We continue with the second approach to begin organizing your spaces which is the one-category-at-a-time method. To begin to organize any space, you need to know what you have and what space you have available to store it in. And to know that, you need to clear out your space! All those items lurking in your dark corners need to be brought to light and we need to illuminate your spaces themselves so that we can truly evaluate how to utilize them the best. Let us understand how to approach clearing out your spaces in the most efficient way possible. You will need my 7-step guide to organizing any space, my room evaluation chart to help you determine your level of clutter, and my declutter challenge calendar and guide which can all be found here.
There are four approaches to clearing out an area depending on the current state of your space. In a previous post, we went over determining what level of clutter you have: mildly cluttered, moderately cluttered, severely cluttered, and critically cluttered. Do not be afraid of what level of clutter you have! Again, this is just going to help us to determine your approach to organizing your spaces so that you can get them organized more efficiently. Also, when looking at your spaces you may notice that some areas may be mildly cluttered, and some may be critically cluttered. Remember this so that when you go into clearing out one space with one approach and try to tackle another space with a different level of clutter, you will come back to this post and the other three and review the four approaches.
In this post, we are covering the one-category-at-a-time method approach to clearing out your space. This method works best for the moderately cluttered as you can find things after looking in a few logical places.
Terry Elisabeth’s GUIDE ON HOW TO APPROACH CLEARING OUT YOUR SPACES
The One-Category-at-a-Time Method
| HOW | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|
| This approach works best for those who have moderately cluttered spaces. This is a two-part approach as you can either decide on the space first or gather your category items first. This decision depends on the logical use of your spaces and the quantity of items you desire to store. You may need to gather all your category items first so that you can clearly see what you have and then decide what space(s) would be best utilized to store those items. Or you may decide that you want all your category items to fit into a designated space and do not want to go beyond that space any longer. This can be more easily decided after the second step of organizing where you may purge items that you do not need that are taking up space. You will want to make sure you have your space(s) completely cleared out and have all your category items together where you can see them as you move onto the next steps of sorting. | If the category you are organizing is food as your food items are in a few different areas in your home—the pantry, the garage, a storage closet—you will be gathering all your food items together from these spaces so that you can decide if you want to limit where to store them as you sort them in the next steps. Regarding designating a space logically, let us say you have a pantry already built in to your home. Your choice is easy! If you do not have a designated pantry built in to your home, you will evaluate which kitchen cabinets make the most sense to use. Regarding designating a space based on the quantity of items you need to store, let us say you have a large family and the built-in pantry and/or your kitchen cabinets are not quite sufficient, then you will designate your overflow area possibly in the garage or basement—preferably the space which is closest to the kitchen. |
One of the most important things to remember in the first steps of organizing is that IT ALWAYS GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER! All those things that have been settled into their spaces now must come into the light so that we can SEE what we have and so that they can be put away more efficiently and finally be used or appreciated!
The sooner you understand that piles are necessary for the organizing process, the more at ease you will be so that you can look forward to completing the process. When clearing out your spaces to sort your items, I want to note that the four approaches to clearing out your space as noted in this one-category-at-a-time method post and the other three can be used for any level of clutter, I am simply suggesting what may be your initial approach and the most efficient based on your current level of clutter.
So, don’t forget to grab my 7-step guide to organizing any space, my room evaluation chart to help you determine your level of clutter, and my declutter challenge calendar and guide which can all be found here. If you would like, you can take pictures of your piles with the hashtag #pilesbeforesmiles and tag me @terryelisabethllc. All my social media links are below. Let’s get organized!
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“