Do you ever wonder why rooms in high-end furniture stores and magazines look so awesome, while our own houses and apartments look positively cluttered and disheveled? What's the trick they use to make these rooms seem tranquil, relaxing, and soothing? What if I told you that you can achieve 80% of this effect while making a few bucks in the process? My solution to this problem is so obvious; you're going to kick yourself! Eliminate the Mess Let's face it, most people hang on to material possessions for entirely too long.
They essentially turn their living spaces into large storage bins that house tons of junk they never use.
(Note: From here on out, "junk" is anything that you never use that takes up space.
) The way most dwellings are arranged; long-term storage areas (garage, attic, etc.
) are predominantly full of junk.
Because of this, short-term storage areas like drawers and cabinets tend to be filled with junk we rarely use.
This leaves table tops, the floor, or your bed as the storage areas for commonly used items.
The good news is that solving this problem couldn't be easier or cheaper as long as you're able to convince yourself that you're getting rid of your junk for a good cause.
First, I want you to literally pull everything you have out of short-term and long-term storage.
Immediately throw away anything that you know is real junk.
Now we're going to create two zones - one for commonly used items and the other items that you haven't touched in the past month.
Weed through the items that you pulled out of storage and put them into the appropriate zones.
Let a week pass, and put anything from the "common use" zone that you haven't used or thought about into the "infrequent use" zone.
Now we'll eliminate most of you're junk.
I want you to take this part of the exercise very seriously, as this is where the majority of its benefit comes from.
Anything from the "infrequent use" zone that you can part with needs to either be thrown away, or sold on Craigslist or eBay.
Don't skimp.
Things like golf clubs and encyclopedia sets are huge wins! Lastly, we will store our belongings in a manner that allows for easy access and an uncluttered look.
Classify your storage areas into two categories - easy access and not-so-easy access.
Start by putting your infrequently used items in the not-so-easy access areas.
Then, put the less commonly used items from the commonly used zone into the not-so-easy access storage.
Now, put the items that you often use into the easy access areas.
Using this organizational technique, we have eliminated the junk cluttering our dwellings and made those things that we use most often easy to access.