Organizing Challenge - Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the Spring Organizing Challenge!! How did last week’s challenge go?? Comments? Questions? Issues??

This week you are challenged to focus on your gift stockpile. You know, the bags of or piles or gifts that you purchased for someone else? If you don’t have one, read on, you might want to start one. I work with so many clients who, as we organize their homes, find items they purchased for loved ones, but then lost in the chaos. This seems to be a common issue as people don’t have a storage plan for this type of item. If this sounds familiar, read on:

1. Designate a space in your house for gift storage. Use a shelf in your closet, a section or your garage of a part of your basement.
2. Make a list of all the people you buy gifts for throughout the year.
3. Measure your space and divide that by the number of people you buy for. You can use paper bags, plastic containers or whatever works for your space. Label each bag/box with the name of one of your recipients. Don’t forget to leave an extra box/bag for miscellaneous gifts. These would be random hostess gifts, children’s birthday gifts, etc.
4. Walk around your house and garage and collect all the gifts that you have purchased for others. 99% of my clients have these scattered around. You know, the great book you found on sale that you know your mother will love for her birthday? Or the cute toy you found on clearance that you can use for someone’s special day.
5. Now put the gifts in the appropriate bags. If you have items left over that you no longer see as appropriate, make a pile for donating.
6. Get yourself in the habit of putting any items purchased in their bag/box immediately. When the holidays or birthdays roll around, all you have to do is go to that person’s box and wrap up what you have for them.

Here are the benefits:

• You will reduce clutter around your house by keeping all these items in one, organized area.
• You will save money because you will not forget that you already had something for Aunt Mildred and buy a second gift. You will also not overbuy for an individual because you will know exactly what you have for them.
• You will be environmentally-friendly because you are using what you already have rather than consuming more.
• You will save yourself a lot of last minute stress when holidays and birthdays come up because you will know exactly where all the gifts you purchased are.

Remember – share your thoughts!!! We all want to hear what you did, how it went, challenges you faced, etc. Good luck and have fun!!

Meagan Farrell, professional organizer, is the owner of Clear the Clutter organizing services. She can be reached at (360) 631-7268 or at clear_theclutter@yahoo.com. Check out her blog at http://cleartheclutterprofessionalorganizing.blogspot.com/

Keeping Clutter Out

How about this for a New Year’s resolution – keep the clutter out. You should guard your home against clutter like you guard it against dirt. People worry about keeping their home clean, yet they don’t hesitate to fill it full of un-necessary stuff. Here are some tips for safeguarding your home:

1- Don’t buy it. How often do you find yourself in a store’s clearance aisle thinking “I am not sure what I could do with this, but at this price, I will think of something!” Stop right there. Why are you willing to pay (even if it is only 75 cents) to add to your clutter??? Walk away.
2- Don’t keep it. It is during the holidays that we get so much stuff – often stuff we don’t need, won’t use or just don’t like. Return it if you can. Give it to Goodwill or have a garage sale. Or you can even make it fun and have an exchange with friends where everyone brings stuff they don’t want and swap with each other. No matter how you do it, get it out of your house. If you put it away, chances are really high that it will stay there, taking up valuable storage space and a small piece of your sanity.
3- Give it a temporary home. If you get a gift that you just don’t want/need, but you feel like you owe it to the giver to hold on to it, give it a temporary space in your home. For example, if your mother-in-law gave you a sweater that you just don’t like/doesn’t fit, but you feel like you need to keep it, only do so for the season. After sweater season is over, you can clean out your sweaters and let it go. She won’t expect to see you in it in July and by the following year, she will be focused on what she gave you this year, not last.

The bottom line is that you are in charge of what lives in your home and takes up your valuable space. Don’t be afraid to be selective.


Meagan Farrell, professional organizer, is the owner of Clear the Clutter organizing services. She can be reached at (360) 631-7268 or at clear_theclutter@yahoo.com. Check out her blog at http://cleartheclutterprofessionalorganizing.blogspot.com/