Do you feel like your entire house has turned into a storage unit rather than a cozy and inviting space? Are you finding it difficult to figure out where to store things in your home so that things stay organized? 

I completely understand those feelings! They can be super overwhelming when you feel like you have too much stuff in your home or you are unsure where to put things. Which is why I have been able to help clients get their entire homes decluttered and organized for over 8 years. Because when you clear the clutter in your home, you can find the calm that has always been there. 

But where do you actually start when it comes time to get your home decluttered and organized? I am breaking down all my secrets that I have learned in hopes you will use some of them to declutter your home!

Organizing Habits

Whenever I start talking about how to get a space decluttered, I like to start with organizing habits. An organizing habit is something that you do in order to keep your home organized or disorganized. The best example is when you bring in your mail from the mailbox. Where do you set those envelopes? What do you do with the papers that were inside the envelopes? And what about the catalogs and mailers? 

What you do with those items is a habit you have put into place. Whether it be organized or not, it is a habit. So you want to turn that habit into an organized habit so you can keep things tidy.

When changing a habit into an organized habit, we start by looking at what isn’t working. Then tweak things to make what we are doing work for us. Let’s say you want to change the habit of throwing clothing onto the floor by your bed after you wear them for the day. 

So we look at your habits you have in place right now. You take off your work clothes and change into sweats that are in your dresser drawer. But you hang your work clothing in your closet on the other side of the room. So one way to change this habit of dumping clothing on the floor is to move your sweats near your work clothes. Or you could move your laundry basket near your dresser. 

Both of these things can easily change your habit for something that is more organized and will keep your home tidy.

You can read more on organizing habits here.

Setting Goals

Another way to ensure your home is completely decluttered from unnecessary things is to set goals for what a real “decluttered” home looks like. Instead of focusing on pictures from Pinterest, start by focusing on what decluttered means to you. What does that look like in your home? No papers on the kitchen counter? Shoes put away? Beds made? Start with what you want.

Then write down goals for each room. Once you set the goals with your real vision for the space, you are more likely to create that plan once you start to declutter and organize your items. 

The Beginner’s Workbook to an Organized Home has all the tools you need for setting goals. Because setting goals for organizing looks similar to setting business and personal goals, writing down your specific goals will help you stick to your plan. 

Focusing On Your Mindset

In addition to setting goals, you also have to focus on your mindset around all the items within your home. But what does that actually mean?

Your mindset is how you see the items in your home. Let’s say you have a lot of items that were from your grandmother. Things like bone China, serving platters, and tea cups. The problem is you never use any of those items that you inherited. They are just sitting in your dining room, taking up space. Every time you open the buffet where they are stored, you get annoyed but guilty at the same time. How do you get those items decluttered?

We need to focus on your mindset and the difference between the physical item and the emotional memory an item represents. Now I do want to say that I am not a fan of getting rid of everything. I have both of my grandmother and great grandmother’s tea cups, but I only have 1 tea cup from each collection and 1 tea cup from my mothers, making my collection 5 tea cups. I have them displayed in my kitchen so I can see them every day because I love them. But I am not holding onto the entire tea cup set from all my family. I took one to display and use. And the rest was given to other family members to do the same thing.

I have more on mindset and sentimental items below. Since most of the time they go together!

Best Solutions For Parting With Sentimental Items

Best Solutions For Removing The Sentimental Value On Other People’s Items

Get To Decluttering + Organizing

Now comes my favorite part…decluttering and organizing! I love when you can remove things that are no longer serving you or your family in your home. Because when you remove those items, you can focus on the items that you enjoy or appreciate.

Over the years, I have learned there are specific ways to truly get your entire home decluttered and organized. You have to start with easy items and move to more sentimental items. Because as you are learning to let go with things, set goals, and change your mindset around what specific value items hold, you can tackle more “tricky” spaces.

Back when I started organizing, I created a workbook for my in-home clients. The workbook would walk both of us through the organizing process. We would set goals for each space we worked on. Then we would go through my checklist to organize and declutter items within that space. I would make a list of items for donation so the client could use it for tax purposes. Everything was really systematic and thorough. 

Now you can get the workbook to use in your home. The exact workbook I used with in-home clients is available to walk you through the entire organizing process. And it is called the Beginner’s Workbook to an Organized Home. The workbook is like hiring a professional organizer to help you get your home decluttered and organized, without the high price tag!

Keeping Things Decluttered

After you spent time decluttering and organizing your home, you need to keep it that way. In order to keep things decluttered, you need to keep up with your organizing habits. See how this is totally a full-circle thing? Change your habits, keep things organized!

Set up some routines for yourself to keep up with new habits. Make sure you write down the goals for each room and the routines you want to put in place. Then follow those routines daily. That is how you make things a habit. This will help you stay organized because you are following a routine.

I know that not everyone loves strict routines, but when you are changing habits, it works to be strict at first. 

Now doing all of this alone can be overwhelming. I mean, you have a lot going on. So decluttering and organizing may seem like it will take years to do. So I have a cheat sheet that can help! It is called The Beginner’s Workbook to an Organized Home.

The Beginner’s Workbook to an Organized Home has all the tools you need to truly organize your home. You can take a peek inside the workbook and how it will help you and your family get organized!

So what are you waiting for? All of these strategies along with room-by-room guides, decision fatigue checklists, and trackers are included in the Beginner’s Workbook to an Organized Home. Grid paper is included to draw out where how you are going to organize different drawers, closets, or cabinets. Tutorials are also included in the room-by-room guide. And each room guide comes with decision fatigue planners, organizing checklists, donation trackers, and mindset work to set goals for your project. Click here to get the workbook and get your home decluttered for good!