by Martha Tobin
Many people have more stuff than they have space for so by decluttering before you organize, you are not only letting go of items you no longer need, use, love or want but as well you are getting clear on the volume of items you are keeping.
Here are 5 reasons to declutter BEFORE you organize:
- Knowing the volume of items you are keeping – once you know the volume of the items you are keeping, you can more effectively determine where those items will ‘live’ in your home
- Opens up space in any room – by decluttering first you will have more room to determine how to organize an area
- Best organizational systems – knowing your volume of items will allow you to choose the right size containers to organize them (i.e small or medium bin, basket etc)
- Do a second purge – if you find you still have too many items for the organization systems you have in mind, you can do a second purge or store less-used items elsewhere
- Clean the spaces effectively – decluttering gives you the opportunity to pull items out of their current locations and give those areas a good clean
Decluttering and organizing go hand-in-hand and when done right, it ensures that those spaces stay organized and maintainable.
“Owning less is better than organizing more.” (Joshua Becker)