While I may not be a true slob, I have never been particularly neat. When I was in my twenties and living on my own, I was able to justify this by saying that my apartment had a "lived in" feel. It was always messy to the point that I was embarrassed to have people over without (significant) advance notice so that I could do a major pick-up. I reasoned that I had a lot of things and no time to organize (I worked full-time while I was going to school full-time). I made a lot of excuses...mostly to myself.
After I moved in with my husband, the trend continued. We both seemed to have a lot of stuff that was never particularly neat or organized. Again, I made excuses...we had to combine two separate, fully-furnished apartments, so we had a lot of stuff and just needed time to go through it all. We both worked full-time so it was hard to find time to organize. It never really got organized.
Needless to say, time went on and we had our daughter. Again, I reasoned that things are messy because we have a child and not enough space for all her gadgets and toys.
I recently gave birth to our son and I am at the point where I WANT THINGS TO CHANGE. We do have too much stuff and I believe that is the biggest impediment to home organization. I have done extensive internet searches for organization tips (none of which have ever really worked for me in the past - but I think it was more I lacked motivation) but the number one thing that I see on these sites is the need to clean out and get rid of stuff that you (a) don't use; (b) that doesn't fit and (c) doesn't bring you happiness.
I have always struggled with getting rid of stuff. I grew up in a very modest household and while we always had food to eat, we did not always have money for a new pair of shoes or jeans. As such, I tend to hold on to things forever. If something breaks, I hold on to it saying I am going to fix it, etc. Realistically, I am probably not going to fix it and it is just going to sit there. Similarly, I hold on to things that people give me because one day, it might be useful. It very rarely is...
My goal is for people to be able to drop by unexpectedly and for me to be able to entertain them - not fret over and apologize for how messy my home is. I know there are a lot of you out there who share my desire and I hope that this blog ends up being useful to someone besides me.
I will post tips and tricks that I find effective in my struggle to clean out and organize my home.
TIP 1: If you have a sentimental attachment to something, but don't need it, use it or want to schlep it from place to place anymore, take a picture of it. You can always look at the picture for the memory, but you can get rid of the bulky item.
TIP 2: Start small: I cleaned out my daughter's drawers and got rid of a bunch of clothes that didn't fit. This was a good project for me because I knew there were a lot of things I could get rid of that did not have much sentimental attachment. Take a look at the attached picture of one of the neat drawers. Its been like this for a few days and it always makes me happy going into the drawer - I can find what I am looking for and it shows a bit of progress.
Happy organizing!
