living letting go
SPRING CLEANING
The next magical art of tidying up BY LAUREN HAMMACK | ILLUSTRATION BY CHAD CROWE
ON VARIOUS SHELVES at my house, I have a full library of books about home organization. Their titles practically mock me: File, Don’t Pile!, Behind the Clutter, Feng Shui Your Life, Unstuff Your Life!, It’s All Too Much, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and one of my favorites, ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life. As I’m writing this, I’ve taken a quick visual inventory of my surroundings, which defy the advice in all the books I mentioned above. Within my immediate reach are: the Christmas stocking that never made it back into the Christmas storage tub, a shoebox from this weekend’s purchases, a freshly emptied magazine basket, another basket of mail that dates back to October, a tray of paid bills, a bird-calling whistle of some kind, a tabletop wine bottle opener (in case I can only grab one thing in a fire) and a large box of misprinted office signs from work. Surrounded by the proof that I’ve barely bent the spines of my organizing books, I called in reinforcements for this article: Oklahoma City professional organizers Amy Holder from Simplicity Professional Organizing and Darlene Broderick from Clutter Buster. For the “organizationally challenged,” it can be overwhelming to decide where to begin, but the journey through a thousand Beanie Babies always starts with the first step. Amy: Being overwhelmed is very common. When clients tell me they want to organize their whole house, I recommend prioritizing by which three areas of the home give them the most stress, are non-functional or need to be repurposed. Darlene: I usually begin with a client interview and learn everything I need to know to create a customized system for that client. Different systems or organization [methods] work for different people, but as a general rule, it’s good to start by working on the area or areas you use every day. Then what? Amy: It’s estimated that we lose seven hours a week looking for stuff like keys, cell phones, pieces of paper. To minimize that, everything should have a home within your home. I like to help clients determine “zones” for their things (i.e., all cleaning supplies go under the kitchen sink). Once you’ve declared a zone and you’ve stuck to it, you should be able to take a quick inventory at any point and know what needs to be restocked. 58 405 HOME SPRING 2018
Darlene: It’s not uncommon for me to meet the movers when someone is relocating, unpack everything and put it away. Clients just keep the system in place. Otherwise, we work together to figure out in advance where things are going to go. I ask them to tell me their favorite charity, which often makes it easier to let things go. If Big Trash Day is coming up, we’ll schedule a clean-out in the days leading up to trash day, so the discarded items don’t have to sit around longer than necessary. I don’t have to look very far to recognize my own hoarding quirks. What are predictable trouble spots for most people, and how do you recommend tackling them? Amy: Paper management is a huge thing. Almost anything we’re tempted to keep can be found on the Internet. I also recommend keeping magazine articles, lists or notes on an app such as Evernote. Mail can be sorted between the mailbox and the front door, and most of it can be tossed before you come back into the house. Keep it if it’s something you have to pay or sign and return, or if you need to file it (e.g., a car title). Darlene: Family heirlooms should be kept, but saving things for “the kids” is a waste of time – odds are, the kids aren’t going to want to clutter up their own space with their old stuff. If you really want them to have something, give it to them now. Help your aging parents to get rid of things while they’re still living and able. When parents die and leave behind a ton of stuff, it’s a huge emotional burden on their loved ones to address the mess.