One great thing, {I read somewhere} for kitchen items was to take everything out {say cooking utensils} and put them in a box. Everytime you need something go get it out of the box, use it, wash it of course and put it BACK in the normal spot, or drawer, etc. Keep doing it. What is left in the box in say a month or two, get rid of because you don’t use the items! For clothes, hang everything in the closet with the hanger facing backwards, where you have to work to get it around the pole. Hang it the “right”, normal way after washing. At the end of a few months, what is still backwards you DO NOT WEAR! Evaluate why it never gets worn. Too small, too big, wrong color, nothing to wear with it. Solve the problem or get rid of it! Do this every season.

Speaking of clothes, another great tip I have learned, is to put up a wire shelf with a rod in the laundry room, or buy one of those free standing racks. On wash day round up all the empty hangers and put them on the rack. Take clothes right out of the dryer and hang them up. Then carry the hung clothes to the proper closet! No more piles all over the couch until someone folds them, and THEN puts them all away. Little to no ironing needed as well! You can also assign certain colored hangers to each child for them to easily recognize their items. Just fold towels and non hanging items right out of the dryer as well, then carry to proper place and your job is done! Board Games, clean out and organize all your family’s board games. Put a rubber band or a piece of yarn around each game. Have the kids remove the rubber band or string when they play the game. After 6 months or so, check the games. Whichever games still has them, are not being played. Evaluate if you should find a new home for them!

Books and Videos, I know with homeschoolers this is a very touchy subject. After having to pay out-of-pocket for extra weight on our moving allowance, because of a lot of book boxes, I realized that the library can “hold” my items just as well a I could! So, we have 3 book cases. If new books come in, they must fit on one of the bookcases or it’s time to clean out the old ones! For Videos, we have a dresser with 4 deep drawers and our entertainment center has one more. No new videos come in the house, unless we clean out to make room for them in the drawers.

Toys and Stuffed Animals, how about giving the rotation method a try. Separate out all the kids toys into 2 or 3 piles, depending on the amount of kids and toys of course. Then box up one pile (or 2), storing away in the attic, basement or garage and find places for the items in the other pile, back in the play area. Rotate the toys out every 6 months or so. The kids will feel like they are seeing old friends and discovering new favorite toys. Growing up my parents always had us do a big clean out in the fall, “to make room for the new stuff” we would get for coming holiday gifts. This always helped get us in the mood to get rid of things we really didn’t use, like or play with anymore.

~A place for Everything and Everything in its place ~

These few tips and having a couple of yard sales a year help keep the clutter down. I would love to hear any tips that have worked for your family.

Tracy is first and foremost a Christian, a military wife and mother. She grew up as a military brat all over the USA and is married to her Air Force, pastor husband of 15 years. They have 2 beautiful teenage children that they home school. She is photographer, and owns Shots From the Heart Photography and loves to do what she calls “Capturing the Fingerprints of God!” in her images. Tracy also created a workshop called Mommytography, where she teaches Mom’s how to take better pictures. You can visit her at her blog: Lighthouse Academy Home & School