I LOVE this time of year – open the windows – the fresh air filling up the house.    I also LOVE spring cleaning… NOT the actual work of it, but I love the finished product.  Every year my town has a “junk day” – for $ 75 you can put whatever you want out at the curb… and the town picks it up.  So as May starts to approach I start taking apart closets and our deep dark secret “the utility room” in the basement (basically the catch all room for the entire year – seriously where does all the stuff come from ???)

With a little inspiration from Good Things for Organizing by Martha Stewart Living here are some tips for clearing the clutter…

• Start Sorting – Begin with the bedroom, then work your way to the rest of the house (I try to do one room every few days) pull everything out – put items into three piles 1) Things to Keep 2) Things to Get Rid Of and 3) Things that Fall In Between (I always have alot of these – I usually spend about 15 minutes staring at this pile)
• Make Decisions – Look at the items in the third pile – ask yourself a few questions – how long have you had it, does it still work, last time I wore it, etc.  By the end of this process you should be working with 2 piles (to keep & to giveaway)
• Lose The Excess – Decide where your get rid of pile goes – Charity, friends or family, discarded or maybe even choose to sell.
• Stick to A Schedule – Give yourself a deadline and stick to it – try to be realistic – we are all busy 
• Follow Up – Set aside time to go through the same process once or twice a year.

For the giving away – I usually give household items to a local organization that helps families that are getting off welfare and are getting new apartments, for books – I usually give to them to our local library for their big book sale, and clothing – either the local Police Athletic League Clothing Drive or I have pinpointed certain friends with kids who are younger then mine and they LOVE hand me downs….

If the whole process is overwhelming – start slow and remain positive ! Less Clutter = Less Stress…. YOU can do it…

If you have any tips or other ideas let us know….

To help with the whole process don’t forget to enter our Method Home Giveaway, also be on the lookout next week for another great giveaway from another “Green” Company….

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