Have you watched the latest Netflix Series “Get Organized with The Home Edit”? We are equal parts mesmerised, inspired, and in love! In each of the episodes, you’ll see Joanna and Clea implement their “edit, categorize, contain and maintain” phases, which are easy to try in your own home too. Linda shares a few practical tips from the show on How to Declutter Your Home.

 

EDIT

Before you even attempt to organise your things, you have to think about your goals. What do you want to achieve? Are you organising a high traffic area? Are you needing to make space for a collection? Or maybe you are looking to change the way you are using a particular space. Once you know what you want to achieve, the editing process can begin. Editing can be tough for those of us who are holding on to sentimental items or who are worried about making a bigger mess. The good news is, no matter how scary it looks, and the mess you’ll see along the way, the result is something that is totally worth it. You will feel lighter and calmer.

 

CATEGORISE

Once you’ve edited out what you don’t need, start thinking of categories for the things you have decided to keep. These categories are called zones. They are key to form and function as they are a systematic allocation of space to keep items that are either alike or used in the same way. They also help you maintain your system over time. If you’re overflowing a particular zone, that means you need to reduce some items — things you no longer need, use, or love. If you have to keep them, you probably need to reconfigure your zone. Add some space for things you actually use and need and reduce for things that don’t need as much real estate.

 

CONTAIN

So you’ve figured out your zones…great! Next, you need to bring in what Joanna and Clea call “product”. It’s basically anything you add to your shelving to contain a group of items. Think acrylic containers, bins, baskets, and crates and other tools that would make organising more efficient (labels, hangers, dividers, stackable organisers, and rolling carts). Like zones, containers hold us accountable. It represents what we can fit comfortably in a space and allows individual items to have homes to return to after use. Clea and Joanna recommend acrylic containers because if you see your items, you’re more likely to either use them, or at the very least, reevaluate your need for them.

 

MAINTAIN

Now that you’ve edited your space, don’t forget to come back to maintain the system. Hey, even with a foolproof method such as The Home Edit, you still need to give it a little bit of love every so often. This might mean tidying up your zones, editing things out of the zone if you don’t need them or even allocating more space to zones that are important and also growing. The most important thing to remember in maintaining the system is to always put your things where they belong. Every item has a home and if you keep returning your items to their home, you’ll find that your life will be more organised. Once you have organised one space, look at other spots you can tackle. An organised life is a happy life!

For more advice and tips to prepare you for the dating and relationship world, watch this space. Is there something you would like to read about or a topic you would like us to cover? Please let us know.

Need help organising your Love life? Find out who your Ideal partner is now!

Take our FREE Compatibility Test.