By Maureen Humeniuk,
Real estate and travel agent
at Hawryluk Agency Inc.
I think everyone has a room (mine is the laundry room, kids’ rooms and closets; oh yes, and the garage!) that could be declared a natural disaster! These five steps below can be used to organize any room or space in your life.
Step One: Remove everything. This lets you see exactly the space you have to work with. Prepare to be shocked by the pile of stuff that came out of that space.
Step Two: Now that you can see the light of day, give that space a good cleaning from top to bottom. Follow with a fresh coat of paint. (A very good idea if you’re thinking of putting your home on the market for sale in the near future.)
Step Three: Separate the items you removed. Most people hate this step because it means you’re about to make some serious decisions. But there’s no way you could get all of this stuff back into the “space,” so buckle up and let’s get this job done.
Label three containers: “Keep,” “Sell or Donate,” and “Throw Away.”
Keep: Put only items into this bin that you have used or worn at least twice in the past year. Be brutally harsh. If it doesn’t fit today, it’s not likely to fit any time soon. If you have a rice maker that you have not used because you’re back to the pot-and-water method, get rid of it. If you have bikes in the garage that have been sitting there for years, get rid of them. If in doubt, do not put it into this bin.
Sell or donate: Clothes and other items that are not right for you (as evidenced by the fact that you never wear them) but still have a useful life for someone else should go into this bin. What you consider ugly may be perfectly acceptable to someone else. This is why now is the perfect time to do this. It’s not super hot out and this gives you time to organize for a profitable garage sale. If that’s not your cup of tea then take them to a consignment store or consider donating your good used items to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. You may get a tax break but more than that, you will feel good. Put all of these items in the garage or back of the car.
Throw away: I know this is a tough one. Your favourite this and your keepsake from a childhood memory; that kind of stuff can all accumulate into one big pile that might get looked at when you finally move at some point in your life. A super idea for sentimental stuff that really has no value is to take a picture. Yes. Take a picture of your kids’ drawings, or the Grade 2 project, or the A plus paper. Clothes and shoes that are worn out, hopelessly stained, broken or in some other state of calamity go into this bin: broken appliances, sports gear and outdated baby equipment, two-by-fours, plywood scraps and woods scraps from your last home renovation project. Garbage. Work quickly to ease the pain. Empty this bin often to keep the process moving.
Step four: Divide the “keep” bin by season, type and use. If possible, store out-of-season items in another place in your home. If your “Keep” box is on overload you may want to sub-divide into separate boxes with labels (i.e.: garage, kids’ rooms, kitchen, basement, etc.) Believe me, this helps because you’re going to find things in the bedroom that really belong in the garage, or you’re going to find stuff in the laundry room that should be in the kitchen.
Step five: Time to put everything away. Depending on what space you’re organizing there are quite of few projects on Pinterist, or the Internet, that are available to make yourself. Check your local buy-and-sell for used storage units, shoe racks, shelves or cabinets for the garage and laundry. Do your homework and see what’s out there to help you keep the space organized for the future so you do not have to do these five steps again. Or it may be time to invest in a sturdy closet organizer! Investing in a few good organizational pieces will make organizing your space, and keeping it that way, a snap.
And now it is time for me to step into the confessional booth. For the past nine months I have been dealing with the heartbreak of a completely unorganized, disheveled, mess of a house. Yes. And I am talking about since the day I moved back from Penticton last June. About three weeks ago I came to the end of my mental rope. Enough. This has to change. For those of you thinking these five steps may sound good but are totally unrealistic, I’m living them. Right now. And they’re working.
