I’m a pro organizer – my ‘set it down’ rule keeps your house tidy, plus an ‘essential landing spot’ every home needs
ONE organizing guru knows just how to take any home from cluttered to coordinated.
CEO of Composed Living Elsa Elbert has quite a few transformative tidying tricks up her sleeve.
SIMMER – OR RATHER SET IT – DOWN
Her first cleaning-up commandment includes decluttering before investing in any new products.
“You won’t know exactly what you need until you know what you’re organizing,” she told The U.S. Sun.
She also has another strict rule.
“Only set it down once. If you see something out of place, don’t put it down until it’s in the right place!
“Otherwise, you’re just moving the problem from one spot to another. This is really common with paperwork.”
She also wants you to think long and hard before adding anything new to the messy mix.
“The best way to stay organized is to be really mindful about what you bring into your home.
“Try to minimize impulse purchases, and ask yourself if the item you’re about to buy already has space in your home. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it!” she said.
JUNK IT UP
According to Elbert, “junk drawer” doesn’t have to be a bad word – you just have to know how to best make use of it.
“I think a junk drawer is a necessity in every home, although I prefer the term ‘household drawer’.
“We joke that a household drawer is just a very organized junk drawer.
“Household drawers are the essential landing spot for things that are commonly used that likely don’t have a home somewhere else.
“Think tape, sharpies, pens, scissors, extra car keys, etc.
“It’s so much more efficient to keep some of these items within easy reach, rather than spread out all over your home,” she said.
FROM CLUTTERED TO CLEAN
She also knows which cluttered spaces typically pose the most organizational challenges.
Let’s just say that if your bathroom and garage are the messiest parts of your home, you’re not alone.
No need to worry, however, as she has even more advice for getting your space in shape.
When it comes to your bathroom, it’s not you – it’s most likely your limited amount of storage space.
To help with this, she recommends “streamlining” your products down to what you find yourself using every day.
For more specialty items, just make sure you are utilizing them at least every week or month to justify their taking up space – in both your home and in your mind.
Once you have narrowed things down, donate the rest – and that’s not all.
“See if you can store things like towels or back-stock items anywhere else in your home to create extra space.
“Consider adding shelving if there is room to store smaller items, or add baskets below the sink,” she said.
Garages tend to give people a lot of decluttering grief as they often become a “dumping ground” for those things that don’t otherwise have a home or are too big to fit inside.
“Once the objects start to pile up in the garage, it becomes tempting to just keep throwing things on top of the pile.
“I recommend setting aside a weekend to pull everything out, declutter what you will never use, and then contain the items you’re keeping in weatherproof storage bins.
“Take things out of cardboard boxes whenever possible, and consider investing in some storage racks to make use of the vertical space!” she said.