A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how I clean my house:
In that post, I noted that Step One is "put everything back where it goes." I also noted that this can be hard to do when some things do not have a designated Place Where They Go.
Here's how to make sure everything in your house has a Place Where It Goes. At least, this is how I did it. There are lots of methods out there. Mine is heavily influenced by KonMari, because that's what worked for me.
Note you will NOT need organizing bins or containers at this stage. You might later. Or not! The point is that you don't know yet. You won't know what you need to organize your Stuff until you know what Stuff you have left after you get rid of the Stuff you no longer want or need.
The KonMari method starts with clothes. I like this as a starting place because clothes are (a) easy to identify and (b) finite. You know when every stitch of clothing you own is in one pile, for example.
We'll start with clothes as the example. You could probably also start with a kitchen junk drawer or something, idk. I always start with clothes.
Grab every stitch of clothing you own. Underwear, outerwear, fancy wear, sleepwear, in-between wear. Shoes, too. Dump it all in a pile in your work place.
Yes, you need to pull it all out. Do this with EVERY THING you organize. Organizing the junk drawer? Dump it all on the kitchen table. Books? Stack 'em in the middle of the floor.
GET THE STUFF OUT OF ITS CONTEXT. We can't see our stuff clearly when it's in the same place it always is - the place where we have trained our brains to overlook the crap in search of the one thing we actually want or need. We CAN see it clearly when it's in a new context, such as in a pile on our bed, table, or living room floor.
Also, you are now motivated to organize it. Nothing says "I need to finish organizing my clothes" like "or else I will have to sleep on the pile."
Once you have a pile of Stuff You Are Organizing Today, it is time to ask The One Question. The Question That Will Solve Your Clutter Problem Forever. that question is....
Apologies to Marie Kondo, but "does this spark joy?" never worked for me. Emotional attachment to objects is how teen me ended up as a packrat in the first place.
Pick up one thing from the work pile. Ask yourself, "What if I just didn't have this?" Imagine it gone. Not throwing it away, not giving it away - just vanished. Poof.
How do you feel about that?
For me, this is an instant tell for most things. Do I feel sad because I would miss the item? Frustrated because I need it and I'd have to go buy another one? Relieved because I don't want to deal with it anymore? Thrilled because I never wanted it in the first place? There's my answer.
Occasionally I will have mixed feelings. I usually keep these items, sometimes in a box for a while to see how I feel without them in my space.
Obviously, some things don't even require the question. You don't need to ask yourself "what if I just didn't have this?" about obvious trash. Just trash it. You already know how you feel about it or your brain would not have identified it as "obvious trash."
Do this with each item in your work pile (except the obvious trash, which you will obviously yeet). Pick it up, ask yourself "what if I just didn't have this?"
If the answer is "no, I would miss/need this," put it to one side. This is the keep pile.
If the answer is "that would be fine/great actually," put it in the trash or donate bag, depending on whether it is trash or donate-able. If it belongs to someone else, put it near the bags and make yourself a note to get it to the person.
If an item has a home that isn't wherever you got it from, take it to that spot. If a thing needs repairs, make a note to get that done.
Do this until you have vanquished the work pile.
Some things can go right back where you got them. Other things should not. How to tell which is which?
Ask: "If I needed this, where would I look for it first?"
If the answer is "the place where I got it," put it back there. If the answer is literally any other place, go put the thing in that place.
For example: most clothes go right back in the closet/drawers. I highly recommend learning Marie Kondo's folding method, because it makes it SO EASY to see everything you have when you open a drawer:
How to fold clothes with the Marie Kondo method
But some clothes do not! If you always need your coat and shoes right before you leave the house, keep them near the door you enter/exit through.
No organizing method, no matter how pretty, will last long if it doesn't work FOR YOU. "Where would I look for this?" is a useful question because it tells you where you use a thing most often. Keep the thing where you use it most often. This is probably where it will gravitate to anyway.
For example: I only use my winter boots in the winter, and I only use them outdoors. I will never, ever, ever use my winter boots in my bedroom, which is the furthest room in the house from any exterior door. I will ALWAYS use my winter boots to go outside in the winter - the place that is on the other side of the exterior doors.
My winter boots live on the shoe rack in the closet that is nearest the exterior door I use most often (for me, it's the door to the garage). In winter, they live on the boot mat next to that door. Nowhere else. Because I will never use them anywhere else.
The KonMari method uses five categories: clothing, books, paperwork, komono ("everything else"), sentimental items. I like to start with clothing and books because they're pretty well defined categories, but after that, things get weird. Are pens office supplies? What if I always need at least one at the kitchen table and in the living room? What about scissors?
After clothes and books (to get used to the method), I'd say you have a lot of flexibility. You can keep doing categories (tools, cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies, spice rack, linens....), or you can do one drawer/cabinet at a time.
What matters is that you keep going. Do one category or space (one drawer, etc) per day. Your stuff is finite, but it only gets decluttered and organized if you keep at it.
Do not buy bins. Do not try to organize while sorting. Figure out what you're keeping FIRST. Because chances are good you won't have to buy anything once you're done. You probably already have enough boxes, bins, and trays to keep things organized.
For now, just put stuff in the most obvious places where it goes. This might mean you sort some things twice (take the fork out of your sock drawer and put it with the forks. yes, you're going to say hi to it again when you organize the flatware. it's fine.)
General Rule: Everything has one home. ONE. Only one. That home is the first place you would look if you needed the thing. Same-category Things (forks, pens, paper clips, etc.) all live in the same home.
Exception: ONE of a Thing can live in multiple sites if you use it there, BUT it should have a designated Place at each Site. (for example, I keep a pen and a pad of paper in a kitchen drawer, as well as pens generally in my office drawer. The kitchen ones live in that specific place in that specific drawer. I have hairties in a teacup in my bathroom and also in the front pocket of my gym bag.)
Drawers and Shelves: make sure you can see everything when you open the drawer/cupboard/closet. Shallow trays are great for this in drawers. Don't make yourself move boxes/trays to put stuff away. You won't.
Boxes and Trays: If lots of small Things (like pill bottles) live on the same surface, put them all in an open box or tray. This corrals them. It makes it easy for you to see if something is in there that doesn't live there. It also makes it much easier to clean that surface. Lift tray, wipe surface, replace. Done.
The KonMari method deviates from its "spark joy" rule when dealing with paperwork. Because paperwork sparks no joy. Instead, Marie Kondo recommends having three (and only three) folders/containers for paperwork:
My NOW folder lives on my desk. My DEFINED PERIOD folder lives in my filing cabinet. My INDEFINITELY "folder" is my fire safe.
This is literally the only method that has ever come close to taming my paperwork, and I recommend it for that reason alone.
Clutter is like vampires. It can't enter your house without your permission. Figure out how it's getting in and put a stake through its heart. (Dana K. White's books go into more detail on how to do this, especially if you have a lot of emotions tied up in Stuff, such as a shopping habit or nostalgic attachments or trouble saying no when family members try to give you their unwanted things.)
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