Organizing Tips

10 Steps to an organized kitchen

By Julie Stobbe / July 16, 2024 /

It can take between 5 -10 hours to completely reorganize a kitchen depending on the size of your kitchen and how much is in each storage space, cupboard, drawer and pantry.  Break the job into manageable tasks depending on the time you have to spend.  Start by decluttering each drawer and cupboard then begin the reorganizing process described here.    

Make an appointment with yourself and don’t cancel it.  Leaving this task until you have time will never get completed.

It will help you decide what to keep and what to give away.  You may decide you want to reduce what is in your kitchen by 50% so you know you need to give away half of your stuff.  You might want to be able to find things more easily so things need to be put in zones.  You might want to have a better flow to your kitchen so people don’t need to use the same space and keep bumping into each other.  To solve this problem, you might need to rearrange where things are located.  Decide what your goals are for your project.  Write them down.

Find a home for things that are piled on the counter, and decide if you need them to be stored in the kitchen. Items that are used infrequently can be stored in a basement or garage. Once your counters are clear it helps you psychologically to keep going because you can see progress. Also, it gives you space for the next steps in organizing your kitchen.

a Kitchen with an island and the counters are completely empty.

These steps 4, 5 and 6 will need a lot of time.  Make sure to set a day and time for this task. Take everything out of all the cupboards. Group items that have a like use or purpose together.  Food preparation items, baking items, dishes and glasses, appliances, food, spices etc.

For this step, you need some boxes or bags. Don’t leave the kitchen to take things to other places you might not get back to finishing the job. 

  • One container is for things you can donate.
  • A second container is for things that go to another room.  Perhaps you keep some items in your garage or basement.  
  • A third box might be for things to return to other people. 
  • A fourth box might be for undecided.  You can’t make up your mind right now and you don’t want to get stalled on deciding about the item.  Leave that decision for later.

You have grouped items in step 4 and in step 5 you have decided what you can part with. Look again at how many things you have in each group and decide if you need, love and use them.  What can you let go of?

Divide your kitchen into zones/centres that are appropriate for your family.  Here are some suggestions.

  • The meal preparation centre is the home for items needed to prepare and cook food – cutting board, knives, bowls, graters, pots, pans, casserole dishes, strainer, etc.
  • The drink centre contains coffee, tea, hot chocolate, drink mixes, cups, glasses, sugar/sweetener, coffee maker, kettle, teapot, etc.
  • The dish centre contains dishes and cutlery and should be near the dishwasher for fast and easy unloading.  Aim to store items at an age-appropriate height so children can participate without needing assistance.
  • The baking centre contains food items and utensils specifically for baking – spices, flour, nuts, chocolate chips, spatulas, cookie sheets, casserole dishes, pie plates, cake pans, rolling pin, flour sifter
  • Establish a recycling/garbage centre for easy collection.
  • The desk/paperwork centre, located near the telephone, charging center or computer, holds recipe books, notepaper, and a whiteboard or bulletin board.
  • The linen center contains small cloth items you use regularly, pot holders, tea towels, dishcloths
  • The paper products center holds plastic wrap, tin foil, parchment paper, napkins, plastic bags
  • The children’s zone contains dishes and snacks so children can get their things with less help.
  • The cleaning center should be located so it is out of reach of small children and pets.   

Decide where to locate each of these zones in your kitchen.  Write down your zones and where each one is located.  Plan it out and work your plan.

From step 5 you can take each of your groups of items and place them in the correct area/zone/center in the kitchen. 

Every kitchen needs one miscellaneous drawer.  It contains small tools and items to which you need quick access in the kitchen – screwdriver, tape, twist ties, scissors, pen, marker, etc. Don’t let it become the dumping ground for items you don’t want to organize or two or three drawers.

Divide your fridge into zones. Have a place for fruit, vegetables, drinks, cheese, meat, bottles, condiments and leftovers.  If you have zones it is easier to prepare your shopping list.  When you have zones, it is easier to see what food needs to be used before it goes bad.  Save yourself money by organizing your fridge and reducing food waste.

A women looking into a fridge that is organized by zones.

If needed, rearrange items so that they are easy to get at and use. Don’t get stuck thinking you can’t change things to a better place.  

Any food you no longer need can be donated to your local food bank.  Make sure it is not expired. Donate any kitchen items you no longer need to a local charity.

There are 3 ways I can assist you.

  • Book a virtual organizing appointment and we can do it together. I’ll be in your kitchen with you watching you through your computer, phone or tablet and helping you with the process. https://mindoverclutter.ca/virtual-organizing-services/
  • If you’re having trouble making changes to your kitchen book a coaching appointment to discuss how to reduce your fears with making changes. https://mindoverclutter.as.me/organizingsession
  • If you live in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada book an in person session for us to work together in your kitchen. 

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

10 tips to keep your entryway organized

By Julie Stobbe / May 28, 2024 /

Reading time – 5 minutes

Controlling the clutter at the entrance to your home can be a nightmare. With many people using the same area and all having different organizing styles clutter can develop.  Together decide on what will be stored near the doorway and how it will be stored.  When everyone knows the plan, everyone can participate in keeping the entryway clutter-free and organized.

Stylish hallway interior with large mirror and shoe rack

Place hooks low enough that everyone can hang up their coats, sweaters, and jackets. By mounting some hooks higher and others lower you will have more space available. Decide if you want to put in permanent hooks or ones that can be easily moved. 3M makes several styles of hooks that are easy to move.

Colorful clothing and bag on metal coat hooks, on a white wall.

Establish a space, that can be reached without help, for each person’s backpack or gym bag.  This could be a shelf, cupboard or hook.

Have enough space near the door for shoes that are used regularly.  Buy stackable shoe racks and use vertical space efficiently.  When selecting the shelf, make sure it is strong enough to hold the shoes’ weight. If you have people with large feet the shelf will need to be deeper. A size 11 or 12 shoe needs more space than a size 7 shoe. Look at the space between the shelves. Is it tall enough to hold boots? Footwear worn occasionally should be stored elsewhere and brought out as needed.

A variety of colorful shoes, neatly ordered on a plastic shoe rack outside a wooden house.

Have a place for seasonal hats, gloves and scarves.  A hanging shoe organizer is ideal for this purpose.  Put regularly worn hats, scarves and pairs of gloves into the pockets, where you can easily see each item and quickly select what you need.   Storing hats, mitts and scarves directly with a jacket also helps to keep everything together. During the warmer months put sunscreen, insect repellent, sunglasses and hats in the pockets of the shoe organizer.

Over the door hanging shoe organizer with mesh pockets

Have a basket to collect mail, newspapers, and schoolwork as you enter the home.  It will keep all the paperwork in one place and you can easily take the basket to your work area to quickly sort it and deal with items. Red can be a good choice. It is eye catching and the colour gives a feel of urgency.

A red plactic basket

Do you need a garbage can and recycling bin near the entryway?  Some people do and some people don’t. It helps to keep the area clean.  Garbage from the car, a backpack, a gym bag or a snack can be easily tidied up and not left lying around.  I saw this wastebasket with  4 compartments on one of my trips.

A plastic garbage can with an X divider creating 4 compartments for plastic, waste, paper and glass and cans.

It is tempting to store keys, phones and purses near the door.  Don’t do it.  Find a more secure location for those items so no one picks them up and walks away with them when you’re distracted.

It is nice to have a place where a person can sit to put on their shoes or boots. Have a stool that also has storage space.  It can be a good place to put a blanket for sitting outside when it gets cool, cushions for chairs, small toys for children or pet supplies.

An orange ottoman to sit on and use for storage.

Add a deacon’s bench, buffet, or dresser that is sitting around your home.  Place it by your entryway to provide additional storage at no additional cost.

Declutter your entryway often.  Place items back in their correct storage place, let go of items you no longer need, store off season items way from the entrance and remove garbage and recycling.

Book a virtual organizing appointment and work with Julie to get your entryway working well for you. Click here for more information about Virtual organizing services

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

Quick declutter challenge week 8 – your mind

By Julie Stobbe / May 21, 2024 /

 Previous challenges

Over  8 weeks the quick declutter challenge has encouraged you to declutter your cosmetics, bedroomsdining room, livingroom, office, clothing and holiday decorations.  You can complete the challenges in any order and at any time. Schedule 15 minutes a day and start decluttering your home. The challenge is finishing with the most important declutter – your mind.

What’s on your mind? 

One of the ways to realize how much is on your mind is to do a brain dump.  Take a piece of paper/open a document and write down everything you need to do, everything you are responsible for and upcoming events.  The list might contain:

Household chores – groceries, meal planning, making lunches, cleaning, laundry, lawn care, car care, house maintenance.

Your schedule – working hours, exercise time, picking up and dropping off children, meetings, social events, medical appointments, dental appointments

Yearly events – birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacations, visiting/hosting family events, graduations

Work schedule – travel, meetings, presentations, office hours, networking

Family’s schedule – homework help, music lessons/practice, chores to complete, picking up/dropping off children, bedtime routines, fun times, taking care of parents

Make your list and then sort it by what happens daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.  Once you transfer all these thoughts to a document it will help to declutter your brain.  You can plan for each week, month and year and not get overwhelmed by forgetting things, trying to remember everything or planning too many activities at one time. With all the regular tasks organized you have room in your mind for dreams, goals and aspirations. You can soar.

Expectations

There are 2 types of expectations.  The ones you put on yourself and the ones you think others are setting for you.  No one is perfect. Set realistic expectations that you can achieve. You have a limited amount of time and energy.  Decide how you want to use it. Hire help for tasks you can’t do, delegate tasks to others, and decide what tasks are best for you.

Enjoy decluttering your mind

A blue square with a white circle containing a list of 7 things to do to declutter your mind.

If you need help with time management book a virtual appointment with me. julie@mindoverclutter.ca 

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

4 tips for a better organized livingroom

By Julie Stobbe / May 14, 2024 /

Reading time – 5 minutes

After you have completed your living room quick declutter, it is time to organize the room.  Here are 4 easy tips.

  1. Decide what your living room will be used for and create areas for each activity – watching TV, listening to music, reading, entertaining, office/desk work, or relaxing. Start with a quick declutter of the room.
View from living room out onto patio with outdoor kitchen and barbecue.  Stylish modern living.

2. Use task lighting as needed for each activity.  Floor lamps, table lamps, wall-mounted or ceiling lights help to make the room perfect for any task.

Graphis of differeent types of lights, ceiling, floor lamps , desk lamps

3. Additional hidden storage can be added to the room, such as an ottoman or footstool with storage, a chest, or a coffee table with shelves or drawers.  The space behind a couch is great for storing flat items such as pictures or dining room table leaves.  Bookcases or floor-to-ceiling shelves can be used to decorate a wall and store items.

A  square orange ottoman  with a removable lid.

4. Too many pictures?  Instead of trying to hang them all, rotate them each season.  It will give your walls a facelift.  Storing your pictures behind your couch is a great way to keep them handy but out of sight.

Pictures in frames hanging on an old wall

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

Quick declutter challenge Week 7 – holiday decorations

By Julie Stobbe / May 7, 2024 /

Reading time – 5 minutes

Why this challenge now?

You might be thinking this is a strange time of year to write about holiday decorations. Isn’t it too early?  Is it too late?  There have been many special days celebrated this year, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, Passover, Family Day birthdays and anniversaries.  There are many upcoming long weekends to celebrate in the summer and graduations.  The fall and winter bring the holidays with the most decorations, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, celebration of light, Hannukah and many other special days.

Build good habits

This declutter challenge will help you build a habit of examining what decorations you need.  Every time you get some out for any occasion evaluate if you like them, if they are in good repair or if it is time to reduce.

If you have time look at the paper plates, napkins and glasses you are storing. It is easy to have a few things left over after each celebration that add up to clutter. Use them up at a picnic.  It will be a good conversation starter, remember when we had this party…….

Are you sentimental?

Letting go of decorations can be difficult for sentimental people.  The items may have been made by your child, created by a friend or bring back special memories.  Keep a few of those decorations.  You don’t need to keep all of them.  You will still have the memory of the event and the love and friendship of others when you pass on items you no longer need and find a good home for them.

Is it time to change?

Over time your focus on celebrating will change and so will your need for decorations. Take the time to donate your unneeded things so others can enjoy them.

Tell me about your interesting holiday decorations

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

 

 

 

 

Share this:

Quick declutter challenge week 6 – clothing

By Julie Stobbe / April 24, 2024 /

Reading time – 5 minutes 

The quick declutter challenge is on week 6.  The other challenges were to declutter cosmetics, bedrooms, livingroom dining room and office quickly.

It is said that we use 20% of things we own 80% of the time.  This leaves 80% of our stuff that we seldom use. For example, do you have a certain style of pens you like and don’t use the rest of the ones in your drawer? You receive lots of newsletters and only read 2 or 3 of them. Do eat the same thing for breakfast most days leaving cereals to go stale or fruit to rot?

Look at your closet, are there clothes you wear a lot?  Outfits you love?  Items that never seem to get selected? This time of year is good for decluttering your clothes.  The types of clothing you wear will be changing with temperature changes. As you reorganize your closet look at the 80% of your clothing you seldom wear and donate them.

Start with a quick declutter of your clothing.

A blue square with a white circle instide containing a list of 9 types of clothing items to remove from your closet

Most times when you are decluttering clothes you find a lot of items in your closet that are not related to your wardrobe. If you have time and energy you can continue with your project organizing your closet so you can quickly find what you need.

If you need help with the quick declutter challenges book a virtual organizing session with me.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

 

Share this:

5 Bathroom organizing tips

By Julie Stobbe / April 16, 2024 /

Reading Time – 5 minutes

The bathroom is a high traffic area used by many people in a home. Use the storage spaces well. Think about wall space and if a cabinet or over the toilet stand can be added. Is there space beside the toilet to add a slender cabinet for towels or toilet paper and Kleenex? There are over the cabinet door products to hold blower dryers and flat irons. Before organizing your bathroom you might want to do a quick declutter to remove unneeded and unwanted items. Next, use these 5 tips to make your bathroom function better and safely.

A cartoon graphic of a well organized bathroom with 2 sinks, bath tub and storage.

1. Have a drawer for each person who uses the bathroom to store his or her toiletries and cosmetics.  If you don’t have the space to store items in the bathroom, give each person a basket to transport their things to and from his or her bedroom, where the basket is stored.

2. Purchase under-sink storage shelves or baskets to make good use of this under-utilized area. It can be a difficult area to organize because of the pipes under the sink and it is a very deep cabinet.

2 tier freestanding white shelf to use under a sink
A 2 tier brown shelf with a larger bottom and a half shelf on top to fit beside the plumbing under the sink.

3. If medications are stored in the bathroom, safely store them where small children and pets can’t gain access. If you have expired medications take them to your pharmacy to be recycled. Most pharmacies want the pills removed from the packaging and placed in a plastic bag. All the medication can go in one bag.

4.  Store cleaning supplies safely, out of the reach of children and nearby so you can do quick clean-ups.

5.  Add hooks or towel bars to the walls or over-the-door racks/hooks to hang and dry towels after use.  Not enough room in the bathroom?  Install hooks or bars in the bedrooms.  This will keep towels off the floor, neat and clean. This Ikea towel bar has 3 bars that swing out from the wall. It gives lots of space for towels and doesn’t need much wall space.

One wallmounted towel bar with 3 rods for hanging towels that swings out from the wall.
Wall mounted towel bar

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

Quick declutter challenge 5 – office

By Julie Stobbe / April 9, 2024 /

Decluttering is an important process to help free up space and gain a feeling of control in your life reducing stress, anxiety and overwhelm.  Having only what you use, need and enjoy in your life gives you more time, energy and finances to create a life full of meaning, joy and new relationships. Let’s get started.

As you move through your office looking for the 9 things on the list to declutter remember to make decisions quickly and move quickly around the room.   You might get distracted by clutter that is not on the list.  Make a note of other things you would like to organize.  Making a list to do later will help you refocus your mind on the task at hand.  Offices usually have a lot of paperwork to sort, file, shred or recycle. Complete that another day.

a room full of papers flying in the air

If you don’t have a designated office space look around your home for the items on the list.  Consider collecting them all together and creating a portable office.  Have a bin, basket, caddy, or rolling cart where you can store all your office supplies and then move it to where you are working and then store it away.

Here is the list of challenges  1-4. Join in at any time and do them in any order.

Quick challenge 1 -cosmetics

Quick challenge 2 – Bedroom 

Quick challenge 3 – Dining room

Quick challenge 4 – Livingroom

a white circle on a blue square listing 9 things to declutter in your office

Tell me what unexpected items you found in your office.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

 

Share this:

4 organizing tips for getting rid of piles of paper

By Julie Stobbe / April 3, 2024 /

It is important to handle paperwork promptly. Missing deadlines for paying bills cost you money. Late responses to family and colleagues’ inquiries create concern or hostility. Losing important papers costs you time recreating or searching for them. Here are some tips to help you build a system to deal with your paperwork as soon as it arrives.

A lovely colleague sent me this first tip.  Marie Mushing runs a networking group called People in Connection. See what working with a professional organizer can do for you? Professional Organizers rub out junk. Where there was once chaos and huge piles of paper, is now a showcase. Thank you Julie! Replace the junk pile with something pretty as I did, then you won’t want to pile junk on that again. Great motivation to keep the filing done!

If you have an empty flat surface it sometimes  calls to people, “to fill me with stuff.” To prevent that area from becoming cluttered, put a large object or two in that spot.  It will make the area feel full and then you won’t drop things there.  With only 2 larger objects, it is easy to pick them up dust and clean.  If you use a number of smaller items it may make the area harder to clean and look cluttered.

Assign a place to put papers that need to be read, filed, signed etc.  Place a tray, lovely baskets, eye catching red container etc in a convenient location. Why red?  Red is a high energy colour, it increases your heartrate, and your eye is drawn to red items.  By using a red basket it can help to make dealing with paperwork a high priority activity.  Keeping paperwork consolidated in one spot makes it easier to find and work with.  When paper is all over the office or house it becomes visual clutter, causing anxiety, releasing cortisol and you feel stress.  Cut the visual clutter, collect the paper in one spot, and complete the tasks.

Piles of paper will continue to build up if you leave them for later.  Later will never come.  Schedule time to deal with paperwork: schedule time to read, file, and reply to paperwork that generates more work.  Schedule these activities according to your level of energy at different times of the day.  Scheduling reading after lunch at a low energy time of the day may not be productive but scheduling filing after lunch may be perfect because it gets you up and active. Scheduling time at the beginning of each day to concentrate on work generated by email, letters, and documents might work well when you are able to focus on single tasks.  Remember not to multi-task.

If you’re interested in learning how colour can affect your productivity, this guide is free and you can find it here.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this:

Quick declutter challenge 4 – Livingroom

By Julie Stobbe / March 26, 2024 /

The challenge started with cosmetics, continued with bedrooms, and then the dining room.  You can join the challenge anytime and do it in any order. Remember to work quickly for 10 – 30 minutes going around the space and collecting items you no longer need, use or love.  Use music to motivate you and a timer to help you stay on task.

Donating and recycling

Many items can be recycled, batteries, pens and markers, and printer cartridges at Staples.  Habitat for Humanity takes building supplies and old electronics for recycling.  Check with thrift stores in your area.  They take household goods, clothing, toys and furniture. Books can be donated at Value Village.

Selling

You may want to sell some items, look at Facebook Marketplace, consignment stores, Kijiji and Craigslist. When selling items to strangers, meet them in a public place and have someone with you.  It is the time of year when you can do yard sales.

The Challenge

This challenge can be applied to your family room, living room and recreation room.  Get everyone involved and make the quick declutter challenge go faster.

A white circle on a blue background with a list of 9 things to declutter.

In the comments let me know what interesting things you discovered. 

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

 TwitterFacebook Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Share this: