Probably the most common area of the home I’m asked to declutter and organise is the garage. I imagine that’s not a surprise to many of you. Unfortunately the garage is often used as a dumping area for the overflow from the house, and can include boxes from the last house move, empty appliance boxes, and a multitude of other paraphernalia. The problem becomes when we have to search for something that we know is in the garage somewhere, but we have no idea where.

So what do you need to do first? Well, here are 5 of my top tips for getting on top of what may look like an irredeemable situation:

– Declutter: please be prepared to throw out or give away what you really don’t need, and that you know you will never use again. That clutter is just taking up space you sorely need. Keep a rubbish bag handy and make quick decisions on what to keep and what to throw into the bag, and a few cardboard boxes are also handy while you’re going through this process for items you can donate to charities. [Read more…]

As you know from my last newsletter, I am going to be away from 9th June until 3rd July visiting my family in Italy. So rather than a tip this month, I wanted to give you something to think about.

The expression: “If not now, when?” is a great one to move us from a position of procrastination to one of action. What I would love you to reflect on is this:

If you don’t declutter your home now, what will it be like in a year’s time?

Because we will continue to buy and accumulate all manner of things and if nothing leaves the house, then this new stuff will need someplace to go. I may have mentioned in earlier newsletters, I ask myself a couple of questions before I buy anything, especially clothes and shoes: ‘do I actually need this’, and ‘have I got the space to store it’? As for decluttering regularly, it enables us to keep our homes and possessions at a manageable level; and above all to have our living environment be one of pleasure, not stress.

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Like the magnificent Canadian geese that migrate to southern climes to avoid the harsh winters, many of us Kiwis head to the Northern hemisphere during our winter months for a touch of summer.

And I am very excited to be planning my own trip to visit family in Italy in June – it’s 7 years since I saw my Italian family and there are now three small children I am so looking forward to meeting.

Now, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that I’ve made my lists and am pretty organised already, even though I don’t leave until 9th June. However, some of these tips might make your travel preparation a little smoother. [Read more…]

I’ve talked about the benefits of decluttering and becoming organised in earlier newsletters. However, this time I want to first talk about some of the pain points clients tell me about when we first talk or meet. We may not realise how clutter impacts us, but believe me, it can be hugely stressful. Here are a few of the most common complaints I hear:

– I’m too ashamed to invite anyone to my house.

– I feel embarrassed and inadequate that I haven’t managed to get my home organised, but I’m so overwhelmed that I don’t even know where to start.

– Trying to get us all off to school and work in the mornings is a nightmare.

– I’ve got one or more rooms in my house that I can no longer use because they’re choc a block with stuff.

– We can’t get our cars into our 2 car garage because there’s no room.

– I just feel so stressed and out of control, and I’m sure my messy house isn’t helping matters.

– I keep having to go out and buy things that I know I’ve got somewhere in the house, but I can’t find them.

Now you can turn around every one of these negative circumstances and emotions and make them positive, for example:

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