Q: I have stacks of magazines with articles about “how to declutter your home.” I’ve read them all, yet my home is still…cluttered. How can I change this – and finally get organized?

A: Your leaning tower of mags (and all your other piles) are about to disappear! Here’s your step-by-step action plan, including five easy ways to declutter your home right now.

If you want to declutter your home, there are typically five top trouble spots to tackle. Sometimes, you feel utterly hopeless trying to organize them – even just a little. Sometimes, you secretly fantasize about wiping out the entire room with a wrecking ball to finally get rid of the mess. Sometimes, you just tell yourself: “What’s the point?!”

Good news, you can cancel your Amazon order for that wrecking ball. Here are five easy ways to declutter your home right now…

1. Declutter Your Home Office

The problem: Overcrowded libraries with books, magazines, and files – as well as large electronics like computers, printers, and shredders – translate to little useable, extra space.

The solution:

• Toss magazines and newspapers first, as they are normally the easiest to part with and will give you a motivating “win” to start.
• Give away unwanted books to charity.
• If your budget allows, consider switching out a desktop computer for a laptop, opening up more room.
• Dust, label, and arrange the computer cables in an attractive manner.

2. Declutter Your Bedroom Closet

The problem: Closets always seem too small, especially if you have a big shoe (purse, hat, scarf, jacket, whatever) collection!

The solution:

• Remove out-of-season clothing and accessories, and place them elsewhere in the home.
• Relocate or purge any items that don’t belong in a clothes closet, like sports equipment, papers, and junk.
• Then situate the remaining in-season items as if on display in your favorite store or magazine.

3. Declutter Your Kitchen

The problem: As the heart of the home, the kitchen sees high-traffic volumes – and it normally looks worse for wear.

The solution:

• Make your kitchen into an orderly command center. Remember, you want to make sure that your kitchen has everything you need to survive a crisis, not that it looks like you just went through one.
• Rethink any small appliances you don’t use on a daily basis.
• Chuck the junk mail, and use a tidy basket to hold bills and other essential paperwork.

4. Declutter Your Garage

The problem: The garage is a catch-all for…well, everything.

The solution:

• Pull everything out of the garage, purge the clutter, and then separate the remaining items into categories like auto accessories, camping equipment, yard tools, recycling containers, etc.
• Find a home for and use tasteful storage to display each category. The key to organizing a garage is to make use of the elevated space, like the walls for storage racks and the ceiling for a false attic.

5. Declutter Your Porch, Patio, and Yard

Which most people don’t consider when decluttering, actually, and that’s really…

The problem: It’s easy to ignore the dead patch of grass in the backyard or the eyesore on the porch because you have more pressing matters, but the outside of a home is reflective of the inside.

The solution:

• Have a “discovery session,” where you walk around your house, making a list of necessary outdoor improvements.
• Then schedule a daily to-do on your calendar, or outsource the tasks (a great chore for kids!) until all items are crossed off.

See, I promised. Oh-so easy!

And the best part? No wrecking ball necessary.

Carmen Coker
Professional Organizer