer Up (we can also help with that!)

This can be a great place to start if you are looking to make some extra cash off of your unused or unwanted items.

As always, make sure that you are not scared of asking for help, and that you can learn how  to create a less stressful home, with items in there that bring you joy or usefulness.

If you don’t believe us, believe the Berenstain Bears!

Clutterless Home Solutions would love to help you organize your home in Denver, and we are always here to help, even if you just need to ask a question or just want to say hi.

Talk Soon,

CHS Team 

The first step to organizing your bedroom is to pull out all of the items in the room and put them into a pile on the floor.

You’ll really see how much stuff you have.

Don’t be surprised, the average American has over 300,000 items in their homes!

Bring out everything from your drawers, cabinets and shelves. Grab everything!  

As you pull things out, it’s efficient to categorize all of the items as you go.

This means grouping together all of the like items. Clothes with clothes, knick knacks with knick knacks, you get the point.

This is the important difference from the method we use at Clutterless Home Solutions and the KonMari Method (you can read more about why Marie Kondo is wrong here). These categories can even be categorized into smaller sections as you go through the process, but we will get to that later.

Make groups of all the books, hobby/extra curricular things, electronics, decorations, souvenirs, memorabilia, sport/workout gear and anything else you have stored away in your room. 

The more specific and smaller you can make your groups, the better organized your room will be at the end of today’s process. 

For example, if you have a “workout group” of items, then divide everything in it into individual groups of outdoor sports equipment, cardio equipment, and yoga equipment. 

Another example would be a “books group,” those can then be further sorted by genre. 

You may find that you have A LOT of things you don’t really use. 

Smaller categories will make your room easier to find things, quicker to put things away after use and overall better to function in.

For example, think about the amount of clothes you have between the drawers, shelves and hanging items (and the seasonal items!). One of the biggest complaints from our clients is that they feel overwhelmed by the project.

I don’t know about you, but I think a giant pile of clothes would be more overwhelming than helpful.

My opinion: the less, the better.

The more stuff we have, the more it clutters our brains. Physical clutter manifests itself into mental clutter.

By making groups of similar items, you will be able to easily see all of the items taking up space in your bedroom and start thinking about which ones you could do without (or if you have too many duplicates!).  

Remember this: you can’t organize clutter, so if you want your bedroom to truly be organized, you’re going to have to let go of some of the items that don’t use and things that don’t have special meaning to you. (Don’t skip this step!)

Next is you want to DEEP CLEAN your room (I mean everything: baseboards, sheets, closet, flooring & everything in between). It’s the perfect time to do so — the shelves are empty and the floor is clear (or you can do this in segments if you have things lying everywhere in their categories).

By doing this it’s like you have a FRESH START — you’ll thank yourself later.

Whew! Good job so far, pat yourself on the back.

Now we get into the 3 categories of decision-making: KEEP, DONATE, & TRASH.

Your things need to go into one of the 3 categories

1. Keep the items you really care about or serve a purpose
2. Donate ALL the items you think could help someone else
3. Trash the rest (this is liberating)

If you are having trouble doing this on your own, we are also decluttering coaches, and we are happy to help you make the decisions!

Now that your KEEP pile is much smaller, it’s time to start putting stuff away!

Put stuff back in a way that works for you. For example, if you know a certain system will work for you to keep your clothes tidy, use it! There is no right answer. Every person is different.

Use bins & storage cubes to put smaller items into to make them look better and more organized. Label the bins, & next time you go to look for something you’ll know where it is (don’t betray your future self, put your items back to where they came from!)

If you need more specific steps on how to organize your bedroom and your home, you can check out our blog on the ultimate organizing guide or our guide to organizing your entire home in 20 days!

The 3 deadly mistakes to avoid:

1. Not throwing away or donating enough things (too much clutter will create the endless loop of the clutter monster). Be honest with yourself here.

2. Not taking your time. Organizing should be simple, but is should not be rushed. (this is often overlooked – life is already so busy, we understand that you don’t always feel you have the time for organizing).

3. Not asking for help when you need it – We all need a little help sometimes. Organizing is not just an activity to add to your Pinterest board. It required tough decisions, some tears and a lot of physical movement. We are always here to support you, pick you back up, and be your own personal cheerleaders.

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions

Hello, Organizing Warriors!

You have made it to the final day in our series How to Organize Your Entire Home in 20 Days! We have been working our way through your home and decluttering the mess along the way.

This process has taken 3 weeks to complete and I hope you see how your hard work has been worth it (drink a nice glass of wine tonight and take a load off to appreciate your handiwork!).

We hope that this 20 day overhaul has left you feeling so much better, not only about the clutter in your home, but the clutter in your mind.

We also know that right now we need happy and healthy distractions from the crazy world we’re living in.

For today’s project, your car! It may not be a room in your house, but it’s a space that you spend a lot of time in and should feel relaxed while you’re there — we know how the usual Denver traffic can be anything but relaxing, so make your car your own personal oasis!

As always, the first step in the organizing process is to pull everything out of your car. This means empty your glove box, your center console and anywhere else you’re storing things in your car (everything that can be pulled out, don’t try to pull the actual car apart!).

Your car is an easy place for things to accumulate when you’re busy, always on-the-go!

The next step, as always, is to categorize your items. When all the items are categorized into groups, it makes sorting through the items much easier.

After you have categorized everything, take a break from the items because it’s time to clean the car!

First, wipe surfaces like the dashboard, steering wheel, door handle and middle console with disinfecting wipes. Then, vacuum the seats and floor (front and back!) in the car. Once you’ve vacuumed, use a glass cleaner to wipe the inside of the windows.

Next, take the floor mats out and wash those as well. Finish up by hanging a new air freshener in your car so it smells as good as it looks! If you want something more natural, we also like to put a small Tupperware of baking soda with your favorite essential oil with holes punched in the lid to create a fresh, subtle scent.

It’s always best to clean during the organizing process because there is nothing occupying the space and preventing you from cleaning those hard to reach places.

Once the car is cleaned, it’s time to get back to the stuff that came out of your car. There are only 3 options to sort these items: keep, donate or trash.

Items that you want to keep should be things that serve your family a purpose and you definitely will be using in the future. These are things like your vehicle’s user manuals, car insurance verification, and pens.

You can also keep a few emergency items in a plastic ziplock baggie in the case you ever need to floss and brush your teeth after lunch with a friend!

Items that need to be donated are things that are still in good condition but no longer serve a purpose for your family. These are things like a GPS if you use your phone’s navigational system and CD’s if you only use your phone for music.

Items that are trash are things that don’t serve your family any further purpose and wouldn’t serve anyone else purpose either.

These are going to be things like stained or torn seat covers and broken car phone chargers. Trash that easily gets left behind in your car are empty bottles, receipts, leftover food items, empty shopping bags and gum wrappers.

If you are having difficulty deciding on what items should be kept or donated, ask yourself questions such as, when was the last time someone in my family used/wore this item? Does this item still serve its original purpose for me? How many of this one item do I have and is more than one really necessary? Would someone else better benefit from having this item than I would?

By asking yourself these questions about items you aren’t sure of, you are opening your mind and being honest with yourself about the needs of your family. Any items that you keep but you don’t need will continue to add to the clutter in your car for no reason!

By giving away these items, you are not only clearing the mess from your house, you are also allowing someone else to use these items that may need them more than you.

After you’ve made the decisions on what items will stay in your car, it’s time to start putting them back.

Put important papers and information (car insurance, user manuals and maps) in the glove compartment.

Place items that you use more commonly (pens, hand sanitizer, chapstick and sunglasses) in the middle console.

Check out these console organizers that prevent your items from becoming a cluttered mess while you’re driving. Put items that aren’t used often (disinfectant wipes, jumper cables, umbrella and flashlight) in a bin and place that in the back of your car.

Just like in your house, it’s important for all the items to have a specific spot to ensure you can find items when you need them and once you have used them, you can easily put the item back.

Once you have put the items back in your car, it’s time to take care of the leftover items. These are the items that were in your car at the start of the process but don’t actually belong there.

This could be things like children’s toys, books, clothing and kitchen utensils. Go ahead and now place those items in your home where they actually belong.

Take note of who in your family the stuff mainly belongs to and have a conversation with that person on the importance of putting things where they actually belong to ensure your car stays clean and organized even after today.

If the stuff is mainly yours, set rules for yourself about how long items can stay in your car. Strive to never leave kitchen dishes in your car and always toss out trash when you’re going in at the end of the day.

Now you get to enjoy your freshly cleaned and organized ride!

If you are still feeling overwhelmed by your car (or any other room in your house!), please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team. We would be glad to help you get back on track!

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions

Hello, Organizing Warriors!

Welcome back to our How to Organize Your Entire House in 20 Days series!

Thus far, we have organized family common rooms, your children’s areas, guest spaces and your quarters, so today we are going to take a break from rooms and organize things. What things you may ask?

Cleaning supplies! Spring cleaning season is here and now is a great time to get those products organized and ready to use.

The first step to organizing your cleaning supplies is gathering all of them together in one room.

Often, different supplies are stored in different rooms so start off by getting together all of the cleaning supplies that are scattered around the house.

Check the bathrooms, under sinks, the laundry room, anywhere you have ever stored cleaning supplies, go there and start gathering everything together.

By pulling out and bringing together all of the cleaning supplies, you won’t have to keep bouncing from room to room during today’s process, risking getting off task.

Organizing is all about increased efficiency, after all!

The next step to organizing your cleaning supplies is to start categorizing everything into groups based on what the items are.

Make groups of hand soaps, dish detergents, toilet cleaners, degreasers, glass cleaners, wipes, disinfectant sprays, multipurpose sprays, air fresheners, tools (scrubs, gloves, aprons) and any other cleaning supplies you may keep on hand.

By grouping together like items, you will easily be able to see what you have, what you need and make it all easier to organize.

After you have categorized all of the cleaning supplies, go through all of it to see if anything can be disposed of.

Check expiration dates and throw away any products that have expired.

Ensure you’re disposing of products properly. If there are any cleaners that you bought, tried, and then didn’t like, toss it out too.

If you don’t want to just throw these cleaning supplies away, you can offer them your neighbors or your housekeeper!

Next, go through scrubs and rags to see if any of those are too worn and should be trashed as well. It’s not safe to keep products that are expired and there’s no point in keeping anything that you don’t use, so toss it out now! (You’ll always have more rags!)

Once you have gone through all of the cleaning supplies, the next step to the organizing process today is to clean the space. Wherever you pulled the cleaning supplies from, go back and wipe down the interior of the cabinet, or if you’re lucky enough to have a cleaning supplies cabinet, wipe down the shelves.

Throw away any trash that was left behind during the gathering stage. Wipe clean any shelves or cabinets the products came from.

Make sure to wipe any of the cleaning bottles that may have residue on the outside of them. It’s amazing what clean looking cleaning products will do for the aesthetic of the space!

Finish up by wiping any bins or baskets that you keep your cleaning supplies in.

After you have cleaned the spaces the cleaning supplies came from, the next step is to start putting the supplies away.

While you’re putting the supplies away, keep everything grouped together in the categories you previously sorted them. This will keep everything looking good, easy to find products when you need them and quicker to put products away when you are done using them.

Whether you store your cleaning supplies in the room you use them or all together in one space, it’s always a good idea to use bins to keep the products contained.

You can use small turntables to ensure items are always easily accessible.

If you store your cleaning supplies under a sink and the space is limited, check out these expandable under the sink storage racks that are great for keeping your products organized even when they are out of site.

It’s also smart to line the bottom of the cabinets or the shelves where your cleaning products are stored.

We love this one from Target!

Finish up by labeling any bins or baskets that you used to so there are never any questions where an item belongs!

The last thing you want to think about when you are trying to clean a mess in your home is where are your cleaning supplies hiding.

Cleaning is never anyone’s favorite task so don’t make it even more dreadful by letting your cleaning supply storage get out of hand.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by today’s process, please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team.

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions

Hello, friends! Welcome back to Day 17 of How to Organize Your Entire Home in 20 Days!

We are so close to being finished with getting your house in order, just a few more short days and you will have reached your goal!

For Day 17, we are going to organize your linen closet.

**Bonus tip: The best way to make your linen closet looking nice is to have the “fat fold” facing out. Watch this video to see what we mean. This means that the thickest part of the sheet should be facing out. This creates a nice, uniform look!

This is one of the closets we tend to shut the door on to try to forget the mess isn’t there.

Today’s process will be quick and easy though, plus the end result will be so worth it!

If your linen closet is part of your laundry room, check out Day 16 for a full guide to organizing that room.

The first step to organizing your linen closet is to pull out all of the items in the closet and make a pile of them on the floor.

Start pulling out all of the sheets, blankets, towels, back stock items, anything that is in the space. Leave nothing behind in the closet.

By pulling out everything in the linen closet, you will be able to see which items actually belong in there and which items got thrown in there and are just adding to the disorganization.

Once you have pulled everything out of the space, start categorizing all of the items.

This means grouping together all of the like items — the more defined you can make your groups, the better your linen closet will look at the end of the process.

Make groups of matching sheets, extra pillow cases comforters, throw blankets, back stock items (can we say Costco?!), towels, toilet paper, extra toiletries and anything else you may store in your linen closet.

Once you have made those broad groups, further categorize them by the size of each of the items (king size sheets, queen size sheets, adult towels, children towels).

By categorizing all of the items in your linen closet, you will easily be able to put the items back in an organized way and make it easier to find things in the future.

After you have pulled everything out and categorized your items, the next thing to do is to throw away any trash that you see.

Trash that easily accumulates in this closet are old boxes and random pieces of paper and plastic.

After you have categorized everything from your linen closet, the next step in the organizing process is to clean the shelves!

Start by dusting and wiping clean all of the shelves. Once you have done that, vacuum/sweep the floor.

Finish up by placing an air freshener in the closet so the items stored in there smell fresh when you go to use them.

It’s always best to clean the space in the middle of the organizing process when all of the items are out of the space so you can clean in those hard to reach spots.

Once you have cleaned the linen closet, it’s time to get back to all of the items in the floor.

There are only 3 options to all of these items: keep, donate or trash.

Items that you want to keep should be things that serve a purpose for your family and will definitely be used in the future.

These are things like sheets, comforters, and toiletries that your family still uses.

Items that need to be donated are things that are still in good condition but no longer serve a purpose for your family.

These are things like sheets and comforters that your family has outgrown, sheets and comforters that don’t fit any current beds that you have, items that you have an excess of and items (excluding back stock items) that you haven’t used in the last 6 months.

Depending on how organized you want to be, you can also donate any non-matching sheets you may have, or create a section for the non-matching sheets so you always have back-ups when your friends or family visit.

Items that are trash are things that don’t have any further purpose for your family and wouldn’t serve anyone else purpose either.

These are going to be things like ripped or stained sheets, pillowcases, comforters and empty bathroom products — this is also a good time to fill up your daily use toiletries from this back stock area!

If you are having difficulty deciding on what items should be kept or donated, ask yourself questions such as, when was the last time someone in my family used/wore this item? Does this item still serve its original purpose for me? How many of this one item do I have and is more than one really necessary? Would someone else better benefit from having this item than I would?

By asking yourself these questions about items you aren’t sure of, you are opening your mind and being honest with yourself about the needs of your family. Any items that you keep but you don’t need will continue to add to the clutter around your house for no reason.

By giving away these items, you are not only clearing the mess from your house, you are also allowing someone else to use these items that may need them more than you.

Once you have decided on which items you will be keeping, it’s time to put those things back into your linen closet.

While you are putting away the items, keep them grouped together by the categories you previously sorted them in.

Store your comforters and throw blankets on the top shelf since those items are the least commonly used items.

Next, store your sheets on the shelf under the blankets. Check out our video on how to neatly fold those pesky fitted sheets.

Baskets are great for storing away linens and blankets because they prevent them from falling on top of each other and makes it easier to find them in the future.

You can even have different baskets for different sheet sizes.

Once the sheets are back in, store away the towels on the shelf below that (make sure your children can still reach them!).

Lastly, put away all of your toiletries, toilet paper, and other back stock items. Keep all of your products grouped in their categories and store them in bins to keep them contained and organized. Finish up by adding labels to any bins that you used.

If you didn’t utilize bins, you can still add labels to the shelves to ensure everything stays in its place (and everyone knows where to put it back!).

Finish up by taking care of any leftover items.

These are going to be the items that were in your linen closet at the beginning of today’s process but don’t actually belong there.

Take the time now to find where these items truly belong.

Don’t let your linen closet turn into your dreaded nightmare. With just a few steps, you can get it back to being easy to find all of your stuff and looking great.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed and would like help with organizing your linen closet (or any room!), please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team.

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions

Hello, friends!

Welcome back to our How to Organize Your Entire Home in 20 Days series.

We have worked our way through the shared rooms of your house, the bathrooms, the bedrooms and the closets.

Now you’re asking yourself, what else is there to organize?

Don’t you worry though, we still have some rooms planned for you! Today we’re going to focus on the laundry room.

This is the dreaded, cluttered room that we pass through on a daily basis and leave a trail of mess as we go.

It’s easy to shut the doors and pretend the mess isn’t there, but it still is, and today we’re going to face it head on.

We don’t want to push the clutter behind a door because it’ll always be in your mind and causing you anxiety! Clutter really affects your mental health as well as your relationships. We talk about this more in our blog The Duty to Declutter: Why Clutter is Effectively Ruining Your Life.

If your laundry room doubles as your linen closet, be sure to check out Day 17 tomorrow to apply those same steps to your laundry room.

Typically, the first step in the organization process is to pull everything out. Today, the first step is going to start with gathering ALL your dirty laundry throughout the house.

**Bonus Tip! For those of you who have lots of kiddos in the house (husbands included! 😉), we like to make a basket for each person. That way, when you pull out the dry clothes, you can simply throw each person’s clothes in their basket and they can take care of the rest.

This is perfect because it takes some of the load off of you, AND it teaches your kids responsibility!

Go ahead and start a load now and all through today’s process, keep cycling through the dirty laundry until it’s finished.

Once you’ve started a load of laundry, pull everything out of the space and put the items in categorized piles in different areas nearby.

Start bringing out the detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets.

By bringing out everything from the space, you will be able to see which items actually belong in the room and which items have found their way in there but shouldn’t be residing there.

To start categorizing, put laundry detergent with the other laundry detergents, the fabric softeners with the other fabric softeners, dryer sheets with other dryer sheets and so on until everything is in a group with similar items.

By grouping together similar items, you will be able to see everything you have on hand. This will help you better organize and take inventory of all the products you have.

Hint! This helps you save money!

Once you have categorized all of the items, the next step in today’s process is to clean the laundry room.

You want to make sure the laundry room is already clean since that’s where you take your clothes to be cleaned!

Start by dusting off high to reach areas and wiping clean any other shelves, counters, or bins.

Next, wipe clean the exterior of the washer and dryer. Watch this video to see how to clean the inside of the washer and dryer. If there is a sink or any windows, clean those now as well.

After that, replace the trash bag in the trash can (if your laundry room doesn’t have a trash can, it definitely should!).

Finish up by sweeping/vacuuming/mopping the floor.

Now let’s get back to all of the stuff. There are only 3 options to all of these items: keep, donate or trash.

Items that you want to keep should be things that serve your family a purpose and you definitely will be using in the future.

These are things like irons, ironing boards and cleaning supplies.

Items that need to be donated are things that are still in good condition but no longer serve a purpose for your family.

These are things like clothing that is sitting in your laundry room because no one wears it anymore, tools that you no longer use or if you have multiples of an item and only one is necessary.

Items that are trash are things that don’t serve your family any further purpose and wouldn’t serve anyone else purpose either.

These are going to be anything that is broken, torn or stained.

Trash that easily accumulates in the laundry room are empty detergent bottles and dryer sheet boxes.

If you are having difficulty deciding on what items should be kept or donated, ask yourself questions such as, when was the last time someone in my family used/wore this item? Does this item still serve its original purpose for me? How many of this one item do I have and is more than one really necessary? Would someone else better benefit from having this item than I would?

By asking yourself these questions about items you aren’t sure of, you are opening your mind and being honest with yourself about the needs of your family.

Any items that you keep but you don’t need will continue to add to the clutter around your house for no reason.

By giving away these items, you are not only clearing the mess from your house, you are also allowing someone else to use these items that may need them more than you.

After you have decided on which items you are keeping, it’s time to start putting back all of the items.

Put the items away by the categories you recently sorted them in.

By keeping all of the items together in their groups, it will be easier to find things when they are needed and easier to put things away in the right spot once you’re done using them.

Baskets are great to use in laundry rooms to keep all of the items contained and organized, plus they look super cute!

We often use Y-Bins from Target. They’re plastic, durable, and they look great!

If you are limited on storage space in your laundry room, these carts are great for adding extra space and easy to move around as needed.

Don’t forget to use labels whenever possible to ensure everything continues to stay organized.

Finish up by displaying decorations (fake plants look great in laundry rooms!) in the areas of the laundry room that look empty.

By filling empty surfaces with decor, you will be less compelled to start stacking clothing clutter there.

When all of the items are put back in their spot, it’s now time to take care of any leftover items that are still sitting on the laundry room floor.

These are the items that were in the room at the start of today’s process but don’t actually belong there.

This could be sports equipment, toys, electronics, anything that someone brought into the laundry room and left there.

These things continue to add to the clutter of your laundry room and need to be put away in their correct spot within the home!

Take note of who in your family the stuff mainly belongs to and have a conversation with that person on the importance of putting things where they actually belong.

If it’s not a matter of who it all belongs to, rather than what it all is (extra food, tools, household supplies), consider adding a shelf in the laundry room to permanently store those products so they have a designated spot and are easier to keep organized — but make sure there isn’t a home for these items elsewhere!

Once everything is put away, let’s get back to the laundry that you’ve been cycling through.

Check out this video on how to file fold clothes so they are easy to find, stay organized and you have more space in your dresser drawers.

It’s best to fold clothing as soon as it comes out of the laundry so wrinkles don’t develop and your laundry doesn’t become clutter all around your home.

However, life can get busy and that’s not always possible. Set rules with yourself for when clean clothes need to be folded and put away by.

You can also impose these guidelines on your kids when it comes to their laundry baskets! Incorporate folding and hanging their clothes into their weekly chores early on (I started doing my own laundry when I was 9!).

The more you can include your family in the laundry process, the better!

Dirty laundry can easily start to feel overwhelming so don’t forget to ask for help when you need it.

Designate certain days of the week for certain loads of laundry and see the cycle (wash, dry, put away) all the way through on those days.

Having a laundry schedule throughout the week will cut back from having to play catch up at the end of the week and having to spend an entire day doing so.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed by your laundry room, please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team, we would be glad to help you get back on track!

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions

Welcome back to Organizing Your Entire Home in 20 Days!

You have officially made it to day 14!

For today’s organizing, we’re going to focus on your bedroom!

Since we have already tackled the biggest clutter monster in your room (your clothes), today will be a breeze!

This is another great day to have your partner work alongside you to build an organizing system that works best for both of you, making the upkeep of today’s organization much easier going forward.

Every person will be different, but this is where you and your partner need to communicate about how you both feel about the clutter and how you will both put effort towards keeping up your organization!

This will not only make organization maintenance easier, but it will help your relationship with your partner!

The first step to organizing your bedroom is to pull out all of the items in the room and put them into a pile on the floor.

Bring out everything from the drawers, cabinets and off the shelves and start building that pile. This means everything!

As you pull things out, it’s efficient to categorize all of the items as you go.

This means grouping together all of the like items.

Make groups of all the books, hobby/extra curricular things, electronics, decorations, souvenirs, memorabilia, sport/workout gear and anything else you have stored away in your room.

The more specific and smaller you can make your groups, the better organized your room will be at the end of today’s process.

For example, if you have a “workout group” of items, then divide everything in it into individual groups of outdoor sports equipment, cardio equipment, and yoga equipment.

Another example would be a “books group,” those can then be further sorted by genre.

The same technique can be used for all of the broad groups you have categorized your items by.

Smaller categories will make your room easier to find things, quicker to put things away after use and overall better to function in.

By making groups of similar items, you will be able to easily see all of the items taking up residence in your bedroom and start thinking about which ones you could do without.

Remember this: you can’t organize clutter, so if you want your bedroom to truly be organized, you’re going to have to let go of some of the items that don’t use and things that don’t have special meaning to you.

This just looks stressful.

In order for this to happen, you have to go through all of the items in your room and make decisions about what you should keep and what you should get rid of, bringing everything out from it’s current spot in the room will help with that.

If your bedroom doubles as your office, check back soon for Day 15 when we organize the office and you can apply those same steps to the office equipment in your bedroom.

The next step to organizing your bedroom once you have categorized all of the items is to clean it!

Start by stripping the sheets and pillowcases from your bed, throwing them in the washer and replacing them with a fresh set.

Then, dust off high to reach places and wipe clean any other flat surfaces.

Take a moment and polish any knickknacks or decorations and wipe clean any mirrors or glass surfaces.

Don’t forget to disinfect commonly touched surfaces like light switches and doorknobs! After that, sweep/vacuum the floor.

Replace the trash bag in your trash can (if you don’t have one in your bedroom, you definitely should!). Finish up by lighting a candle to make the air smell as fresh as your room is about to be.

Cleaning and organizing work together to transform a room so you always want to take time to deep clean an area while you’re organizing it for best results.

It’s like when you have a new car — you’re more inclined to take care of it when it’s fresh and new!

Once you have cleaned your bedroom, it’s time to get back to all of that stuff. There are only 3 options to all of these items: keep, donate or trash.

Items that you want to keep should be things that serve a purpose for you and will definitely be used in the future.

These are things like books, office supplies, electronics, memorabilia, and current decorations.

Items that need to be donated are things that are still in good condition but no longer serve a purpose for you.

These are things like old decorations, hobbies that you no longer enjoy, items that you have an excess of and items that you haven’t used in at least 6 months.

Items that are trash are things that don’t serve you any further purpose and wouldn’t serve anyone else purpose either.

These are going to be things like expired batteries, broken electronics, chargers that don’t have a host or any other items that are broken or useless.

It’s easy to let stuff pile up during your day to day routine, so take time to clear those things out of the way.

If you are having difficulty deciding on what items should be kept or donated, ask yourself questions such as, when was the last time someone in my family used/wore this item? Does this item still serve its original purpose for me? How many of this one item do I have and is more than one really necessary? Would someone else better benefit from having this item than I would?

By asking yourself these questions about items you aren’t sure of, you are opening your mind and being honest with yourself about the needs of your family. Any items that you keep but you don’t need will continue to add to the clutter around your house for no reason.

By giving away these items, you are not only clearing the mess from your house, you are also allowing someone else to use these items that may need them more than you.

Once you have made the decisions on what you will be keeping and getting rid of, it’s time to put the items you’ll be keeping away.

Put everything away within the categories that you previously sorted them by.

Start by putting back all the books on their shelves by genre.

Once that is done, put away any of your hobby or extracurricular activity items.

If you have a lot of memorabilia items, store them neatly in a clear container and keep it in a less commonly used spot in the room.

You can also get cute “photo” boxes to store these items.

Place commonly used items in easy to reach places like on top of your dresser or nightstand, invest in a cute tray to keep everything contained and looking neat.

Put less commonly used items in drawers so they are tucked away and not adding unnecessary clutter to your room.

For the remaining items from your categorization step and other miscellaneous things, use cute baskets and labels to store everything out of site, then place them on shelves to keep the room looking tidy.

Finish up by displaying decorations and small knickknack items in the areas of your room that look empty.

By filling empty surfaces with decorations, you will be less compelled to start stacking clutter there.

They can house all kinds of different items and decorations that you keep in your room, while keeping everything in a designated spot and looking organized.

You can even get fabric cube inserts to keep the space looking even more tidy!

After you have put all of your items away, the last step to organizing your bedroom is to deal with all of the leftover items that are still in the pile on your floor.

These are the items that were in your room at the beginning of today but don’t actually belong there.

Take the time now to place those items where they actually do belong.

To prevent random stuff from ending up back in your room going forward, try to avoid bringing those items in in the first place or set rules for yourself to when those items need to be returned to their designated spot.

Out of all the rooms in your home, your bedroom should be the most peaceful and relaxing place to be in.

This is the place where you should be able to let your guard down and recharge. The lack of organization and clutter should be the last thing you should have to worry about when you’re there.

If you don’t feel this way while in your bedroom and would like help getting there, please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team.

Talk soon,

Clutterless Home Solutions