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“This is it … this is finally the year I am going to get organized!” Going into the new year, you may have big plans to finally get your cluttered house under control. You dream of freeing up space and finally having room for new things—but then you look around at the pigsty in your living room or bedroom, and you wonder how you can ever achieve your goal when you do not even know where to begin.

How to Start Organizing a Messy House: Declutter

If you are reading to start organizing your life and your home, you need to begin with one simple step: decluttering.

Online, you can download a decluttering your house checklist, or you can create one yourself. Either way, it is time to have a clearout. It is best to start small so that you do not get overwhelmed. Pick a shelf or a drawer, go through it, and get rid of what you no longer need.

The best thing to do with the stuff you no longer need is to take it to the thrift store and donate it. There are other people who would love to have the possessions you have no use for. Even items which you think are very old or worthless may have value to someone else. This includes clothing with minor tears and flaws and other items which may not be in pristine condition. Only if something cannot be repaired should you recycle it.

As to organizing, that is the step you take after you declutter—there is no point in organizing stuff you are not going to be keeping.

To get started, you should purchase some organizing supplies, particularly cheap plastic storage bins. A few large stacking bins as well as some smaller totes are generally all you need to consolidate and sort your items.

I recommend that you organize just one room at a time. Moreover, you should start with one section of a room. If you give yourself just 15 minutes a day to organize, and you do that several times a week, you will slowly but surely start reducing your clutter and consolidating your possessions. So one day you might do the junk drawer in your room, the next day you might tackle your sock drawer, and the next day you might just do the shoes in your closet, and so on.

How do you decide what order to organize in? You could start with the worst eyesores, or you could begin with areas which you know you will make great use of if you could just get them de-cluttered. However you decide to do it, slow and steady is the key. A mess you have created over a period of years is not going to vanish in the blink of an eye. If you can turn organizing into a simple, everyday habit, you will eventually accomplish your goals. By this time next year, you could be living in a neat, tidy, beautifully organized home!