Just as your skin needs exfoliation to slough off the old and reveal the new, our homes could use some de-cluttering! Haven’t seen your counter in weeks…possibly months? It happens to the best of us! Read on for some organizing tips we found for you!

• You wash your face daily, right? Same goes with this tip – do one small organizational task daily, no matter how small. Clean out one drawer or the top tier of the spice rack. Just think: After a month, you’ll have checked off 30 things and it wasn’t done all at once!
• Hang two canvas totes, labeled REPAIR and DONATE, from hooks in the laundry room. Toss too-small, worn-out, and snagged clothes into the bags as soon as they come out of the dryer to keep from stumbling across these mini-projects all the time.
• Get a clutter buddy. You’re a better editor of someone else’s stuff. Help a friend clean out her closet and ask for her to repay the favor. Insist that you will allow each other to point out even the good intention clothes that need to find a new home. You know the “when-I-lose-five-pounds” skirt…yes, that one.
• Employ one system to help organize your favorite recipes. Recipe Nest (www.reciperelish.com) is a binder with six tabbed dividers that you can customize with your own categories, such as Grandma’s Secrets or Entertaining Menus. It’s nearly two inches deep, so there’s plenty of room for you to add your collection.
• Make yourself a YNK (you never know) box. Empty the contents of a drawer (a junk drawer or the kitchen utensil drawer) into a box. Then, every time you need one of the items, remove it from the box and return it to the drawer after you use it. After two months, whatever is still left in the box should be donated.
• Clean house like you were moving. Keep only those things you’d take if you relocated.
• Corral clutter where it lands. Keep containers near mess hot spots, such as the front door, the bedroom dresser, and the kitchen counter. Then empty them once in a while (or when they get full), put the items away, and start over.



We hope this inspires you to make some positive changes! We’d love to hear about your ideas or what has or has not worked for you in the past!