Friday, June 19, 2009

To DC or Not to DC...That Is The Question!

When is clutter, clutter? Clutter is relative; my perception of clutter is probably unlike many other's perception of clutter.

When should you DC(De-Clutter, get it?)? That is the question....below I have some simple suggestions as to when DC should/could take place.

You should DC when:
  • When you have a physical reaction to a mess, such as my toy closet (which, by the way, has NOT been done yet!)
  • You open your cabinets and stuff falls out
  • Can't ever find what you are looking for
  • Can no longer park your car in your garage
  • Your garage is a fire hazard
  • Mold is growing on food in your fridge
  • The potatoes in your pantry are sprouting
  • You have magazines in plastic that are dated July, 2001
  • Your child gets food poisoning from an outdated frozen Go-Gurt that you had in the freezer for 2 years (No joke, I know someone this happened to, and NO, it didn't happen at my house....but it did happen in this neighborhood!)

I DC constantly. I have children who grow a size or more each season. So, I keep a "no longer fits" bag in my daughter's closet. When she puts on something that no longer fits her, she throws it in that bag. When the bag is full, we give it to a friend or donate to a charity.

I also DC my fridge each Thursday or Friday night. I do this for a couple of reasons. One, I have a side by side fridge. (Not my first choice, but it LOOKS nice!) Two, the garbage gets picked up on Saturday morning. Even though I can manipulate the shelves in the fridge, I still don't seem to have enough room. So, any leftovers that are in the fridge come Friday night get tossed. Any fruit or veggies that are in there for more than a week also are thrown out.

Besides the "too small bag" in my children's closet, cleaning out the fridge on a weekly basis, I DC my home office. This is my "command central" for all the paper that passes through the house. Not only do I go through the mail, bills and kids school projects I run a speaker management business. I house all kinds of speaker materials, projects, books and files. I keep a file on each speaker and their projects, I maintain an electronic and paper file for each. Why, do you ask that I still keep paper copies in 2009? Perhaps, it might have something to do with my (self-diagnosed) OCD, but my intent is to always have back up in the event my computer crashes or my files mysteriously burn. So, every Sunday night after the kids are in bed, I sneak down into my office and DC my little heart away. This is my way of getting myself organized for the week. I create my work to-do list, my personal to-do list pay bills online and file away items that I need to keep.

I feel that I almost always have a DC project going on. The next project that I have planned is to DC my closet. I recently got rid of all the clothes I no longer wear but I have since accumulated more "stuff." I am going to add another rod to hang clothes on (my closet is more tall than wide so the only way is to go up) and that will give me some storage space below for shoes...which by the way, is the bulk of my "stuff" that I have recently accumulated! I don't have pix yet of this project but I will post them when I get this project done.

Until then, keep reading for Simply Amazing Organizing Secrets and Cost Effective Organizing Tricks!

***NEW FEATURE: You Tell Me!***
I have one challenge that kind of has me stumped. My mother-in-law recently asked me if there was a way to store seasonings/spices that made using them more convienent yet kept the flavor locked in. She often buys seasonings/spices in bulk (think of buying seasonings from Costco) and doesn't like to pull the large bulk sized container out each time she needs it.

What type of containers do you store your seasonings/spices in? (I believe she is looking beyond Zip Loc bags as a solution!)

Please send me your ideas...I am at a loss with this one!

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