Clutter-Control Wisdom of the Ages

...a la Domino magazine. I love these--short and sweet.


1. Open mail over the trash or recycling bin, and conduct all of your bill-paying online.

2. Do a Daily 5-Minute Cleanup. Patrol hot spots throughout the house where stuff tends to gather, and make a quick sweep.

3. File newspapers and magazines once a week. If you haven't looked at something in two weeks, toss it.

4. Purge wire hangers monthly. Keep an eye on closets for empty hangers and return them to your local dry cleaner. (note: IKEA and Nordstrom Rack offer inexpensive wooden hangers to tidy up your closet)

5. Clear closets yearly. Give up the notion that your vintage jacket is an "important, possibly historic, piece". Take clothes you don't wear to the Salvation Army (or D.I., or Goodwill, etc.)

6. Arrange wardrobe by type. Sort clothes into categories (jackets, pants, etc.) and then colors, which will make dressing much faster.

7. Fold sheet sets inside one of the pillowcases, and store in the linen closet as a unit.

8. Don't over stuff drawers. Never let a drawer get more than 3/4 full or it will become a jammed mess.

9. Eliminate unused items in the kitchen. Go through cabinets and drawers, and collect never-used small appliances and utensils for Goodwill.

10. Make a list before you shop. Take stock of what you need in order to get things under control--more skirt hangers? another under-bed storage box?--and figure out where everything will go. Measure! (note: take that one step further and put paint swatches of your walls inside your wallet)

For more tips, see right hand column. I placed a few links permanently on the blog for perusing.