Go Organize: Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps (8 page)

Tip:
All things need a home, and they need to live in their home when not in use. If you follow this principle, you'll always know where things are and you'll never waste time looking for things. Is your home so organized that you could get up in the middle of the night, and find what you need in the dark?

Curio Cabinet:
Dust the items in the curio cabinet. If it looks cramped and cluttered, pack up some of the items and place them in semi-storage. (Wrap them in bubble wrap or in packing paper to keep them from getting broken.) Rotate the items in and out about every six months to a year. If they no longer light you up to a 7 or above, remove them from the room. Consider selling them or giving them to family members.

Bookshelves:
Sort through the books on the bookshelves. If there are books no one reads or your family has outgrown, donate or sell them. Now organize the rest. It is okay to throw away the paper dust jackets; they get tattered and make the shelves look messy.

Piano Bench:
If there is too much sheet music to fit, keep only the pieces currently being used here. The rest can be put in magazine holders and placed on the bookcase, stacked upright between bookends, placed in a basket or open container, or stored in a container on a closet shelf. If they are never used any more, donate them to a piano teacher, school, or charity.

Storage Containers:
Look at the containers in the room and if they don't fit the atmosphere you want, change the containers. An ottoman can be used for storing magazines or toys, and you can also use it for a foot rest or extra seating. Dump out the toy boxes or baskets and evaluate each toy before putting it back into the container. This is a good time to donate toys the children no longer play with or have outgrown. In this room, only keep the amount of toys that can fit in a designated container. The baskets holding magazines and catalogs need to be cleaned out at least every three months. Recycle the old ones as you get new ones.

Built-In Storage Shelves or Armoires:
Take everything off the shelves one shelf at a time. Dust the shelves and evaluate everything you place back in this space. If you no longer enjoy the item, donate it, or if you want to keep it, rotate the items in and out of the shelves about every six months.

Tabletops:
Take everything off the tabletops and dust them. These are such easy places to put papers, dishes, glasses, and other things! Place a basket near the tables to put the newspaper in and another basket for magazines. Mail is no longer allowed in this room; it will go directly to the office or another room where you sort mail. Children's school work will be contained in the designated area in the family's entryway. They can bring out homework to work on, but it goes back to their backpacks as soon as it is finished. Limit what you will place on the tabletops to lamps and up to three to five decorative items, depending on the size of the table.

I took my own advice, and in my living room, I put to the test the working-from-the-inside-out principle. I was laughing when I opened my piano bench and soon my confident I-know-only-sheet-music-is-here attitude vanished. Much to my surprise, I found catalogs, a book, a scarf, a half-eaten candy bar, and gloves. The candy went into the trash, and everything else went in the belongs-elsewhere basket. With those distractions immediately out of the way, I was able to focus on organizing the bench's contents.

Mantel and Hearth:
Take everything off the fireplace mantel and hearth and dust them. Only put back those things that light you up. Donate, sell, store, or give away objects you don't want to keep out on display.

Top of the Piano:
Remove everything from the top of the piano and dust it. Put back the things you love, being careful not to get it cluttered. If you like to display pictures here, only put back half of the number you had on display; limit them to your favorites. Put the other pictures in an album.

Furniture:
Remove any broken furniture by placing it near the doorway of the room to either be taken to a shop to be repaired or to be donated. Remove excess furniture that isn't used. If you decide to donate the furniture, some charities will arrange to pick up the donations at your home, making it easier for you. If you sell the furniture, stipulate that the purchaser must pick up the item and transport it from your home.

If your living room is the “company room” and is very small, less furniture will make it appear larger. Keep folding chairs in the storage room for extra seating. Hanging mirrors on the walls can make the room look longer or wider. Keep items like photos, magazines, or figurines placed on the tables to a minimum. End tables with shelves underneath can be a place to store things like books and magazines if you also use this for a reading room.

Pillows and Blankets:
Keep throw pillows on the chairs or couches. Pillows can create a cluttered look if they are strewn around the room on the floor. If someone in your home insists on throwing them on the floor, the rule could be that they put them back on the couch when they leave the room. You could have pillows designated to stay on the couch and place others in a basket when not in use. Limit the number of pillows you have on your furniture so people have enough room to sit. Have a designated home for blankets used in this room. Use a container for the blankets, such as a basket placed at the end of the couch, behind the couch, or on one end of the hearth away from the fireplace opening. Ask family members to fold blankets and put them away when they are done using them.

Hang some favorite pictures to make the room feel welcoming to both family and friends.

Check the goals you wrote down and take a few moments to enjoy the feeling of how much you accomplished. You did a great job! It is good to give yourself a pat on the back! Share your accomplishment with someone else.

Tip:
Make your room smell fresh and clean by dusting the furniture with a scented polish that you like, or keep a candle on a candle warmer.

WRAP UP

The living room is usually the first room people see when they enter your home. Make it a room that is inviting, comfortable, and welcoming. Now that it is organized, everything has a designated home and excess items have been removed, cleaning this area becomes less of a chore. It truly is a place to welcome your guests.

So how do you keep the room just as you want it? Every night before going to bed take three to five minutes to put things away and tidy up. You can do it yourself every night or rotate this responsibility among family members (which is what I suggest doing). When family members share the responsibility of maintaining the organization, they will soon start putting back what they use, and you'll need less time to straighten up the area. It is easier for everyone when everything has a designated place to live.

Your living room will stay organized because:

 


• The room is “straightened up” every night before going to bed.
  

 


• The curio cabinet is not overloaded with stuff.
  

 


• Flat surfaces are kept free of clutter.
  

 


• Only things that light you up are in this room.
  

 


• Children's toys, newspapers, blankets, and magazines are contained in baskets.
  

Doesn't it feel good to have a 10-watt room? You did it. I knew you could. Good job!

Do you like walking into your kitchen and preparing meals or snacks for yourself and your family? Is it the place your family gathers after a busy day to unwind and chat about the day's events? Do you find when friends come over to visit, you sit around the kitchen table? The kitchen has been called “the heart of the home.” Our hearts are where our feelings of love come from. The kitchen is often the nerve center for activities in the home.

Does your kitchen have a welcoming feeling, or is it so cramped and crowded that it has become a place you dread spending time? If that's the case, let's turn your “lights on” by making it a room you look forward to preparing and cooking food in with family and friends.

SEARCHLIGHT

The Searchlight step is when you take a good look at the kitchen to see what you like and what you don't like. What are the problems that keep this room from working for you and making it a place you like to be? As you use your Searchlight, look thoughtfully at what is working and what isn't working for you. Write a list of things you want to change in your notebook. Take a picture of the full kitchen and inside of each cupboard and drawer. Write down responses to the following questions in your notebook:

 


1. What do you like about this room?
   

 


2. What don't you like about this room? Here are some questions to help you identify your needs:
   

    
   

   1. Are the counters free from clutter (i.e., papers, books, dishes, etc.)?
      

    
   

   2. Does this room look inviting? Do you feel comfortable here?
      

    
   

   3. Are the cupboards crowded and in disarray?
      

    
   

   4. Is there space in the drawers for the utensils or is everything jumbled together?
      

    
   

   5. Is there a designated place for everything?
      

    
   

   6. Are the “junk” drawers junky, or are things easy to find? Is it more of a lost-and-found drawer?
      

    
   

   7. Is the refrigerator and freezer organized so you can find specific items and use them before they spoil?
      

    
   

   8. Is the floor free of debris and the garbage emptied?
      

    
   

   9. Are you keeping only things you use or are you keeping extra things “just in case” you need them someday? Are there things you never use and don't like, yet you keep them?
      

    
   

   10. Are the dishes in a convenient location, relative to the dishwasher, for loading and unloading?
       

    
   

   11. Are container lids “contained” or are they exploding out of the cupboard or drawer?
       

    
   

   12. Do infrequently used appliances take up valuable counter space?
       

    
   

   13. Are the canned goods and other food products near the cooking area?
       

    
   

   14. Are pans stored in a convenient place for cooking?
       

    
   
 


3. Now that you have taken a good look at the space in this room (both inside and out), rate your wattage for this room (see page 15). If you rated the wattage in this room as a 7 or above, the room lights you up, and you feel happy, peaceful, and calm when you're in the room. If you rated it as a 4 or below, you feel tense, out of sorts, uncomfortable, and agitated when you're in the room.
   

Paula used her Searchlight and began looking carefully through the inside of her kitchen cupboards and on the countertops. At first, she loved what she saw; the counters were clear except for the juicer, the bread maker, the ice cream maker, and a large slow cooker — all of which she rarely used. She knew they took up a lot of valuable space, but she had learned to live with them and didn't know what else to do with the appliances. She began looking through the kitchen cupboards and saw that each cupboard she opened was piled with bowls her family didn't use, and some dishes were cracked. There were too many mugs, pans were topsy-turvy, and the lids were stacked unevenly, often falling out. The plastic and glass containers had lids that she found scattered in different cupboards. She realized she didn't know if all the bowls even had matching lids or if there were more lids than bowls. In the refrigerator, things were hard to find, and there was a lot of spoiled food that had been shoved toward the back. Many items like the milk, jam, and ketchup, were never put away in the same place. After using her Searchlight, she decided her kitchen was only 4.5 on the wattage scale.

SPOTLIGHT

You have written down what isn't working for you, and you have identified the specific problem areas, such as cluttered counters, lack of space in the cupboards, a messy junk drawer that isn't usable, container lids scattered all over so you can't find the right one when you want it, and spoiled food in the refrigerator. Now you are ready to set goals and develop a plan to reach your goals. Here are some examples of goals you can set for the kitchen that will increase the wattage in the room:

 


1. Keep the counters free of unnecessary appliances and paper clutter.
   

 


2. Make more room in the cupboards for the items you use most often.
   

 


3. Organize the pantry by labeling the shelves if necessary and assigning designated areas for everything.
   

 


4. Organize the junk drawer to make it a resource drawer by adding containers or dividers.
   

 


5. Get rid of duplicate utensils. Only keep what you use. Add drawer dividers.
   

 


6. Remove infrequently used appliances to semi-storage areas.
   

 


7. Designate a convenient place for trash.
   

 


8. Organize the refrigerator to have like items together.
   

 


9. Keep dishes you use every day in the most convenient place.
   

 


10. Use containers to hold lids for bowls that have them.
    

 


11. Get rid of all broken utensils and chipped, broken, or cracked dishes.
    

 


12. Organize spices and check expiration.
    

 


13. Organize under the sink.
    

 


14. Buy expandable shelves to increase space in cupboards. (These can be purchased at local home stores, discount stores, or perhaps hardware stores.)
    

Write down the target date when you want to have these goals completed. Break the goals down into sections — cupboards, counters, refrigerator — doing one at a time over the course of a couple of days, or working two hours (or more) a day, until the kitchen is just how you want it to be.

Great job! That was quite a project to thoroughly look through your kitchen and set your goals for change! You are on your way to making your kitchen look and feel like a 10-watt room!

GREEN LIGHT

Now you are going to use your goals and take action. (Can you feel the excitement mounting?) You will have a great time transforming and improving your counters', and cupboards', appearance and functionality. A word of caution: Things will look worse before they look better. We are always being told, be neat, be clean, de-clutter, don't make a mess. This is one time when you can make a big mess and it is OK. Take heart; this is the Lights On Organizing System to a better, more organized kitchen.

Use the Green Light by wearing comfortable clothes and rounding up your tool kit (see page 22) and four containers (see page 35). Because you're in the kitchen, your drink and snacks are handy.

Schedule a time when there will be the fewest interruptions for you to begin. Set your timer, and if your family is home, let them know you are working in the kitchen for a minimum of thirty minutes to one hour and to leave you alone! Let them know you won't be answering the phone; you can call the person back later. After you have worked for your set time, keep going if you can, and reset your timer. You will feel energized with every cupboard you clear out and see organized. When you take a break, set your timer for five minutes to remind you to come back.

This is such a great room to work from the inside out. Open up your cupboards and start inside them first, and then move to the outside spaces. It doesn't matter which cupboard you choose first, but here are my suggestions on where to start:

 


1. Upper cupboards
   

    
   

   1. glasses
      

    
   

   2. dishes/bowls
      

    
   

   3. over the stove
      

    
   

   4. over the refrigerator
      

    
   
 


2. Utensil drawers
   

 


3. Lower cupboards
   

    
   

   1. pots and pans
      

    
   

   2. under the sink
      

    
   

   3. bulky appliances; muffin tins, cookie sheets
      

    
   

   4. baking supplies; cupboard with food
      

    
   
 


4. Pantry
   

 


5. Junk drawer
   

 


6. Countertops
   

 


7. Refrigerator and freezer
   

Be absolutely honest with yourself as you look at each item. In order to keep it, you have to like it enough that it lights you up at a 7 or above on the wattage scale (see page 15).