Reset!

Did you know that January is National GET ORGANIZED Month? It's a great time to throw out the old, sort through what remains and organize what you are bringing into 2010. This counts for thoughts as well. If you think "I'm not an organized person" - change that mantra! It's not that you aren't organized, you just haven't found the system that works for YOU. There is no ONE way and even if something worked for you 5 or 10 years ago, you aren't the same person you were then so don't be so hard on yourself!

If there is a project you're wanting to tackle but are a little daunted, break it into smaller pieces. For example, if you want to organize your kitchen, but don't know where to start, don't tackle the whole thing at once, start with your pantry and work your way out from there or start with your junk drawer if the thought of your pantry is a little overwhelming. Here are some universal points on organizing ANY project, no matter how big or small the project is:
The project will look worse before it starts to look better - and you might want to warn your spouse this will be the case if they will be home and especially if they will be helping you! Create three piles, stacks, or areas depending on the size of your project and label them so you don't get them confused. These piles will be "Keep", "Trash" and "Donate".
PURGE - most excess clutter comes from things we don't need or have purchased duplicates of because we couldn't find the first (or second or third) item we purchased for the same task. And if you have the tendency to hold on to things, ask yourself if the space used in storing the item is worth the cost it would take to (and how accessible it would be) to replace it.
Once you have three distinct piles, get the Trash items thrown out and the Donate stuff boxed up (and out of temptations way to sneak an item or two back in).
You are now ready to sort your Keep items! Yay! Start by putting similar items together in piles / stacks / areas. Hopefully THIS mess is a little smaller than the one you started out with....
You may find that some of your Keep piles can be sorted as well...it gets a little addictive once you see how tidy your space will look so rock on with your bad self and sort away! You'll need a place to store what you have kept and one of my all time favorite places for storage items that are as functional as they are aesthetically pleasing is you guessed it, the Container Store


I walk in and my anxiety just dissipates, my heart rate increases with anticipation of the next gem I'll find and I walk around the store in a sort of trance until I find just the solution I didn't know I was looking for. Granted, there are a few other places that exist and I suggest considering, especially if what you're needing is not a specialized solution and can be purchased elsewhere for less:


In the end, just remember to take your time and don't spend a lot of money trying some fancy system that a salesperson swears is the best solution. Ease your way into the process and find out what works for YOU. And if you get stuck and need a little help, I happen to know somebody who can....