Home Organization: Five Part Series
In the third article of our five part series on home organization, written by Mara Clements of MoreSPACE, we roll up our sleeves and get sorting!
,Now we come to the fun part. Whether you’ve chosen a cabinet or an entire room, go ahead and clear a space on your floor to set up stations for your stuff. Have a large trash bag at one station for things you need to discard. Set up a large cardboard box for the things you want to donate. Put out a laundry basket to transport the things you want to keep, but don’t belong in that area/room. And finally, leave a space to collect the things you want to sell. Using labels or post-its will help you remember which pile is which.
Trash: If it’s stained, ripped, or broken and you know you won’t take the time to fix it, you have permission to throw it out! Examples: old linens, clothes, and accessories.
Donate: We’ll talk about this in detail in a couple weeks, but only donate things that are in good condition. Examples: clothes, craft supplies, books, household items like cookware and electronics, building items like paint, hardware, and tools (shout out to Lancaster Habitat Restore!).
Sell: Antiques, collectibles, electronics, furniture, jewelry, designer clothes and accessories. My friend Diane Levenson, owner of Diane’s Solutions, is the person to call if you have questions about what to sell and how. There are also several consignment shops in the area, like Next to New, that make it easy to make money on your unwanted clothes and jewelry.
If you chose a drawer, cabinet, or closet, dump it out, or clean it out so you start with a blank slate. If you’re up for it, now’s a great time to do a deep clean! If you chose a room, start at one corner, and take your time moving around the room as you begin sorting.
Remember, things are always going to look worse before they get better. Show me your process pics! Post on your social media page and tag me @morespace_organizing.
Next week come hard decisions… we’ll walk through the questions you need to ask yourself when deciding what stays and what goes. Stay tuned and check us out on Instagram @moresapce_organizing in the meantime, or online at www.MoreSpaceOrganizing.com.
Photos: Shelah Riley Photography