I posted this picture to Instagram earlier. No, that's not my house in the background; not to put her on blast, but it's my mamas. God love her. She's borderline hoarder-status {not really, but it's pretty crazy how much crap she has}. She's decided she wants to completely declutter her home and get it organized so that she "won't be stressed". Oh mama, I'm your girl! She called on me for help...more like begged. So, I grabbed a McD's iced coffee {hello, straight sugar-it was my first time} and got to work!
My mission for today was to conquer my parent's "office space", which is essentially the little nook you see behind me in the picture above. It's a small space, but don't be deceived, the desk itself is quite large and it holds A LOT of stuff! Here are some before shots that I snapped real quick before I got started on this 2+ hour process {actually, that's a white lie, I had already somewhat started, and remembered I wanted to blog about this, so I took pics from that point}. Maybe you can relate to these pictures...if so, then keep reading, you'll probably benefit from these tips!
Let me start by saying this: DO ONE ROOM AT A TIME! Don't try to conquer every room in your house at the same time. I know some people that do this and it works, but in my opinion that creates more mess and more stress. I can't stand piles all over the place; one room is manageable because it's a means to an end. Multiple piles in multiple rooms makes organizing really difficult because you can't see everything at once. My mom has been on a declutter kick and she's been doing every room at once and she's stressing herself out. She had piles everywhere today-as in all over her house. I immediately told her that was her first mistake and that to eliminate extra clutter-induced anxiety, she needed to do ONE room at a time. Okay, once that little bit was clear, we moved on to the following.
1} I started by removing EVERYTHING from the shelves + cabinet. EVERYTHING! It went into piles: books, office supplies {writing utensils, stapler, tape, etc}, paperwork, decor-related {candles, etc}, and picture frames. Once that was complete, I did the drawers. Again, emptied everything out and organized by drawer {top: office supplies, middle: business-related paperwork, and bottom: file folders with all personal info}. The entire room was a DISASTER! Y'all my mom was freaking out telling me that I was giving her more anxiety than she had before I'd arrived. I told her "Woman! I am the queen of clutter-driven anxiety, so just let me work. I promise it will look a million times better in a few hours"}. I continued sorting items, while my mom went through every book you see {and then some}. She created piles so we could get a better idea of what we had to work with.
2} We created the following piles: Donate - Trash - Keep - Shred
These are self-explanatory, but anything that was not worth donating, she trashed. Any paperwork with crucial information was shredded, otherwise it was deemed trash. The 'keep' pile consisted only of things she LOVED! My rule is if I have to think about it's value to me for more than 10-15 seconds, it's not worth keeping. I'm so proud of my mom. She got rid of TONS of stuff. 95% of those books were donated today. GO MAMA, GO!
3} After the piles were obvious, we bagged/boxed it all for transport. Immediately, it was easier to see what we had left to work with. Mom could feel the stress melting away. Haha, not really, but I like to think I have that affect on people. ;)
4} I began by placing items back into the cabinet. Items that were more unsightly went back in the cabinet. Sorry for the super dark picture, it didn't look this dark when I took it. Ugh. Anyway, I organized the cabinet as follows: top shelf: bin with paperwork to be sorted by my dad, and checks, middle shelf: candles, and picture frames, + bottom shelf: notebooks containing a variety of personal/business related info + her bill holder.
After the cabinets were finished, I moved on to the outer shelving, which is visible to the eye from other rooms in her house. I knew this needed to be the most pleasing to the eye because it's what you actually see. I filled the shelves mostly with special pictures/framed art and her favorite books. The books you see on the second shelves on both sides are the ONLY books she kept out of the 75+ that she started with! Progress, people, progress! She was also annoyed that I turned her books pages out She can't see the spines, so she thinks it's weird, but HELLO? Joanna Gaines, is that you? If you haven't seen the show Fixer Upper, do yourself a favor and look it up on Netflix ASAP. Because all of the books are different colors on the spines turning them pages-out makes them look more coordinated; it's more pleasing to the eye. I can't wait to see if she keeps them like this or not. Ha, my dad will probably turn them around. I also moved their printer/scanner into the bottom right shelf, which freed up the whole right side of the desk {where the printer was previously}. I kept it very simple and used all of her existing decor. What a difference!
So let's recap with a BEFORE + AFTER photo!
If decluttering overwhelms you, then you're part of the majority my friend! Even though I love it, it even overwhelms me sometimes. It's can be an extremely overwhelming process, as many people {such as my mom} have a hard time departing with anything remotely sentimental. Just remember, as a general rule, if you haven't used it, looked at it, or worn it in more than 3-6 months {and I mostly say this time frame for clothes to accommodate for seasons}, you can probably stand to part with it. When it comes to decluttering, creating clear cut piles {like I outlined above} and being strict about trash being trash will make all the difference! I caught my mom trying to get some items out of the "donate" pile today. DON'T BE LIKE MY MOM! If you said it could be donated, then donate it! If you put it in the trash, then it's trash! Don't second-guess, that's how hoarders are created!
I happen to love organizing and living a decluttered lifestyle. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every space in our home is organized strategically. It brings order, tidiness, and eliminates unnecessary stress. We have enough on our plates as it is, don't let clutter be "ONE MORE THING". If you just don't have a clue where to start, or you always start but end up feeling overwhelmed and end up QUITTING, don't! I can help! Shoot me an e-mail, a text {if we're close like that}, a DM on Instagram, a FB message, or a blog comment. I would LOVE nothing more than to help you. That being said, I am NOT a professional by any means, I just love living an organized lifestyle and love trying to help others do the same. My mom claims I have magic powers in this area. Hm...I think she's a little cray-cray, but she's my mama, so I'm not gonna' deny it. ;) Hope this has been helpful! As always, all feedback is welcome! XO!
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