Clutter: How keeping a handle on clutter can lead to a more organized home

When people accumulate too many possessions and don't organize them, it can lead to feeling overwhelmed. Instead of controlling the clutter, people can get to the point where it controls them. The key to homeowners taking back control is to declutter their homes so they can relax without the stress of a chronically messy house.

There are several ways to go about organizing clutter. Families who have limited time may wish to hire a professional cleaning or organizing service to help them. Whether they tackle the problem on their own or with professional assistance, the hardest hurdle to overcome is getting started. A child¡¯s playroom may look like such an overwhelming mess that parents would just prefer to shut the door and ignore it. While understandable, this approach will only make the clutter situation worse.

Home organizing experts recommend that homeowners gather all the supplies they will need ahead of time, such as garbage bags for the throw-away items and boxes for what is being kept. If starting in a large, messy room, start with one area and work counterclockwise. It may make the task seem less overwhelming if the person who is decluttering sets a goal for one area of the room each day. For example, day one could involve organizing the closet, day two the toy box, day three under the child¡¯s bed and so forth.

One thing that can make the decluttering process difficult is people¡¯s tendency to hold onto items they no longer need. As a rule of thumb, anything that hasn¡¯t been used in over six months can safely get thrown away. Another way to control clutter from forming in the first place is to get rid of one old thing for every new thing brought into the house.