How do you declutter when you have too much stuff in your house? Forget the “touch it once rule”

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

What category will you tackle first?

[@malissakirby4193]

Clothes

[@dragonflysparrow8460]

I have 4 kids, age ranges are from 13 to 6 months old. Everyone has SO much laundry. (Thankfully my husband does his own!!) I have everyone else's laundry to do, and we are swimming in clothes by the end of the week. How do I organize my "clothes mountains"?

[@secretsauce5678]

The problem with gathering all of one item in a hoarding/cluttered situation is assuming we know where every pen we own is. Real clutter is beyond being able to put our hands on all of any one thing at one time. That's why buying Marie Kondos book was just another book to add to my disorganized clutter. 😭

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

You may have to make a few passes in each room clearing trash and donations before you find balance. Alternatively (and a more positive spin) go through each space and pick the things you love as you shift the rest to your giveaway/recycle piles... Good Luck!

[@Bomber411]

That's why Mari Kondo says to start with clothes. It's much easier to see where there are clothing items lying around than other items. Start with clothes. Follow her advice. It works if you follow it.

[@malissakirby4193]

MARIE KONDOS method IS OMG THE WORST IF YOU HAVE ADHD!🤯 I did it with my cosmetics, bathroom supplies, hair products. teeth items and just looking at the " pile" gave me a PANIC ATTACK and I WANTED TO FLEE THE ROOM!🥺😭🤯

[@lazygardens]

You do the best you can ... if you get most of them on the first try, that's good enough.

[@unitedheartsamerica5924]

Categories! This is the way I think! I am working on my home that got so out of order after 2 basement floods, and a short illness that fatigued me for a year. Then son grad from college to add to the mix. SO! ……… I am looking at dividing basement into zones with the categorizing. Set up boxes for tools, office supplies, take upstairs , crafting, donate, trash, and a new box called MCGUYVER… I keep all sorts of little items, for fixing stuff or solving problems. I will put a small special container for that. If that container gets too full, then my next task would be reducing that collection. The key is setting a size of container and NO MORE than that. Holiday weekend - here we come!! 🎉🎉🎉 conquer this house!

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Sounds like a plan!

[@lorisiccia5914]

I love the Macgyver box idea. for the small tools and zip ties n tape etc my place is super tiny. no storage the 2 narrow drawers i do have are 1 for spices snd other for baking things like scoops and spatulas n measuring tools.kept below the mixer..the baking zone. I have 1 small container in there to hold thd elastics that come off veg and get used for baggies of ingredients there are too little to decant..but there isnt room for a multi bit screwdriver or tape. so yes lovin the macgyver box idea.. maybe can get tucked into the entry closet where the stack washer dryer is.. narrow 3 inch squeeze to get to a foot wide shelf inside... honestly who designed my place? tall ppl who dont cook or store anything... who could reach top shelves by ceiling without stsnding tippy toes on a chair

[@davidhurley2656]

Thank you for debunking this theory. A lot of organizing advice does not account for how human minds work.

[@Bomber411]

Kat, I know Mari Kondo says to start with our clothes, and when I did her method to help me move here a few years ago, that worked great. But I was sick when I moved and have been living in what looks like a tiny storage unit apt surrounded by partially opened boxes of stuff. Now my place is a disaster. I need my kitchen, so this time I'm starting there. Fly Lady says we must have a clean sink and I've been unable to maintain that. Infact, the left larger part of my 2 part sink area has become a disgusting science experiment gone wrong. There's actually a plant or something growing from it... a PLANT. FROM. NO. WHERE.. I've been only using the tiny sink on the right and this is not working well. It's all disgusting. My problem is I keep all the plastic containers and baggies I plan on reusing so I have less waste, but my kitchen is T.I.N.Y. I've gone grocery shopping and just plunked the bags down on the floor and left them. Stuff piles on stuff and I can't clean properly when there's stuff everywhere so it's not just messy, it's filthy! Today I'm going to tackle the kitchen floor pile so I can then tackle the tiny counter space pile. I'm going to put all the recyclable plastic container stuff I've been keeping to reuse into a box and just keep a few things and recycle the rest. Dirty dishes into another box that I will tackle when I get my big sink cleared, and misc into another box to be sorted. Food items into another. Garbage into the garbage. I don't know why I'm typing this out here, but I guess for anyone else feeling overwhelmed, I just want you to know you're not alone. We need to detach ourselves from the situation and realize we are not our mess and our mess is not us, but continuing to ignore it definitely blurs the lines for us emotionally and weighs heavy on us making it feel even more difficult to tackle than it really is. Space let's the energy flow, so let's make space! Thank you for the reminder that the Kon Mari method DOES work and even though I've already done it before the move, I've got to do it again now to get my s*** together lol Thank you! 🤍🧹

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Wow! That's sounds wild! I agree, that kitchen is too tiny to keep much other than what is absolutely necessary. When I have a big cleaning job I put on music or an audiobook to stay motivated and just go for it! When unpacking I always focus on high-functioning spaces first (kitchen, bathroom, sleeping area + this season's clothing) and work lastly on decor and sentimental items. I will say that sometimes you have to get everything out of boxes and remove the boxes and packaging to have space to move around!

[@Bomber411]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO luckily when I moved I got rid of most decor, have little to no knickknacks (I feel no use for them and dusting is a mundane activity for the little dust collectors worth), and don't have very much sentimental items. But holay smokes the boxes! And I'm also hesitant to get rid of the boxes incase I have to move again, but the fact is I can get more boxes from the grocery store if needed and I don't want a bunch of stuff in storage because my storage locker is tiny as well, but at the end of the day that is just not practical. They will come in handy as I try to work through this mess, to move items around easier and make room, but I don't need all the boxes I've got. I'm on the autism spectrum and finding it all very overwhelming. How is it so much easier to motivate others than ourselves? I'm trying to tackle at least one job a day here, and so far I have hit that quota, but did not end up tackling the kitchen yesterday so that's on my today list and all I want to do is sleep. There's so much to do! 😭 I did sit down yesterday and draw out my kitchen layout and label what will go where to get an idea. I already unpacked my kitchen when I moved in here a few years ago but it's a disorganized mess and very little makes sense. Please come here and help me lol Do you have any other gold advice? The removal of the large bulky items is an excellent tip! Any advice is appreciated. My apartment looks like the boxes threw up their contents everywhere and a lot of things don't have a home or are not in their home because things aren't organized. It would make more sense to start with the clothes like Mari Kondo says, but my kitchen.. 😭😭 I have celiac disease and don't eat anything anyone else cooks so it's vital I have a functioning kitchen as I use it multiple times a day, every day, no exception. My tiny kitchen being a mess gives me so much anxiety that I feel I must tackle that first. Am I right in this assumption? Or should I start with clothes? They're everywhere too :(

[@malissakirby4193]

Please!!! take this in a good , loving way. You need not just a cleaner, organizer but a therapist. It's too much for you to handle just by yourself or else it will never get done. I speak from experience. My mother but she refused therapy.

[@malissakirby4193]

Can you get someone over there? SHE'S OBVIOUSLY REACHING OUT FOR HELP!! Her problem is MORE THAN DECLUTTERING. YOU know that! I've seen it with my own mother. You start with therapy first!!

[@lindagriffis7419]

Hi, my single kitchen sink used to be a science experiment. Not sure how many years ago now, I'm 72 and since I cleaned it I've been able to keep it respectable, but not perfect. But the rest of the large house is very cluttered. I'm working on it, but I'm very slow. You can do it! Best wishes.

[@zaraeldin6746]

My mother said once " If U haven't worn or used an article for two years , then toss it "

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

You could downsize a lot with that method! Many items are kept for sentimental reasons, but never used...

[@sea2sea2seevanlife92]

New subscriber... excellent advice offered in the two videos I've watched so far. A sincere thank you... To say I'm overwhelmed would be a gross understatement as I'm dang near catatonic most days and this has been YEARS now. Many, many years. I am(?) a hoarder... I think. I undoubtedly was a hoarder with your typical filth and goat trails, no real 'living' room in this three bedroom home. And then something happened... it clicked. There was always so, so much stress attached to being awake, having to leave my bed, step over things, trip, fall, just to use the restroom, I went from hoarder to minimalist and began researching the benefits of the latter. No, not jumping on any presently dying fad, I was homeless for eight months prior to moving here, living out of a tent in Fort Bragg, CA. with no vehicle, only my bike, (bicycle), few possessions around me as you can imagine... and I was at peace. I looked back on that time with a longing which most might consider odd but I recognized the value of what I was going through while I was going through it. And... I was living peacefully with very little. I want that peace back. I'm 60 for another month anyway... I feel time running, running short. Stress, severe childhood trauma which has affected me my entire life, but instead of recognizing this, owning it, I... I enjoyed the damage it had done. Kinda. Until I didn't. Until I recognized I was responsible for wasting a life, mine, hurting more people than I can ever remember due to an inability to trust, commit, (I don't date anymore, haven't in years, but I, unfortunately, have never been dumped as an adult. Nothing to be proud of.) I lost my train of thought, I can't even remember if I had a point... =] You've helped a lot in your two five minute videos, and I mean this. I'm exceedingly thankful...

[@carolpowell6717]

I am going to come back in another life as a minimalist, or maybe a person with a housekeeper.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Iol would love a housekeeper too! I love to organize but hate to clean 😂

[@ThawinginVA]

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

That's a great way to look at it 🤣💓

[@DesertRELady]

My entire house & garage! I suffer with major depressive disorder & chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. Some days I can barely get out of bed. Because I have a dog most days I can force myself out of bed, not very early, but I do get up. I am so overwhelmed that I don’t have the wisdom to know where to begin. I feel like I am in quicksand! I have known about the sorting technique, it’s a good one…but I have many things all over the house. Kitchen should not really hard because everything kitcheny is in the kitchen. Paperwork is EVERYWHERE! I am ready, I want my home to be tidy again. Thank you.

[@andrewbrendan1579]

I like this approach. Instead of one thing at a time or only handle it once: consolidate.

[@MizLaur]

We’re having all windows for our whole side split home replaced next week. My Dad is recovering from knee surgery, my Mum and I have MS…and we’re all horrible procrastinators. We are also SWIMMING in stuff. Luckily (?!) I am very productive under pressure! Thank you for your videos, that are helping me devise my Plan Of Attack!

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

That's a lot! When you have to move stuff around during a renovation it's a great time to just cart stuff off to a donation or recycle center! Good luck!

[@MizLaur]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO Update! I GOT IT ALL DONE! I worked most important down, the window installation team were phenomenal in assisting where able, and it was all completed. For whatever reason now we here all have COVID…but the important thing was getting the windows done and I/we did that. 😊

[@rosemarytritschler1759]

​@@MizLaur0:51

[@miriamdavis2988]

My problem is, i live in a 2 story home. We need 2 or more of things like TAPE, SCISSORS, PENS ETC (I also have a 7 year old) another thing is, storage bins, they are so expensive! It would cost so much !

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

How crafty are you? You can make DIY bins from shoe or cell phone boxes... even recycled food containers. Also check local thrift shops and dollar stores...

[@lukelucy1980]

Thank You so very much. I really appreciate your professional presentations. I get so much more out of your talks that I do from other channels that.blast music while organizing a staged job pitching a store.

[@feliciaferrigno7467]

My baggage is stuff with emotional ties-stuff of all my parents, grandparents, that are all gone, stuff when my kids were small...its all headcase stuff. I recognize it, buy damn, depression is annoying.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Absolutely, those are major contributors to clutter. I struggled myself coming from a family of hoarding behavior + depression where everything is sentimental but then it's hard/impossible to find the time and energy to organize it all. So much of organization is mindset changes...

[@buzimuse6272]

What if everything you have to declutter are brand new and you need to sell them? Hundreds of things from being a shopaholic? How do suggest I sell them without doing a yard sale?

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

To sell your new items without a yard sale, consider listing them on Facebook Marketplace, local online auction sites, or taking them to consignment shops. Keep in mind, that reselling recoups only about 10% to 30% of the retail cost, takes a lot of time, and some items may not sell at all, but it's a valuable step to break the cycle of shopping and understand the (often) losing cost of buying retail and selling second hand. I have a video coming up in a few weeks about the pros and cons of FB Marketplace. Good luck!

[@buzimuse6272]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO Fantastic! Thanks so much for your response!

[@annfaber9525]

So true! It's amazing how much faster I work with my clients when they can see everything in a group! Great tip!

[@Jules-740]

The one touch thing is whenever you have an item and you are using it and when you are done using it you take it to where it goes immediately when you're done so you dont have to touch it again.

[@acorte52]

wow what a great helpful idea !! That way you'll know you don't need 4000 pencils. this really helps me

[@777kelly]

This is super helpful, thank you!! ❤️

[@elaineburt5795]

I have a small one bedroom apartment and my living room is full of boxes that have food canned goods things that I need, but I have no idea where to put them. I take them out the box and put them in another box, but i have no idea what to do with the box because everything is full my cabinets and my pantry. I don't know what to do with all this stuff and i'm just overwhelmed. Help!

[@apm421]

What about getting bed risers and putting canned goods under the bed?

[@elaineburt5795]

@@apm421 I don't have a bed, I sleep in a very comfortable rocker recliner. I live in a loft apartment, all these boxes and other stuff is in my living room. No place to stuff anything, unfortunately.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Unfortunately a home can only hold a certain amount of stuff! If you have exhausted all your storage you either need to eliminate items, find off-site storage, or move to a larger space. Usually in a small space I can find "vertical storage" by using wall shelves, but I would be careful with that as canned foods are heavy.

[@Bomber411]

@@elaineburt5795 I'm just a very very similar situation over here. I've decided that one of the shelves in my bedroom closet is going to be for overflow of pantry stuff. Do you have a shelf you can allocate for that? If you decide to hang a shelf for this purpose, you'll need to use anchors and make sure the support is strong because as Kat mentioned, canned food is heavy. Maybe you could take the lighter weighted stuff and put that on a new shelf and put the cans in the kitchen cabinets? Tetris baby!

[@mythreerosebuds1128]

I am so overwhelmed with Garage it's a 2 car garage and I have alot of stuff in there. I have lived here 30 years and just know if i had a big dumpster that they rent out and just put everything in that and i would be so happy. I know I dont need anything in there because it's been in there so long. I just dont have the money I'm in a fixed income. And wonder if you know what options I have to just get rid of this stuff. Every 3 months the City comes for bulk trash and I put as much out there. And its helped some. And little by little I put things in the regular trash can. I just have accumulated so much stuff and just need it gone. I dont even need to look threw it. I just want some advice on what else to do as far a getting a dumpster or something else maybe I dont know about? I live in Phx, Arizona

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Are you comfortable using Facebook marketplace? Maybe someone would volunteer to empty the space in exchange for keeping anything they want? I do like working with reputable haulers, but you may be looking at a $800+ hauling fee...

[@mythreerosebuds1128]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO thank you I may look into haul for anything they want. If not I have no choice but to mock into spending the 800 dollars. Again Thank you .🦋🥀

[@privateprivate8366]

I’m trying to clear my mother’s home as, she recently passed away. I’m wondering if categorizing also helps in deciding what you can keep, if certain items, dependent upon whether they can fit in a storage container. That does not equal answering the question of whether you can or should keep them though. But, perhaps, adds a certain amount of finiteness to what you’re looking at. Basically, the question might be, “Is there a place for this?” That falls outside of, “Do I use this or have a use for this, maybe within the next 6 months?” My mother’s house is hoarded and she also has a storage unit, which I have nothing to do with as, I’m in probate and my sibling is paying for. I would be considered a hoarder myself. But, I think mine may be more on the clutter level, which I’m working through. I’m sure someone has a video about it. But, I think a lot of clutter has to do with dead dreams. All the suits and shoes I have? They were for all those places I’d go and all those successful dreams I had. I tend to be a mis en plas person also. In other words, I would rather buy something I like or love, when I see it. Not interested in buying something I hate, when I need it. But, especially nowadays, life is very pedestrian and survivalistic. The reality is that I will wear the same pair of jeans to work, for an entire week, because it isn’t worth the investment, to do any differently. Still, I hate getting rid of what used to be quality clothing, even if it doesn’t have the big shoulder pads 😆, because quality and actual style is likely never returning.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Sorry to hear that, I've actually been working on the same thing this year😔 I do think categorizing helps when deciding what to keep because you get a feel for how many things you have that serve the same purpose AND it's more efficient to store like things together, so you'll need to categorize at some point. It's so hard to organize the things we don't use on a regular basis since there is little logic to how to store them. These are the clothes we never wear, projects we abandoned, papers we won't look at again, and so on... But those are the things that often fill a "cluttered" home. It's tough, but it things are in good condition they can be donated, sold, or at least recycled. Then we have space to enjoy the things we kept (and more time for hobbies)😄

[@privateprivate8366]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO perhaps, sometimes the issue isn’t so much that projects were abandoned, as much as we were distracted from them, by the mess that is often life. Could be where that feeling of being robbed and clutching things comes in. The difficulty can be that we didn’t come to terms with the fact that, while that time is dead, we still have dreams and goals. I’ll even go as far as to say that, sometimes, that happens, because we don’t have good boundaries and the ability to tell others no, so we can function properly, handle those goals and dreams, rather than to have piles of clutter, while we often tend to that which doesn’t interest us, let alone serve us.

[@fluximagery6500]

love this!!! soooo helpful!

[@LM33333]

Thank you; this is great info and very useful. 😊

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Glad it was helpful!

[@heathermatthews7422]

Thank you 😊

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

You're welcome 😊

[@Madebyjanicenicole]

I wish so bad that I could afford to have someone to come into my house and help me but there is just no way with my limited income and bad credit. I am so overwhelmed with all the clutter and with my health issues (brain tumor and more) it is hard for me to clean it myself because I get sick really easy if I do too much and for me 5 or 10 minutes is too much most of the time due to my health. A lot of my family members work and cant help and I wouldn't want them to anyway because I don't want my family to see it the way it is. I hope I can follow your advice and get it done myself. My mom has tried to help but she has health issues herself and its just too hard for her. Maybe I can tackle my countertops and dishes in my kitchen first.

[@charmianfletcher49]

Help. I would like to work with you virtually.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Book an appointment! I would love to work virtually with you! myspacematters.com/schedule/

[@Reinolds_Recipes]

Cool video! Would love to taste this :) love the way you presented it! Thanks, subscribed 😀🙏

[@summerrose4978]

Cant put away items if that area where it goes is so cluttered.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Yep, that's right. It's a bit of a puzzle, try to get movement somewhere ... it usually takes a lot of shifting before you see progress.

[@Bedoubleu]

I have every room in my house filled with so much clutter and it hard for me to throw stuff away. Especially papers. What's the best to get rid of a lot of papers. I feel like everything needs to be shredded but after burning out so many shredders I got tried of buying. Do you know of a good brand shredder that can handle mounds of paper.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

You probably need to get a 12 sheet $100 + shredder with a temp gauge to avoid burning out! amzn.to/3SFctIf Alternatively, there is a little black out stamp you can get. amzn.to/3SmjUEk You black out personal information and then just recycle the paper. Also look into shredding services that come to your house. Once you get 5+ boxes of paper it's a lot faster to have a company shred it. ALSO - stop getting paper sent to you and use all the online services, I barely have anything to shred now that I'm digital. Best of luck!

[@Bedoubleu]

@@KatherineLawrenceCPO Thank you for the information. The last shredder I had was like $250 and burned out in a few months. I've got a couple rooms full of boxes with papers now so I will probably most definitely need a company to shred. I wish I was comfortable doing on-line but I'm not so I get all bills by mail. I still am one of those that do my taxes by paper and mail. I'm certainly going to look into that stamp as to not accumulate any more shredding.

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

@@Bedoubleu www.shrednations.com/ to find local shred companies

[@Bomber411]

1:48 this is me, right now.

[@CinHalCedHerChance]

How about insted of getting clean up crews, putting an ad up for people to pay $25-$30 entry fee and they can pick any 3-4 items that they like? save money on junk guys to throw it out and make money? Good or bad idea?

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Huh, never tried that one. I've listed individual items on FB marketplace before and then when folks get there ask if they are interested in other things. It's more of a matter of time. If you need things cleared out in a week, a hauling crew guarantees that is gets done. If you have several months and the time to sell individual pieces, the marketplace plan is a good one...

[@gsalah1240]

why i didn't watch this videos before.

[@crazywafflez5379]

the audio quality on this ruined it for me

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

Thanks for letting me know! I **think** my newer videos are much better, so I may put this one on my list to re-record...

[@FabulousFattyKim]

Thank you. We moved house last year, remodelled a lot of it and now I have a semi organised kitchen but also kitchen stuff still in boxes. This is the approach I will take, super helpful. Get all my kitchen stuff out, consolidate and organise by type. Decide which stuff I don’t need (if it’s been in a box a whole year…?) and then split into the three sections as per the kitchen areas … thank you thank you!

[@KatherineLawrenceCPO]

You can do it!