Part One: Organize My Life

Here’s my plan of action for getting my house- and my life- in ship shape!
a.    Purge, purge, purge! It’s very important to begin with this step.  It’s so much easier to focus when your surroundings are and your life is uncluttered.  Look around you, and look within.  Are there things that you could live without? We’ve already begun a LARGE donation pile in our guest room.  Clothing, décor items, furniture, unused paper items, shoes, accessories, tools, you name it- it’s in that pile.  We do this about every six months. I’m always surprised when I end up throwing out something that I was so adamant about keeping only a few months ago!  But really. Do I need another green glass bottle? No. Or three tan purses? *sigh* No, I guess not… and what about that skirt that I bought just one size too small to encourage myself to lose weight so that I could wear it. Do I need that? Um, I’m gonna say no. Into the pile they go.

Okay, the dog stays… <3

Other things to go? Habits.  Like my soda habit that I’ve somehow developed. I don’t even LIKE all that sugar! And my afternoon tv habit? Forget it. I’m much more productive without it! (Okay maybe not completely without it. Glee is very important!).  Once the shelves are empty, it’s much easier to get the rest of my “for keeps” piles into order.

b.    Have the right tools This might seem obvious, but I really think this is something people don’t realize. It’s VERY hard to be organized without the proper tools.  What are those tools? Buckets, baskets, bins, bowls, and hooks! Here are a few items I’ll be picking up to help me on my mission
Shoe racks/ slots You guys would be totally shocked if you saw the state in which I keep my shoes… in fact, you probably wouldn’t believe it. It’s pretty close to accessory abuse. I’ll be sure to post before and afters once the closet is all cleaned up.  I’m definitely going to need a shoe organizer of some kind!
Boxes for stashing papers and magazines I have an impressive collection of magazines. I’m pretty good about throwing away any ‘zines that I won’t use in the future, but that still leaves me with TONS of home décor rags.  Handy slots like these will make hiding my magazine habit much easier!

via Real Simple

Bins for organizing décor items We have a closet in our hallway that we use solely for small décor items that are out of season or simply not being used at the moment. Currently, the shelves are in a state of disarray. I’d like to have some plastic bins to wrangle the clutter.
Basket/ tray for mail Our mail ends up everywhere. Our mailbox is by the front door, but we enter the house through the garage, so there’s no telling where the mail will be dropped between the mailbox and the garage door! Having a designated spot to drop things as soon as we walk in the door will help keep us organized- and magically help us remember to pay those bills!

c.    Discriminative shopping So now that you know how to get rid of clutter, and organize the items you want to keep, how to stay organized? Discriminative shopping! There comes a time in every woman’s life when she has to look at herself in that three-way full-length mirror and say, “I really don’t need another pair of jeans/ little black dress/ pair of heels/ vase/ vinyl wall decal/ candle/ v-neck sweater/ Ed Hardy t-shirt.” (in fact, just go ahead and get rid of any Ed Hardy t-shirts you may already have. No one needs any of those…) When you’re out shopping- for anything- ask yourself this question: Do I love it? And then ask yourself another question, “Okay, but do I LOVE it?” And finally, ask yourself, “But do I really looooooove it?” you’ll be surprised at how many times you catch yourself feeling just mediocre about a purchase.

here

So that’s the plan. Let’s see how well I stick to it!

What are your resolutions?!

xo,

Chels