Clutter can create problems for people who want to clean and organize their house, but don't quite know how to do it. When the house becomes cluttered, then the cleaning (such as vacuuming and dusting) has to come second. Now the homeowner has to get rid of the clutter before they can clean.
This takes a lot more time than regular cleaning, and sometimes you can run out of energy before finishing cleaning. Here are some secrets to clutter control, though, to help you.
Paper is the biggest thing that winds up being clutter in anyone's house. It may be things like newspapers, mail, kid's work from school, or work papers, but you can organize any of this to keep it from being clutter. When the mail arrives sort it out immediately. Locate a trash can near the front entrance, so that you can dispose of any mail, that is junk as soon as you walk into the house.
Put all your bills in a pile of things to take care of. This work basket can even hang on you wall either by the computer or your telephone - also, you may keep some envelopes and stamps in a separate basket nearby but of course your desk is probably near too. File your papers away that are important for safe keeping - and don't say you will do it tomorrow or it might get forgotten.
This goes the same with your papers from work that you have at home. File your papers that need to action and the other important papers in their appropriate spots immediately. Many people keep their trash cans under the sink in the kitchen - place a bin for old newspapers next to it. Then when you take out your trash you can also grab the old newspapers for the recycle bin.
All parents understand the number of papers that their kids can tote home from school on a daily basis. Parents have a hard time choosing which of the school papers to keep and which to dispose of to keep the clutter under control. You can have a plastic bin on hand near where you look through your child's backpack each day.
Use the bin to place the school papers in that you want to keep each day, and then throw the others in the trash. Then you can have a bigger bin either in the attic or the basement to transfer the papers out of this bin into. This way you can preserve your child's accomplishments so they can enjoy having them one day.
When you set out to get other clutter under control, you may want to think about a few bits of information. Will you be using this again? This is where honesty is needed. If this item has not been used in 12 months, chances are you will not be using it again, so this is one thing to get rid of.
If the item is still in good shape then you could sell it or give it away to a charity. If this particular item is used once in a while, then keep it for 6 months or so and then think about giving it away again. Store your decorations for different holidays in the basement or attic. Large bins for storage are ideal for this, especially the ones that can be stacked on top of each other. It can be quite frustrating to try to find one decoration, say, and have to move several boxes to get to it.
So if you get the drawers, and also make sure they are clear, you can see what you need before even opening the drawer. Make sure if something does not work right or is stained just throw it in the trash. This goes for anything and not only the ones that are used seasonally. You will just wind up wasting your time and labor trying to work with something that should be trash if you don't take action immediately.