In almost every house, no matter how much of a neat-freak may live there, clutter tends to gather.  At least a little.  For some people, it’s a real problem.  My parents (love them) are packrats.  My in-laws (whom I also love) are also packrats.  The point being, My Mr. Right and I… yep, packrats.  My husband often says that his mom collects anything on paper (report cards, mother’s day cards, ect) and his dad collects EVERYTHING else.  And it’s true.  My parents, they just collect everything, both of them.  My mother has so many dishes, there isn’t room to store them all.  And my dad, well, there are still cases of floppy disks in the office.  Yeah, like the big, more-ancient-than-dirt floppy disks.  And My Mr. Right and I, we’re just like them.  We have two boxes of electronic equipment that are mostly parts… I don’t know what for though.  And I threw out probably 50 magazine issues when we moved last year.  And almost $2000 in textbooks from college.  Ok, $2000 is what I paid for them, not resale value.  But, I had books from my first semester… 5 years ago!  I didn’t read them when I was taking the classes, so I sure as heck wasn’t reading them last year. 

How do you avoid this?  Well, it’s simple.  To say.  It’s a lot harder to actually do.  Here are a few tips on ways to de-clutter your home.
1.  Everything should have “a place”.  This will be repeated.  Just so you’re warned.  Most people instinctively organize, to a point.  You don’t keep your pots in the bathroom or your bath towels in the bedroom.  You keep them near the areas they are used in, right?  Well, if you run out of “places”, you don’t have room for any more things.  So, don’t get any more.
2.  Get rid of some before you bring more in.  For example, my mom had a whole huge cupboard full of plastic containers.  Mismatched, some melted, some warped.  I hated putting leftovers away because it was such a battle to find lids and containers that fit.  So, I threw them all out.  Every single mismatched, melted and warped piece in that cupboard.  Then, I replaced them.  Not the other way around. 

3.  Work small.  You don’t have to get a whole room done in one day.  While you’re on the phone, clean out a kitchen drawer.  Waiting for the dryer to finish so you can switch the clothes over?  Clean out and organize your supply shelf or basket.  Bookcase overflowing?  Work on one shelf at a time.  It doesn’t all have to be done right now.

4.  Baskets.  Baskets, or other similar containers, will add an immediate feel of organization.  Why?  Because everything has “a place”.  And like things are kept together.  You know where to find things and where to put them away.

5.  Store like items together.  Keep all your shoes in one place.  Toy trucks go in one drawer.  Crayons and markers get another drawer.  All of your bags (purse, diaper, church, school, work, ect) go in one area.  You’ll be so much more organized if you have “a place” for everything.  And it will cut down on that frantic search as you’re trying to hurry the kids out to the bus or find your keys in your purse that you left…… somewhere.

6.  Set limits on how much.  Storing like items together will help you see how much stuff you have.  Did you notice in the above example that the trucks get ONE drawer.  Not three.  Same with the markers.  You don’t need a two drawers full of markers.  Or seven pairs of black shoes.  I have a hard time with this one, especially when it comes to fabric and paper.  And shoes.  And stickers.  And vinyl. And no, I don’t have two glue guns, even though you saw two in the baskets up above… the third one is downstairs.  Maybe I need help?  I never said I was perfect…

7.  Go digital!  It will definitely take time, but scan your old photos on to the computer.  You can get external hard drives and store tons and tons of data.  We have a computer hooked up to our TV.  Little Monkey can watch digital copies of his favorite movies without ever touching scratching a DVD.  I love that they have digital copies when you buy DVD’s now.  And we don’t have to store all the DVD’s and cases.  I said “don’t have to”… never said we didn’t.  Hehehe.  =]  There are a lot of magazines online now too.  Although, I do like the feel of the glossy paper between my fingers… not quite the same as holding a mouse.

8.   Get rid of books.  Ok, now when I say this I am referring to the books that are sitting on shelves and have been for the last three years.  Without ever being opened in that time frame.  The rule of thumb I use: if it hasn’t been read in the past year, donate it.  If you read the book, by all means, keep it.

 
9.  Go Paperless!  Many, many, many companies now offer a paperless billing option.  I highly suggest you receive your statements in an email.  It will cut down on the paper clutter in your home and you can access your email anywhere you have a connection.  More than once, we have been somewhere that needed specific documentation and forgotten a piece of paper.  Because we have things stored on the internet, it was easy to access the needed documentation at that second and show the officials.  Otherwise, we would have had to go back again later.  And no one likes government buildings right?  You can set up an email account that you use solely for paperless billing if you’re worried about it crowding your inbox.

10.  Don’t keep things you don’t have room for.  Anything you bring into your home needs to have “a place” before it comes in through the door.  Your Auntie Dee left you her huge correspondence desk in her will?  But you have no room for it?  Sell it and then donate the proceeds in her name.  You might need that griddle that is still in the box?  Bet you have a neighbor or friend you could borrow one from.  Your wedding dress is too special to part with?  Take a photo and give the dress away.  Your daughter probably won’t want to wear it anyway.  Or make a quilt, or something else you can actually use, from the fabric.  The memory is the important part, not the physical item. 

Krista

Do you have any de-clutter tips?

…Or girlfriend or mom or what have you.  Anyway, to the point.  I have a sister-in-law who has a fantastic laundry system.  Each person has their own basket.  Laundry day is Monday.  Sounds simple (and that’s the Reader’s Digest version), but really, it doesn’t need to be complicated.  I have started a new laundry system for our little family recently.  When My Mr. Right started his active duty training, we switched his ACU’s (Army Uniforms) to his dresser and his civilian clothes to the closet.  Little Monkey sleeps in the dressing area back by the closet, so when My Mr. Right has to be up and gone early he doesn’t wake the baby (who isn’t so much a baby anymore).  Anyway. 

Our system:  We have three baskets (whites, darks and lights) for everyone.  Then, My Mr. Right has a basket for his Army clothes.  It is his responsibility to let me know when he needs more Army clothes washed.  Sometimes he can use the same uniform two or three days, and some days are one-day only!  So, sometimes once a week is enough and sometimes he needs a load or two more.  The ACU basket doesn’t usually exist when he’s not on Active Duty Training.

I do everyone’s laundry once a week.  Unless it’s something icky and gross… like a diaper blow out or whatever.  Some things just need to be taken care of ASAP.  If having a set day will help out, pick one and stick to it.  We have to juggle the laundry schedule with 8 people in our house right now though, so I don’t have a set day.  Usually, 3 loads gets all of our laundry done.  I recommend taking all the clothes to the laundry room before you begin.  It will be much easier to start the next load if you don’t have to go hunt it down, which will cut down on the amount of the day you spend doing the laundry (because I always end up getting side-tracked and the next load doesn’t get started immediately).

Have all of your supplies in a basket, on the shelf, or organized however you’d like.  But, have them all in a central location.  If you use peroxide, bleach or another treatment on stains before they get to the laundry room, have those supplies in each bathroom.  That way you won’t have to hunt down the bottle the next time you need it.  Store them safely away from the reach of your kiddos.

I have a separate basket (an old ice cream bucket, actually) that I put clothes I have pre-treated, or will need to be pre-treated, in.  That way I don’t miss a stain when I’m throwing things in the washer.  I keep this basket in the laundry room, as that is usually where I pre-treat.  If you pre-treat in the bathroom or somewhere else, it might be more convenient to keep it there.

Follow whatever washing and drying routine you prefer.  Lay sweaters, bras and other no-dryer articles on a drying rack until they are completely dry.  If you dry them in the dryer, you risk shrinkage and damage.  If you fold them before they are completely dry, they can mold.  Eww.  And a tragic disaster should it be your favorite sweater.  It might seem like a huge hassle, but it will make your clothes last longer over time.  Promise. 

Also, make sure to disentangle your clothes when you switch them from the washer to the dryer.  This will ensure that they actually dry.  It will take less time and they will dry less wrinkly if you untangle them.  If you are lucky enough to have someone help you do the switching you might want to remind them of this.  Sometimes, people don’t always know this stuff.  (My little brother [who is 21] spent 2 hours drying jeans the other day… because they were all tangled up.) 

When the buzzer goes off on the dryer, remove your clothes promptly to prevent wrinkles.  Even, if you just lay them out and fold them later, as long as you lay them flat.  Fold or hang as soon as possible after removing them from the dryer.  My sister-in-law folds the clothes and then they go back in the different baskets.  Her kiddos are all old enough to take care of putting them away.  I put ours back in the baskets for transport up the stairs and then they go into the closet or dresser.  Usually.  I will admit that our clothes sometimes don’t make it into the dressers or closet before they end up back in the dirty baskets.  If this happens, don’t sweat it.  You can always put them away next time, because there will be a next time.  =]

This is my laundry system.  Laundry is something that is never done and sometimes the system needs to be adjusted as your family’s needs adjust.  One thing I have learned is that you should NEVER have more clothing than you have room to store.  This is something we tend to struggle with.  Little Monkey got tons of hand-me-downs from cousins.  I’ve had to weed through them a time or two, simply because we did not have the space to keep them all.  One way to increase your current wardrobe space is to only keep the seasonal things in the closets and drawers.  You’re not going to need shorts when there’s five feet of snow on the ground , so box them up and put them in the garage for winter.  It’ll make your home less cluttered. 

And, because you read through all my dirty laundry (lame, I know), head over to 4shared and grab yourself one of these cuties.  Who ever said your laundry room shouldn’t be decked out in some bling?!  Go download and print these babies off!

One of my personal faves, as far as cleansers go, is definitely distilled white vinegar.  It is beyond multi-purpose.  Like, you can literally use it for just about everything.  This isn’t really a secret though.  Vinegartips.com says this, “White distilled vinegar is a popular household cleanser, effective for killing most mold, bacteria, and germs, due to its level of acidity. Cleaning with white distilled vinegar is a smart way to avoid using harsh chemicals. You’ll also be glad to know that it is environmentally friendly and very economical.”  That website is rather awesome… you should check it out sometime.  I love that vinegar is kid-friendly, well as kid-friendly as a cleaning agent can get, right?! 

Here are my top ten uses:

– Laundry.  I adore using vinegar in the laundry.  Especially My Mr Right’s Army laundry or Little Monkey’s occasional blow out.  And it’s a life-saver when I pull clothes out off storage.  Vinegar will kill odors.  I’ve found that some of the laundry detergents I’ve used just mask odors, but vinegar get rid of them.  I put in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar in each load.  I also use detergent still, but about 2/3 to 1/2 of what is marked on the cup.  Vinegar is a heck of a lot cheaper than laundry detergent, so that saves us some money.

– Cleaning the Stove.  We had a gas stove at our last home.  It was amazing, I loved it.  It had instant heat, no waiting for the coils to warm up.  It was also really easy to clean.  Fill the sink with enough water to submerge all the pieces.  Pour in about a cup of vinegar and let it all soak for about 20 minutes.  Use a scouring pad and wipe everything up.  It all comes off pretty easy and if it doesn’t let it soak a little bit longer.  And you can wipe out the sink after you’re done, too!

– Deodorize Cutting Boards.  Cutting boards often collect food fragments and odors.  I soak my cutting boards in a solution of one part vinegar to three parts water for 15 minutes every month or two.  I wash them in the dishwasher between uses, as well, but the vinegar cuts down on odor and bacteria.

– Clean the Microwave.  This is one of my faves.  Put a bowl of 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup vinegar in a microwave-safe bowl.  Bring the water to a rolling boil in the microwave.  Wipe down all surfaces.  Also deodorizes and loosens cooked on food.

– Deodorize the garbage disposal.   Disposals collect all sorts of little chunks of food that can sit and smell up your house.  Deodorize it by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar.  Heat the vinegar in the microwave before you pour it in the disposal. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal for 1 minute to rinse it all out.

– Clean out your dishwasher.  Sometimes soap and food odors build up in the dishwasher.  The water doesn’t drain as well and it smells icky.  Fix this by running a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine through a whole cycle. I do it at least monthly.  When we lived in Idaho, we had REALLY hard water and our dishes were always cloudy and spotty.  Run a capful of vinegar in with the soap and it will help cut down on water spots.  If It’s really bad, soak the dishes in vinegar for fifteen minutes before rinsing with hot water.

– Clean narrow-necked bottles and vases.  One of my favorite vases is very narrow and hard to clean out.  I solve the problem by letting undiluted white distilled vinegar sit in them for a few hours. If there are stubborn water spots and plant stains, add a little rice shake vigorously while holding a towel over the top. If it doesn’t come clean, repeat.

– Deodorize Dish Rags.  You’ve probably used a dish rag that smelled less than fresh before?  Yuck, right?  Sometimes it’s hard to get those odors out.  Renew sponges and dishrags by placing them in just enough water to wet them. Then add 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar. Let them soak overnight and rinse thoroughly with warm water.  Ring out the extra water and lay them out to dry.

– Clean Countertops.  I keep a spray bottle of one part vinegar to one part water in my kitchen to wipe down my countertops.  I like knowing that they are cleaned and disinfected, but it won’t hurt my family to eat food off the counters.  Sometimes I worry about that with bleach solutions.  Maybe that’s just me though.

– Deodorize the toilet bowl.  Pour 3 cups white distilled vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit for about a half hour before flushing.  I lay a towel over the closed lid to remind me not to use it.  I’ve also locked the door to the bathroom to keep kids out while it sits.

There are endless possibilities for vinegar.  Vinegar is effective and affordable, it’s safe and multi-purpose.  It’s like the superhero of cleaning agents! 

Cheryl at TidyMom posted a similar post a little over a week ago.  Check it out.
So, what do you use vinegar for?