How to Declutter and Organize ANY Space

If you have been following me or reading my blog for awhile then you know I’m on a kick! A deluttering and organizing kick that is. In this post you are going to learn how to declutter and organize ANY space!

My huge goal this year is to give my house a once over. That makes it seem like I’m doing a quick clean up of my house. Haha! That’s not it, not at all. I am going room by room, space by space.

The plan is to go through EVERYTHING! I made a master list and plan of each room. Then each month I make a few monthly goals (here, here, here, here, and here). One of those goals is a room or space in my house.

For every space or room that I do I have been doing the same steps:

• Empty the space out
• Clean, clean, clean
• Go through everything
• Get rid of the things
• Put things back

These are my 5 main steps and we will get to them in a minute. But first I wanted to point out that there is a planning aspect when you declutter and organize any space.

The first thing I do is plan out what I want to do and need to do. Then I write my plan down. Last year I made some pretty awesome FREE printables to help you do just that.

Once you have a plan written out then pick a time to get started. If you can pick a time when you can work for a long period of time, that would be best. I love starting and being able to finish a project. It’s just so dang satisfying.

If you can’t find a large block of time then find anytime that will work for you. Just getting started will help you want to finish.

Empty the Space Out

You want to literally take EVERYTHING out of the room when you declutter and organize a space. Trust me, it will make your life easier in the long run.

If you have furniture that is secured to the wall and do not plan on moving it then just empty out the drawers, cupboards, and shelves. You can leave beds in a space if makes your life easier.

Don’t think too much about this step. Just get going. I start by gathering up a few boxes or plastic tubs. Then I load as much into each as I possible can. It’s helpful to have one spot to move everything into.

If you have boxes in different rooms or places it will make a future step more frustrating. So as you take everything out of the room or space place it together in a different room.

Clean, Clean, Clean

Now that everything is out of the space you get to clean everything. Are you seeing the picture… everything? Haha

When you are cleaning you get to do as much or little as you want. But here is my thinking, if the room is empty, clean as well as you can!

• walls
• ceilings
• floor (carpet or hard flooring)
• closets
• baseboards
• windows
• drape or curtains
• doors
• fans
• closets
• tubs
• toilets
• sinks
• cupboards

Did I miss anything? It’s very likely. 🙂 This is the time to start with a clean slate.

If you left a piece of furniture in the room you can clean around it. If you left a bed, then move the bed to clean behind and under it.

It’s time to crank the music and get cleaning!

Go Through Everything

This step can be one of the most difficult steps when you declutter and organize any space. It can take the longest. There will be hard discussions to make.

Trust me, take the time to do this right. I have “organized” many spaces in my life time. I did not go through everything and take the time to do it correctly. It was done wrong.

As you go through each box, plastic tub, and item REALLY think about if you need or use it. This is still a hard thing for me. I have getting better and saying, nope we do not need it.

While you are going through your things you need 4 piles: keep, sale, donate/give away, and recycle/trash. Again, I have more boxes or piles to represent each of these.

If you don’t plan to sale any of your things you can just make 3 piles.

Get Rid of the Things

Once you have finished going through your things you need to get them out of your house. Let me tell you I have keep way too many things thinking we could get some money for them.

Now, let me tell you something else. The day Eddy drove away with the van loaded up with boxes, bags, and junk I was so darn happy. Would I have loved to make some money, sure, who wouldn’t?

But, it was so flippin nice to have it out of the house or garage making more space. Space for the things we wanted or needed. Not just boxes holding junk.

Take the trash out to the garbage and recycle cans. Pack up the things you are no longer keeping and drop them off to friends or a donation place. If you do plan to sale some items then get on it right away.

The point is to get the unwanted, unneeded things (or junk, or crap…) out of the way. You don’t want it to makes it way back inside the space or your house.

Put Things Back

Oh my, I LOVE this step. I love being able to see how things will fit nicely in a space. It is awesome to buy organizing materials. But to see the finish product is Aw-MAZ-ING!

Now, before you run out to buy pretty and fun organizing supplies you need to do a few things first. I know, buzz kill. 🙂

1. Take a look at what you have that you are putting back into your space.
2. Walk around your house to see what you already have that you can use to organize.
3. Now you can go buy what you need to organize your space. Make sure you measure the areas first so you buy the correct sizes. You can also take pictures to help while you are out buying.

As you are putting your things away keep in mind what they will be used for, who will use them, how often you will use them, and if they really fit in that space.

For example, when I was cleaning our my linen closet I just didn’t have enough space to put everyone’s sheets. It’s a logical place but things would have been too cramped in my already small closet.

So I decided to move them into the bedroom closets. It makes sense, there is more room, and it was an easy fix.

In a house where you (or in my house, me) are the main one organizing spaces you might want to make it easy for everyone else. This is where labeling comes in handy. And, I’m not going to lie, it makes me happy and my heart sing. 🙂

In this same linen closet I bought some darling teal tubs to hold cleaning rags and wash clothes. I didn’t want to getting mixed up so I labeled one cleaning rags and the other wash clothes.

Now those that can read will be able to put them away in the correct place. Making my life, and theirs, more pleasant. hee hee

Now that you have a space that is deluttered and organized you want to keep it that way. What good did you do if you don’t maintain your hard work?

When you put something back, make sure it gets put back in the correct spot. Take a few minutes weekly to give that space a once over look to make sure things are still organized and decluttered.

I have heard if you can do something in less then 30 seconds or if it is 15 steps or less away then just do it right now. Don’t wait until later.

What area are you thinking to use these steps on? I’m excited to see how you declutter and organize any space.

Xoxo, Steph