Many people want to have an organized home without the clutter but they do not know how to go about getting rid of the clutter so it is frustrating. When a house gets to the point that it has too much clutter you end up spending so much time trying to de-clutter that you don’t get to the dusting or vacuuming. One is usually too tired to keep cleaning after all the time is spent on clearing away the clutter. But the good news is there are things you can do to control and organize clutter BEFORE it becomes overwhelming.

What clutter people’s homes the most is the piles of papers they have all over. Newspapers, mail, work papers, and the children’s school work easily become piles of paper around the house. There are a few ways you can organize yourself in order to avoid these stacks of paper cluttering up your home.

The mail and what to do with it is our first subject. Everyday when you get the mail go through it right away and the first thing you do is throw away the junk mail. The junk mail gets thrown in the trash before going back into the house for some people. Then the bills that need to be paid should be put in a “to do” folder. Some people create a space near the phone or computer desk to put a basket for all their to do papers or they have a drawer in the desk to put them in file folders. Then with the other papers you feel are important to keep you need to file them away right then and there and not wait for later. Clutter will remain if you wait until later because later gets here.

If you need to bring home work papers then you can use to same principle as mail with those papers. You can put your important papers in a file folder and then put your papers you need to do something about in another spot or folder.

To easily dispose of your newspaper you can place a bin next to your trash can under your kitchen counter. Once the newspaper is read then put it into the proper container. Then it is easy to take out both bins at the same time.

It is so easy for proud parents to get caught up in keeping every piece of paper their child brings homes from school. Those school papers soon turn into large piles that turn into clutter. Trying to keep the clutter down can be a challenge when you want to keep the school papers as keepsakes for your child’s memory book.A solution to this problem is to buy a box or container and keep it in a cabinet or closet close by. Then you can go through the kids schoolwork and determine which papers you really want to keep and put it in the bin. Instead of storing the large artwork and science projects you could take pictures of them and then throw them away. You can occasionally remove the papers from the closet and put them in a permanent place such as a larger box that can be kept in an attic or basement or even under a bed. This way you can organize clutter and still keep those precious memories that you and your child can look through and remember one day.

You have to get in the habit of asking yourself if the item that is cluttering your house is something you will use over and over again as you try to de-clutter and organize?” You MUST be honest with yourself though.Throw away anything you haven’t needed to use in a year because chances are you probably won’t ever need to use it again!You might consider giving your unused or unneeded articles to charity or you could have a garage sale to get fid of them. If you are not sure whether or not you should keep an item or not, store it for six months, and if you don’t use it in that time frame then get rid of it.

For your seasonal items purchase some large storage containers that can be stacked on top of each other and put them in an attic, basement, or garage. Always mark you storage containers well so that you will know what is in each one. No one needs the aggravation of having to search though every box to find the decorations they want. You will always know what is in the containers if you mark them well and you will also be able to find your items easily when you are looking for them. Remember if you see that their are stained, broken, or damaged items put them in the trash.

It may take some time to organize clutter around your house at first, but once you have set up a system and routine it will so easy to keep up the things that come into your home. Now enjoy your clutter-free environment!