Each area of your home provides you with a unique form of comfort. Comfort and clutter cannot co-exist. Clutter and mess only serves to bring unbalance and will dampen any good spirit. It stands to reason that, give up the clutter and bring in the peace of mind.

De-clutter your kitchen

Your kitchen is regarded as the heart of your home and for a good reason.  Here you are nourished and provided for, even if you are dining on a frozen entrée zapped in the microwave rather than a homemade meal lovingly presented by Mom. An untidy and cluttered kitchen makes it hard to nourish yourself and others, on both physical and emotional. How you care for your kitchen is a hot clue to whether you are giving proper attention to your own nourishment and that of others. Cleaning up and de-cluttering your kitchen will open space for you to receive the support and comfort that you need in life.

De-clutter your living and dining room

These are special places where you socialize with family and friends. Here you engage with the world while being at home through watching television, reading the paper or discussing current events with old friends over dinner. Clutter can turn these otherwise special and social spaces into dens of isolation, especially if the mess is so bad that it has been a time since you have invited people over. Look carefully at your living and dining rooms to see what they say about your relationships. Are they important to you? Are you hiding yourself from others, by burying yourself in nasty clutter?

De-clutter your hallways

You need clear hallways to navigate through your home. Your clutter in your hallways prevents important connections between different areas of your home and your life. Look at your hallways and see what it says about the rest of your life. Do they contain good lighting and are they easily navigable, or do they cause confusion and trip you up? If you feel a disconnection between work and family, self and others, what you need to be done and your obligations, it may be time to give your hallways some good organizing.

De-clutter your bathrooms

Each day we use this important space to meet the world. We begin our days from this room. Clutter in the bathroom can mean your don’t take pride in how you look and feel. How can you feel clean when using a cluttered, dirty bathroom? A clean, well-decorated bathroom is a tranquil sanctuary for rejuvenation and self-care. Scented soaps, attractive accessories, and fragrant candles all take their place here. This is beauty for the mind and soul. You can beautify your life by organizing and cleaning this important room. Take the time to transform your bathroom into a place of refuge and this will bring a sense of the sacred into your morning and evening personal-care rituals.

De-clutter the bedroom

Your bedroom is for sleeping and intimacy, and it functions as a place of renewal for self and relationships. Clutter in the bedroom is worse than in any room. It is anything but restful and peaceful. If you are feeling “wired and tired,” creating order out of chaos in this most personal space will help you relax and to let go of the stresses of the day. Then you will get a good night’s sleep or enjoy some special time with your partner. Of all of your rooms, this one is the most critical for being organized and peaceful.

De-clutter your closets

Closets are everything hidden, unknown, or unrecognized. When we fill our closets with clutter, we harness our ability to be intuitive and insightful. Cluttered closets can indicate problems that you may not even be aware of but which block your progress through life, work, and relationships. Keeping the closet door closed is not an obvious solution. Organizing your closets IS!

De-clutter your attic and basement

A cluttered attic causes you to feel under pressure. It is not easy to feel good about the future when there is so much stuff “hanging about and over your head.” Organize those boxes of yesteryear and you will feel ten pounds lighter, instantly! The basement and other below-ground storage areas are thought to be holders of the subconscious mind, so take the time and have that clutter cleaned up!

De-clutter your garage

Think of your car as a symbol of your agility, independence, and ability to be self-propelled in life. If there’s so much junk piled high in your garage that you can barely lift the garage door, it is time to organize. Do this and be prepared to move forward in your life, as well.

Stop thinking of de-cluttering as a terrific, and start thinking of it as one of the most effective self-improvement exercises available to you. Every magazine and piece of paper you place in the recycle and every book you give back to the library will liberate you. Just as giving those older items to charity, will. Free yourself now of clutter and open the flood gates of joy and energy into your life.

• Tell yourself (and believe) that some degree of clutter with a child is going to happen no matter what!

• Begin with messes and clutter that you see every day. Work on organizing your kitchen and family room before your hallway closet.

• Assign everything in your house a place. This way when your family searches for something they need, they will know exactly where to find it and where to put it away.

• Use this same principle to organize your silverware, with clearly defined places for every fork and knife, or drawers for ties and socks or, underwear. Think in this same way for every aspect of your home. This will save many hours of searching for things. It will dramatically cut down on the clutter of items left out “for now” or “until I find a place for it.” Develop a new mantra: everything has its place and a place for everything!

Enlist a new rule: throw out one old thing for every new purchase that enters your home.

• When using stairs, never go up or down them empty-handed. Always grab some items that belong to upstairs rooms and quickly put it away while you are there.

• Make a mental note to observe what things pile up in your house and where they cluster, and then come up with a place nearby that becomes the official home where those things will reside. Introduce baskets, shelves, and folders for this purpose. They work well. Set aside one basket for you and your partner for incoming mail, bills, and receipts and letters.

• Create a number of brightly marked folders for discount coupons, invitations and directions, and other time-sensitive papers that just clutter your counters.

• Keep items that are used frequently in places where you can reach them without stooping or bending, and store them close to the place they will be needed.

• Use drawer dividers for socks, underwear, lingerie, and tiny items, to keep them separated and organized.

• Hang hooks for your keys and purse at the entry to your home, so each time you walk in, you can hang them up.

• Establish one defined place in your house for storing library books, and end a house-wide hunt when it is time to read or return them.

• Get rid of all junk drawers, or allow yourself just one that you clear out once a week or more. When you establish certain items are being used repeatedly, designate a drawer for those.

Things you don’t need any longer:

-   Magazines you meant to read but have never taken the time for

-   Expired medications

-   Clothes you no longer wear

-   Sunscreen that’s expired or more than one year old

-   Extra paper or plastic grocery bags

-   Makeup and samples you have never worn

-   Cookbooks you rarely use. Cut out your favorite recipes only

-   Organize your coupons and throw out all that have expired

-   Stuff your crumpled plastic bags from your grocer inside a cardboard roll like a hand towel roll. Keep under your sink.

Getting rid of your clutter and organizing your home top to bottom will free your mind to remember your daily chores. Be vigilant about cleaning about once a month and you will find it much easier to keep up, week-by-week.