Skip to main content

Tips: Avoiding Clutter

I don't think anyone has ever exclaimed I have too much closet space or too many cabinets. Americans have a lot of stuff. According to the Self Storage Association, one in 10 US households currently rent a self storage unit, a number that has increased approximately 65 percent from one in 17 in the last 15 years.
 
Make It Easy to Put Items Away
 
How do you know when your stuff might be taking over? When it starts to pile up consistently in one or more places.
 
For us, our entry hall had become a dumping ground for shoes and jackets. Every night when we returned home with Gates, we were finding it easier to leave our shoes where we stepped out of them and our jackets and scarfs simply draped over the railing. We intended to put everything away after Gates went to bed but somehow never got to it. With an inquisitive toddler, this meant we were spending a lot of time grabbing of shoes out of her hands before they went into her mouth.
 
Organize Jackets by Color and by Weight
 
Before you start thinking of getting a storage unit or getting creative with your closets, take stock of what you have and get rid of what you don't need. Do this regularly, at least once a year, to keep your stuff under control. You may need to do this more frequently if you aren't entirely honest about what you really need or you are always acquiring stuff. It will be obvious when the time has come.
 
Creative organization only works if it's used.
 

Tips for Keeping Clutter at Bay

  • Do a thorough spring cleaning at least once a year. If you haven't used a bath product or worn an outfit in years, why spend time figuring out how to store it? Throw it out or donate it.
  • Consider how you use items. If you're frequently running back into the house for bags for grocery shopping, look at putting them near the front door.
  • Make it easy to access items. If you're always piling up containers to put away later, your convenient storage location may be too full.
  • Take advantage of unused space. The obvious candidates are the backs of doors and under furniture. The not so obvious options are shower walls, below shelves, and in deep drawers. When leveraging open space make sure you can easily get things out as well as put them away.
Got any tips for keeping your house in order?
 
Ciao Bella!
Eden!
 
Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Popular posts from this blog

How to Store Fresh Winter Squash, Potatoes, Onions, and Garlic

I love a well organized kitchen and pantry. Sadly, since moving to San Francisco, all of the places I've lived have lacked a pantry. No pantry means one has to get creative with storage. Some solutions, while pretty, aren't always best at keeping food. I'm now on a mission to organize my kitchen with prevention of food spoilage in mind.     Right now winter vegetables are available from our CSA, some of which I'm not very familiar with -- hard or winter squash varieties for example. And, with cubes until recently on a soft foods diet we didn't go through what I was buying as quickly as before. So, I was seeing potatoes turn green or shrivel. Squash rot. Garlic turn to dust. Seeing this waste a light bulb went on: I must be storing the vegetables wrong. To my cookbooks and the Internet I went in search of the right way(s) to keep them. And I discovered, or rather confirmed, I was doing it wrong.   General Guidelines for Storing Vegetables Most of us don't hav...

8 Best Places to Get Texas BBQ Shipped to Your Door

( updated September 27, 2023 ) Depending where you're from, BBQ is sure to get a crowd fired up. Just try to convince a Texan that Kansas City, Memphis, or Carolina Style BBQ is the best--I guarantee you're sure to see fireworks. Sadly in the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas BBQ is in short supply--rotisserie is more our style. So when I've got a craving, I head to my Texas favorites and have the BBQ shipped.     After years of getting Texas BBQ shipped, here are my top 8 places to get Texas BBQ shipped to your door. Along with my favorites, I'm sharing tips for ensuring your Texas BBQ arrives in time for your special occasion.   How do you like your BBQ? Dry rub or Sauce? Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, or Carolina Style?     Read on for my favorite meats along with the places in Texas to get them shipped from!  

new? start here.

( updated 02/24/2022 ) Welcome! Nice to meet you!   I’m Eden, a fourth-generation Californian. Together my husband, 9.75 year old daughter, and Maine Coon/Ragamuffin rescue cat are in the process of unpacking and nesting in our new 100+ year old Craftsman in Berkeley, CA (until this past December we called a 100-year old, a 847 sq ft Edwardian flat in San Francisco home). We define The Good Life with haves not wants and experiences not things.     What's your story?