Organizing

Yesterday a friend handed me this poem she found in a collection of Mary Oliver’s poems. It so perfectly sums up why we need to declutter.

When I moved from one house to another
there were many things I had no room
for. What does one do? I rented a storage
space. And filled it. Years passed.
Occasionally I went there and looked in,
but nothing happened, not a single
twinge of the heart.
As I grew older the things I cared
about grew fewer, but were more
important. So one day I undid the lock
and called the trash man. He took
everything.
I felt like the little donkey when
his burden is finally lifted. Things!
Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful
fire! More room in your heart for love,
for the trees! For the birds who own
nothing — the reason they can fly.

Maybe you don’t need to make an actual fire, but are you ready to get rid of the burden of years of stuff you no longer need?

What better way to make the holidays more relaxing than having an organized home? People are already busy during this time of year, though, so don’t try to take on too much all at once. Instead, just focus on a few areas that tend to be especially affected during the holidays: your holiday décor, the kitchen, and that mountain of toys in your kids’ playroom.

Holiday Décor and Supplies

As the holidays near, you’re probably getting ready to decorate your house. Before you get out your holiday decorations, look at what you currently have on your countertops and shelves. As you clear them to make room for your holiday decorations, let go of som

e of the candles, vases, and other knick-knacks you barely ever pay attention to or notice.

As you’re decorating, get rid of items you just don’t like anymore. It can be a lot harder to notice and appreciate special items when there are so many other items cluttering around them. Sometimes fewer is more meaningful, so save the things that you genuinely love and declutter the rest. Just because you loved that lighted snowman at one point doesn’t mean you like it still. Remove it from your house and it’s one less thing to have to pack up and store.

After you’re done decorating, look at what’s left that you didn’t put up. I bet you have some loose bulbs or strings of lights that don’t work, some broken ornaments, or some old Christmas cards. Ask yourself it you’re really going to ever put that up again. If you’re not sure or if the answer is no, then it probably should go. Now you have empty boxes ready to hold the decorations you do use and love.
When the holiday season

is over, go through all your items once more. Set some time aside to get rid of anything you used this holiday season that you don’t plan on using for the next one. You’ll most likely be sick of at least some of the décor, so it’ll be easier to go ahead and toss or donate those unwanted items now! And before putting your regular decorations back in their boxes, make sure you really want to keep them. Now’s the perfect time to take those items to the donation center.

Another item to consider getting rid of is old gift-wrapping supplies. Do you have small pieces of wrapping paper that you saved in case you have a small present to wrap? Or the bows that have been used so much they’re getting a bit crumpled? Get rid of them. You can recycle the wrapping paper; put it in the recycling bin today. Also, before buying more supplies, take stock of what you already have and decide on what you need and only purchase things you will actually use.

Catalogs

During the holidays, our mailboxes seem to fill up to the brim with catalogs. Since you’re getting so many of them right now and they’re in your mind, think about the ones you want to keep and cancel the rest. You can stop these catalogs from coming in by calling the 1-800 number provided in the catalog and asking the operator to remove your name from the mailing list. This generally only takes a couple of minutes. Or you can sign up with CatalogChoice. They will help you cancel the catalogs you no longer want to receive.

The Kitchen

Not only do the holidays fill your home with friends, family, joy, gifts, and decorations, but they also tend to fill your home with food! Declutter and simplify your kitchen before the holiday season so that hosting, cooking, and baking will be much easier and much more enjoyable.

When tackling your kitchen, there are two areas you’ll want to focus on:

First, you’ll want to work on clearing the flat surfaces in your kitchen, such as countertops and your dining table. Not only will your kitchen look better without all the clutter, but clear surfaces will also make cooking, serving, and cleaning so much easier. Once the flat surfaces are clean, go ahead and start working on the drawers and cabinets, one at a time. Figure out what you don’t use and see which items you have duplicates of.

Next, you’ll want to clear out the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Throw out anything that has expired and donate the things that are still good but that you know you won’t use. You can donate these food items to the food bank, so someone who needs it can use it for their holiday meals.

Whether you plan on hosting holiday gatherings or not, it’s still so helpful to declutter your kitchen before the holidays. Getting rid of all that extra stuff and organizing your kitchen just makes it so much more enjoyable to prepare food.

Kids’ Toys

Holidays mean gifts, and many gifts for kids end up being toys (whether they’re from you or the grandparents). Before bringing more toys into the house, decluttering the toys they already have is a good idea. Encourage your kids to declutter by telling them to make room for the new toys they’ll be getting as gifts.

Sometimes kids have trouble decluttering and need some extra guidance. You can always encourage them by telling them there won’t be room for anything new if they don’t let go of some of the things they currently have.
Start by going through the playroom and piles of toys with your kids. Since they know they’ll be getting gifts around this time of year, tell them that they need to make room for these new toys. The kids might have to make some tough decisions on what they want to keep and what they want to give away. Get rid of any toys that the children don’t love or play with anymore and toss the ones that are broken or are missing pieces.

As you help your children declutter, take note of what they do and don’t use, and pay attention to the things they easily let go of. This can help you figure out what you may want to buy for them during the holidays, and what you may want to avoid getting them. The process of decluttering will most likely make you more selective in what you’re willing to let back into your house in the future.

On the other hand, while decluttering your kids’ toys, you might realize that additional toys would be a burden. Instead of getting physical objects, you could consider gifting them experiences instead. Many favorite childhood memories come from what they do rather than what they have.

One of the best parts about purging toys, books, and clothes during the holidays is that the ones that are still in decent shape can be donated to someone else so that they can give their child a happy holiday. So decluttering is a win for everyone!

By starting kids on decluttering their toys during the holiday process every year, they are more likely to make this a habit throughout the rest of their lives.

Final Thoughts

When decluttering your home before the holidays, you’ll want to focus on three primary areas: your holiday décor, the kitchen, and your kids’ toys. Not only can decluttering give you more breathing room, but it also gives you the opportunity to donate those wooden spoons, cans of food, and old toys to people who need them. So, what are you waiting for? The holidays are coming up fast, and it’s time to start decluttering!

At some point, every parent who sends their kids off to college and out into the world will face a conundrum. Now the bedroom down the hall that was once filled with teenage belongings is empty, or at least feels that way. However, there is no reason for that valuable space to go unused! Make the most of your spare bedroom by remodeling it into something you’ll enjoy, and that the kids might even use when they come home to visit.

A spare bedroom has so much potential; you can do so many different things with it. You can hire a contractor crew for a dramatic remodel, or just get some new furniture and transform the room just as effectively. Before you start remodeling, have your kids stop by and grab any souvenirs or mementos from their former bedrooms. Once that’s out of the way, it’s time to start creating the room of your dreams!

Don’t know what to do with the spare space? Here are some ideas to inspire you:

Home Office

One of the most obvious first options is a home office (if you don’t already have one). Having a home office is great for a lot of reasons. For starters, you’ll start to feel more organized by finding places for those piles of documents and mail. You’ll also have plenty of space for the pens, receipts, and coupons that are scattered around the house. Lastly, you’ll have somewhere to work when you’re home, that isn’t the kitchen table.

Home offices are extremely popular, so if you don’t know where to start, don’t worry – there are thousands of spare bedroom to home office remodel ideas on the internet.

Dressing Room – The Ultimate Closet

So, you’ve been sharing your closet space for years, but it’s not really that great, is it? If you have a bunch of clothes, shoes, and accessories, do yourself a favor and build a dressing room that will become your new favorite closet. Are you having storage issues? Not anymore! Never again will you have to stuff those sweaters and huge winter coats into a small shelving unit or under the bed. And never again will you have to fight for who gets the closet first when getting ready for work.

When creating your dressing room, have fun, and get creative by putting up some rods and shelves, mirrors, accessory storage, and shoe storage. Also, consider getting a roomy chest with big drawers to hold lots of clothing. You may even want to add a vanity if you have nice lighting so that you can complete your look all in one room. If you’re looking to add a little more functionality to the room, you could even add a washer and dryer.

Library

Are you a bookworm? Consider turning your spare bedroom into a library. While a dedicated library may have been impossible with a full house, with an empty nest, it’s finally possible to create a quiet place to curl up with a good book. Spice up your home library with some soft blankets, comfy chairs, and reading lights. You can even add some warm personal touches by adding items like vacation souvenirs, family photos, and other keepsakes. Before you know it, this will become your favorite room in the house!

If you don’t want to take up the whole room for your library, you don’t have to. Add some shelves to one or two of the walls and fill them up with your books. This is a great way to share your favorite novels and provide reading material for your guests when they visit.

Exercise Studio

Home gyms are convenient and a great way to utilize your spare room, especially if you’re a fitness buff. Just think of all the money you’ll save on gym memberships by just having an exercise studio at home! Sure, you’ll probably have to spend money on some equipment if you don’t have any, but if you know you’ll use it, you’ll end up saving even more money in the long run.

If you’re not as big on fitness, but you’d still like to have a place to work out on occasion, just get some of the essential home gym equipment – like a exercise ball, treadmill or stationary bike, and some weights. At the very least, you’ll have privacy and won’t feel like you’re being judged when trying to figure out how to work that complex exercise machine at the gym!

Having an at-home gym can be enough motivation to get even the most sedentary person up and moving. It’s hard to come up with an excuse not to work out when you have a treadmill right down the hall.

Arts & Crafts Room

If you’re the crafty type, you probably know by now that you can end up with a lot of craft supplies. All those materials end up finding their way into every room throughout the house. Rather than trying to remember where you put those sewing needles or that wood glue, put it all in one room!

With craft rooms, you’ll need something to store and organize your items in and a solid space to work on, which will probably mean taking a trip to IKEA and looking at the shelves and tables. Once you’ve done a little planning and shopping, you can finally have a place to store your materials and keep up with the hobbies you love.

Meditation Room

If working up a sweat isn’t your thing, maybe you would enjoy a meditation room instead. Turn your spare bedroom into a quiet, calming, serene place to think, meditate, read a book, or even just take a nap. Jazz up your meditation room with some big, soft floor pillows, a daybed, some cozy blankets, and a portable speaker. Use soothing colors throughout the room and dimmer switches on the lights. Soon you’ll have the perfect place to relax and decompress.

Guest Bedroom

When remodeling your spare bedroom, the transformation doesn’t have to be major. Now that the kids are out of the house, you can take down their posters and put away their sports memorabilia and replace them with decorations of your choice for a guest bedroom. Guest bedrooms are great for when the kids come back home to visit or if you have other friends and family coming in from out of town.

If the bedroom has an attached bathroom, that’s great – but even if it doesn’t, that’s ok too. If you have multiple empty rooms to choose from, pick the one farthest from the master bedroom so that your guests can maintain their privacy.

Nursery or Children’s Room

If you have an empty nest but have become a grandma or grandpa, you could turn the spare bedroom into a nursery or children’s room. This is the perfect way to welcome your kids and their families when they come home for visits. Parents love to feel like their kids have a place to play without disrupting the household. You don’t need to go all out on a nursery or children’s room to make a place for the grandkids – just getting a portable crib or trundle bed and a few baskets of toys will do the trick.

Game Room

If you like to have fun playing Friday night poker, darts, pool, and board games, you might like the idea of turning the empty bedroom into a game room and bar! Have fun creating your game room and design it to fit the way you like to spend game night. One popular furniture trend for game rooms is a bar, even if you don’t particularly care for alcohol. Consider getting a bar or wine cabinet to store your favorite beverages and drinkware.

Conclusion

Your kid’s former bedroom doesn’t have to be preserved for them or for the sake of memories. Use this valuable extra space to create a room you’ll love and enjoy. If you need some ideas for transforming your spare bedrooms, the internet is full of inspiration. And if all of this seems like a lot to take on by yourself, don’t be afraid to ask for help. The first step is to declutter the old room to make space. A professional organizer can help with that and can help with organizing your new space to make it work for you. So, what are you waiting for? Go use that space to design the room of your dreams!