An article I really need to take note of and try out :-)

How to Organize Every Room in Your Home Published on 29-01-2006 By Rebekah Slatkin

About the Author: Rebekah Slatkin is the founder of Club Organized and is able to organize even the most cluttered, unmotivated person! Get free access to DECORganize, the how to want to get organized and STAY that way, system.
Includes FREE BONUSES and more!

Website URL http://www.cluborganized.com

Let's talk about how to actually get you started organizing. If your home is full of clutter, these formulas will get you on the right path, even if nothing else has worked for you in the past.

If you are already organized, you’ll still benefit by further tweaking and beautifying your home.

I’d like to present the two formulas I find work best for most people.
The first formula is my own creation; it’s named DECORganize, and it is an innovative and counterintuitive approach to organizing.
The second formula is Julie Morgenstern’s concept of SPACE, presented in her book, Organizing from the Inside Out.

Backwards Organizing

When I go into someone’s home, I first DECORganize and then follow the SPACE formula. DECORganize essentially involves creating “niches” that is, oases of simplicity, balance, and beauty in your home. DECORganize works best with clients who feel overwhelmed and unmotivated to sort through the clutter or tackle the piles of paper. I say to them, “Let’s do a blitz.” We then immediately rearrange the bedroom, for example, to create a more cozy look. We might add a colorful new quilt or create a nook for photographs or a beautiful makeup/dressing area, using items scattered throughout other rooms.

What do we do with the clutter while we’re doing a blitz? Well, I take my arm and push it all into a box! Just get it out of sight! Working with a blank canvas is so much more inspiring then rearranging the clutter over and over again. DECORganize is a little backwards, you may think. Decorating before decluttering? Unheard of! I stand by my theory. People who haven’t been able to organize in the past are most likely creative people. They like beautiful things and have dreams in their head of how they want their home to look. Yet following systems seems boring to the creative person, and setting up systems is typically what traditional organizing methods require. For these people, I prefer to think of creating beautifully, clutter-free, decorated areas rather than systems. Systems will come naturally when you walk by the areas and love them, thus keeping you feeling motivated to keep the areas consistently clear. You will no longer feel like organizing is a drag.

If you want to kill two birds with one stone, you can sort through the clutter while doing a blitz. Keep one laundry basket, two boxes, and a box of trash bags nearby. The laundry basket is for items that go in other rooms, the boxes are for giveaways, and the trash bags are for trash.

Take everything off the counters, one item at a time, and follow the SPACE formula.

Making SPACE

S is for Sort: As you handle each item, ask yourself, “Do I love this? Have I used it this year? If you decide it’s important to you, put it aside and group it with similar items.

P is for Purge: If you decide this item needs to go, get rid of it, whether by trashing, donating, or selling.

A is for Assign: Assign a “home” for the item. For instance, are the books going on the shelf or in the drawer? In the living room or in the study? The place should be logical, accessible, and safe.

C is for Containerize: This is where you get to use those neat-looking organizers you see in the stores. They should be sturdy, the right size, attractive, and easy to use.

E is for Equalize: Spend about 15 minutes a day to maintain your work.

You must follow the SPACE formula in order. You wouldn’t want to buy a six-foot tall bookcase for all your books before sorting through the books to see if you still need them or whether they fit! The following areas in your home need special focus.

No matter what your motivation for organizing, a lot of your housework can be put on autopilot, if you create a spot for each of these items.

 Mail: Keeping all your incoming and outgoing mail in one location prevents paper pileup. For incoming mail, you can get tiered trays from an office supply store, and designate each tray for a different category of mail: e.g., bills, medical reimbursements, papers to file. Check the tray frequently to see if something is due. You can tag bills with those tiny neon-colored stick-it notes to remind yourself when to take care of it. For outgoing mail, keep all your supplies together. Nothing deters you from taking care of correspondence as much as having to conduct a 20-minute search for stamps or envelopes. DECORganizers may want to use a designer picture box filled with stamps, envelopes, tape, scissors, a couple of pens, and whatever else you need.

Receipts and coupons: Establish a system for receipts. You can use an expandable check file and label each section according to store, credit card, or type of purchase. Think about where you would look to find it if you needed it.

Library books and videos: Keep anything that incurs a fine in one location. For DECORganizers, I usually suggest a wicker basket or planter near the front door.

Magazine basket: Keep magazines in a basket, and when it gets too full, sort and purge. There are many aesthetically pleasing boxes or bins to hold magazines. It doesn’t need to be from Office Depot.

Keys: Do you waste a lot of time desperately searching for your keys? It may sound obvious, but the solution is to always put your keys in the same place every time you walk in the house! A pretty bowl on a console table near the front door would serve nicely.

Gifts: I like having extra gifts on hand for those last minute necessities. Devote a bookcase or a few closet shelves for this purpose. Although this may sound insensitive, I also save in this location items given to me that I don’t particularly like and recycle them to others who might like them. I do not allow my home to become cluttered with such gifts and the guilt that goes along with not using them.

CDs/DVDs: Believe it or not, I have seen media take over much floor and counter space when no specific place is designated for it. Devote one piece of furniture with drawers to contain all of your media. You can use a storage ottoman or specialized media cabinets. Check out my website for a list of reviews on such products (www.cluborganized.com).

Notebook: If your mind keeps racing with all the things you need to do, then get your thoughts down on paper. Get rid of the mental clutter that occupies your head. For my creative people, buy a beautiful journal.

Establishing Routines After creating a “home” for the common items mentioned above, it’s a good idea to make routines out of the most important aspects of running a home:

Grocery shopping and cooking: Keep a running grocery list on the front of your pantry or refrigerator, writing down items as you need them. Spend an hour once a week to plan all the meals for that week, along with a list of the ingredients you need. Be sure to add those ingredients to your grocery list. Designate the same day each week to go grocery shopping.

Laundry: Getting laundry done regularly is one of the most important routines. Part of your success is simply having a convenient spot to do the laundry, with the proper supplies on hand. Designate two days a week to do laundry, or if it works better for you to throw a load in each morning, that’s fine, too. Make sure you have laundry baskets for each person in the bedrooms and a large sorter basket in the laundry room. That way, each person can bring his or her their basket into the laundry room on laundry day and sort it by color. Or, have a laundry sorter on the main floor and have everyone bring down his or her laundry each morning. Your laundry room can also be DECORganized. There are so many lovely pictures of laundry rooms in magazines. The key is comfort. Good lighting, a rug for your feet, a bowl to collect trinkets in pockets, artwork, and whatever else will make you feel better about doing the laundry.

Cleaning: In terms of a cleaning routine, you have a lot of flexibility. You can designate one day a week for general cleaning, in addition to cleaning for a half hour every morning and evening. Think like a restaurant server: put away after using, wash dishes, and wipe down dirty surfaces. If you do this steadily, you will not need to do a heavy duty cleaning very often.

I hope that by making these few changes in these specific areas, you’ll notice your housework lessen.

Creating beautiful niches in your home will ultimately keep you from adding more clutter to them.

I hope you smile every time you walk by.