Home Organization and Decluttering Clutter - Books to Assist in Your Journey to Neatness

Decluttering and Tidying Up

With spring just knocking at our door – my mind is spinning with spring cleaning thoughts. Home Organization and Decluttering Clutter are very important to me. Now I get dusty baseboards – and light fixtures that need to come down way more often – but I LOVE CLEAN and I LOVE TO CLEAN!

I want to fill you in on a few great books that will help with your homemaking and decluttering goals!

“It’s Here SOMEWHERE” by Alice Fulton and Pauline Hatch.

Step 1 For Good Home Organization and Decluttering Clutter – PLAN Your Strategy For Your Cleaning Day

Alice and Pauline have a pretty good system for decluttering and getting organized. They suggest you go at it just like you’re organizing a group of women for a big community project.

You first assess the situation and see what all needs to be done.

You figure out if part of it can or needs to be delegated and if so how much and to whom.

You see if you need to get supplies in for your project… If you do, stop by the Container Store or the Dollar Store and pick those up.

You make a list of things you need to do and the order in which you need to do them.

You look over your list and see if you have it all down on paper just like you think you need it to assure that you are successful at this huge undertaking and then you plan the day you want to do this.

You’ll need an old set of work clothes – an apron would just be a huge benefit because it’s like a work uniform and will remind you that you are on a serious job!

You’ll need something good to put in the crockpot early that morning so when you do stop you’ll still have a good supper for your family already ready and waiting. Just think of how good it’s going to feel – when you sit down to a good supper with your spouse or family. The house is decluttered – the house feels warm and cozy and you have a good supper on the table. THEN you can concentrate on your spouse or family’s day. When the kids were small – we always loved to talk about their day at the supper table. What was the best part of their day? What was the worst part? The stories you will hear will make memories that will last a lifetime.

Make sure your timers and all supplies are gathered in one spot and you’re ready to take on your little corner of the world. I always love to carry my supplies around in a bucket and mine is just the utility bucket from the Dollar General Store. I keep in that bucket – my paper towels, a couple rags, Liquid Gold, my spray cleaner, and I just use a clean wet rag to shine glass, and I carry my little broom around with me because I love to sweep along the baseboards before I vacuum a room.

And then you just get up on that day and DO it! And what a super feeling it is – at the end of your work day.

"Home Organization and Decluttering Clutter - love, home and health"

The Sidetracked Sisters taught me Home Organization and Decluttering Clutter and CHANGED MY LIFE

The Sidetracked Sisters are Pam Young and Peggy Jones.

I’ve said many times that the Sidetracked Sisters changed my life way back in the 1970s. Now I’m not a perfect housekeeper by any sense of the word. But I learned from them just the kind of impression you’re giving when you allow your home to be cluttered.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression!” Don’t you want that first impression to be good?

THEY said that you should always keep things picked up and all clutter out of sight. The ideal is to always keep your home as surface clean as you possibly can. It really isn’t that hard – unless you’re just down right – bone lazy.

AND I felt the same way when our kids were young. We’d make a game out of them keeping their own things picked up and put away. THEY worked with timers. AND THEY WERE GOOD at it! They grew up playing “Beat the Clock” with tidying timers. Cleaning really can be tons of fun – and SO rewarding.

The Sidetracked Sisters believed your kitchen counters should always be clean and free of clutter and your sink should always be empty and shiny – and ours usually is.

Why let dishes mount up in that sink over the course of the day when you can wash and dry and put away as you prepare meals and snacks in seconds and always have your sink and counter empty and neat.