Bennie - From Stuffed to Sorted: Your Essential Guide to Organising, Room by Room

Your Essential Guide to Organising, Room By Room

First published in 2012 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Typeset in Quicksand 10.5/13.5

MaryAnne Bennie 2012

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Author: Bennie, MaryAnne

Title: From stuffed to sorted: your essential guide to organising, room by room / MaryAnne Bennie

ISBN:9780730378273 (pbk.)

Notes:Includes index

Subjects:House cleaning.

Home economics.

Dewey Number:648.5

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Suzanne Sunwoo

Cover image: PunchStock/MIXA

Paper Flow is the registered trademark of MaryAnne Bennie

in8 is the registered trademark of in8 Pty Ltd

Printed in China by Printplus Limited

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Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

About the author

MaryAnne Bennie is Australias organising guru. She began her professional organising career after realising that being organised was one of the most valuable, transferrable life skills a person could possess.

MaryAnne is passionate about liberating people from the tyranny of clutter. In 2002 she founded a company called in8 home office and life organising and has since developed systems to keep homes, offices and lives running smoothly.

Her Paper Flow system has already been documented in the best-selling book Paper Flow: your ultimate guide to making paperwork easy , co-authored with Brigitte Hinneberg (Wrightbooks 2011). This book shows readers how to manage household, personal and business paperwork. The Paper Flow system is fast becoming the paper management system of choice for people all over the world.

In From Stuffed to Sorted , MaryAnne introduces readers to the in8steps system and shows how easy it is to apply these steps to totally reorganise the stuff in your life and turn houses back into homes. As a wife, mother and businesswoman, MaryAnne fully understands the struggle to juggle home, office and life. The in8steps system is tried and tested and, if followed, will work for everyone regardless of how much stuff or space they have.

Prior to becoming a professional organiser, MaryAnne was a senior lecturer at a leading Australian university. She holds a Bachelor of Education and Master of Business.

MaryAnnes organising expertise is regularly featured in newspapers and magazines, and on websites and radio. She motivates and inspires people, and fully equips them with the information and tools they need to organise their homes, their offices and their lives.

A word from the author

Organising your home is going to change your life forever. Some time ago a client lets call her Jane called me in and asked me to help her organise her cluttered home. It took a few weeks to work through every room in her house and we sent loads and loads of unloved and unused stuff to charity. A few weeks later, she called me again and asked me to recommend an interior designer, which I did. The interior designer went through the house and introduced new pieces of furniture, lamps, cushions, bed linen and artwork and wow the house really popped!

About ten months later I was running an event and noticed Janes name on the list. I was excited to see her again, but I was not prepared for the transformation. The everyday, 50-something woman I had previously met had turned into a stunner. She had lost lots of weight, she was wearing a gorgeous outfit and her hair and makeup had been done with style and taste. She looked as though she had just stepped off the catwalk. I was speechless! After recovering my composure, I asked her what the secret to her success was and she replied with words to this effect: Its all your fault you started it! Once my home was organised, I could think again and I could dream again. Then, once it was redecorated, that was the icing on the cake. But I didnt look the part! I was overweight, frumpy and had lost my sparkle and thats what I wanted to get back. So I started a weight-loss and fitness program. Once I lost the weight, I invested in a new wardrobe and used a stylist to create a whole new look for me! But, I could never have done this without taking the first step of releasing the clutter and becoming more organised. You changed my life forever. Thank you.

Janes story, and the stories of all my clients, inspired me to write this book, to bring you the system that turned their lives around and triggered a whole chain of new events. I will be with you every step of the way, cheering you on, giving you advice and celebrating your success. I hope just a little bit of your success in life will also be my fault!

Warmest wishes,

MaryAnne Bennie

Introduction

"Well begun is half done."

Aristotle

Regardless of where we live or what we do, we acquire and accumulate items meant to enhance our quality of life. We call these items our possessions, our assets, our things or our stuff. These items come in the form of furniture, clothing, entertainment equipment, tools, cookware, crockery, cutlery, supplies, food, glassware, ornaments, artwork, books, transport, technology, appliances, footwear, paperwork, sports equipment and toys. And that just names a few! When in balance, these items are useful and appreciated: they support us in our endeavours and make life easier and more comfortable.

In an affluent society, people have the means to accumulate more and more. And in this technological age, items become obsolete within a very short time, compelling us to update regularly. Remember the computer you purchased last year? Well, its a dinosaur today!

These days we have multiples of many items, whereas in days gone by one or none would have been the norm. How many TVs, tennis racquets, mobile phones, computers, salad bowls and kitchen appliances do we really need and, more importantly, do we actually use?

We have an infinite capacity to bring stuff in, but we have a finite capacity to store our stuff. Everything is competing for space . Everything needs to earn its right to stay!