It's time to START

Do you have drop zones in your house that collect clutter?

Or cabinets that spill out contents when you open them?

Or have drawers that are hard to open or close because they are so full?

 

I have several drop zones that collect clutter - the mud room, the kitchen counter, command center and the laundry room - come to my mind first.

I am always having to keep a close eye on those locations and declutter them often.

My family just seems to drop things there and then I manage the things.  Since my kids are little I do a lot of the organizing with them or for them.  Hopefully they're learning skills to be able to do it on their own eventually.

I write "declutter" on my daily to do list.  I just work on whatever needs it most that day.  This has really helped me to keep close tabs on keeping areas tidy.  If you do a little work every day, it's much easier to keep your home organized.

I want to encourage you today to pick one of those problem areas in your house and tidy it up today!  It's the perfect time to start.  You can set a time for 10-15 minutes and see how much you can get done.  If it's a big mess, it might take you a couple of sessions to tackle it, but I bet you have a lot of spots in your house that you could fix and tidy up in just 15 minutes.

I'll show you the process at my house and hopefully you'll get some ideas for doing the same decluttering at your house.  It's easy - it's free - and you can make it quick!

Command Center: After - it looks so much better & I know exactly what is here.

Command Center: Before.  It was a big mess.  A dumping ground for all the back to school supplies and mail and clutter.  It was hard to find anything.

I decluttered the command center to the left and then realized that I only really use 2 canisters to the right.  I put the 3rd one in my pantry and freed up a little more counter space.  I try hard to keep as little as possible out on my counters.

Our mudroom bench is another drop zone for art supplies, school stuff and just general junk.  This bench was full and hard to use.  I cleared everything off and put it back where it belonged.  Much better!  Each kid has a hook for their backpack and a shoe basket for their shoes.  Their coats go here in the winter.  It works perfectly for us.

Declutter your fridge.  Keep close tabs on your leftovers so you aren't wasting food.  I keep my leftovers in a certain section of my fridge.  I always look there first when I'm figuring out what to eat for lunch or what to reheat for dinners.  Organize your fridge - wipe things down - and it'll be much easier to use up the food you have.

Warning: If you've got little ones around, they might find their own ways to stay busy while you're busy organizing.  Leo gave himself some pretty sweet tattoos :)

You can do it!  I'm here (along with Penny!) to cheer for you as you tackle a problem area or two in your home this week.  If you need some encouragement in this area - comment below or email me (polkadottyplace@hotmail.com) and I would love to touch base with you about organizing!

What areas of your home would you like to work on first?