Megan Francis - Conquering Clutter: Getting To The Bottom Of Clutter

Conquering Clutter- Getting To The Bottom Of Clutter

Getting Organized- How To Become Clutter Free

By: Megan Francis

Table of Contents

Publishers Notes

Disclaimer

This publication is intended to provide helpful and informative material. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem or condition, nor is intended to replace the advice of a physician. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this book. Always consult your physician or qualified health-care professional on any matters regarding your health and before adopting any suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the use or application of any contents of this book.

Any and all product names referenced within this book are the trademarks of their respective owners. None of these owners have sponsored, authorized, endorsed, or approved this book.

Always read all information provided by the manufacturers product labels before using their products. The author and publisher are not responsible for claims made by manufacturers.

2013

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my husband Jim without whom I would be drowned in clutter.

Chapter 1- Getting By On the Basics

A clutter-free home makes it easy to host unexpected guests. To give your home a fresh look, buy new furniture every once in a while and give your home a spacious, appealing look. The thing is that keeping a home neat, tidy, and clutter-free can be a difficult task. Read on to find out the main ways that you can cut down on clutter.

Use Those Nooks and Crannies!

Every room in your home has corners. Use these corners for tucking away pieces of furniture that dont need to be cluttering up the middle of your roommiscellaneous pieces of dcor work well as exotic statements when placed in a corner. In living rooms, tuck away remote baskets and magazine stacks. If its your bedroom that needs to be cleaned out, utilize the corners by moving your wastebaskets, extra chairs, or shoe racks that are taking up space. But this strategy doesnt apply to only cornersmake use of every little space you can. If magazine stacks seem tacky in a corner, slide them under your coffee table. Vase and teapot collections can decorate the tops of the cabinets in your kitchen rather than take up space on the counters.

Buy Baskets

Baskets are often overlooked and sometimes seem to take up more space than they savebut thats not the case! The remotes scattered across your coffee table can easily be organized in a basket and hidden behind the couch. Old books can also be tucked into baskets. The plants that you have haphazardly strewn across your porch can even be replanted in baskets and dangled from the roof of your porch. Smaller baskets can do the trick tooa basket here and there throughout your study makes it easy to find a place for the pens and pencils that are always rolling around on the floor. Magnetic baskets in your bathroom help you keep your shampoo and shower gel bottles organized. The key is to make the most of baskets in your home.

Think Through Purchases

Items on sale are meant to catch your eye when you walk through the door of a store. But as gorgeous, sophisticated, and elegant as those items may look, theyre only adding to the clutter in your home. Before you decide to buy anything, analyze your purchase. Where exactly are you going to put this piece of furniture in your home? Which room would this look good in? Are you going to have to remove another item in order to find space for this one? And if you plan on gifting it to somebody, do you have a specific person in mind? A second thought can radically change your shopping impulses and allow you to have a clutter-free home.

Be Organized!

Organization is the simplest trick in the book and yet it is often overlooked. Each and every object you own should have a special place in your home, where its placed while its not being used. If you see something where it shouldnt be, pick it up and return it to its spot. Create a chart for seasonal clothingto avoid bulging drawers and closets, keep the sweaters packed away in the basement until wintertime rolls around, and then fold your tank-tops and shorts and put them where your sweaters and long pants were.

Leave notes on your fridge if it helpssimple sentences about donating old clothes to Goodwill can help you stay organized and get rid of the clutter surrounding your home. Another simple way to stay organized is by setting the atmosphere of each room. If your dining room has a few oriental pieces, let its theme revolve around oriental dcor. Make your bathroom blue-and-green, and give your kitchen a dark, polished feel. This way, items that look out of place with your theme can be removed and replaced if necessary. Keep each room organized, with its own atmosphere, so odd items dont find their way into your home.

Free Up Your Budget

Even though spending money isnt exactly on your to-do list, it can help with cleaning out your home. Spend money on quality items that can improve your home and help you maintain its beauty instead of spending money on outrageously priced items, be a smart shopper and purchase important pieces such as various baskets and other tools that can help you organize. Be ready to spend more money on improving your home, and even if that costs you the horrendously expensive antique chair that takes up too much room in your living room, so be it. If reluctance is still kicking in, define your goalwhy are you freeing up your budget? What are you spending money on? These should only be items of quality, and by questioning your purchases and allowing more money for quality merchandise, youll be able to keep your home neat and gorgeous.

Chapter 2- The Reasons Why People Allow Clutter To Build Up

In our fast paced society we are busy running about all day getting the job done and at the end of it all we simply want to go home and relax. The challenge is that when we go home we are faced with another set of tasks before we can go to bed. It may be that laundry is waiting to be folded and stored away or a pile of dishes may be in the sink. Whatever the case at that time the level of exhaustion is more prevalent than anything else.

This process is a never ending cycle, happening from one day to the next until it comes to a point where it you struggle to do it or simply ignore the situation. This is when the buildup of clutter occurs. The question is why we allow this to happen.

Quite a number of authorities on the subject including psychologists and doctors have made the attempt to answer that question. The interesting thing is that, though they agreed in some areas, they did not in others. The main points that they agreed on was the fact that the individual that clutters has become a bit too attached to the items. It may even be that they made too many purchases and just end up being overwhelmed or they simply do not care about the clutter buildup. Bear in mind that not every individual cares about being neat. The presence of clutter can have an effect on a relationship as well as ones economic situation and health.

One of the main reasons that clutter occurs is because it tends to happen over a period of time. It is never a case where you go to bed one night and wake up the next morning and see a pile of things. It might even be a situation where things have gotten slightly out of control and you simply have no idea of how to tackle the situation and you simply leave things as they are. The challenge with that option is that it is only going to make things worse.