If you're looking to get organized in an area of your home, these 10 easy steps will help you get started.
Focus on the bigger picture. Ask yourself: "Why do I want to get organized? What am I looking to gain?" With these goals in mind, evaluate the quality and quantity of the things occupying your physical space. Once you've identified your big-picture intention for getting organized, write it down.
Visualize your desired result. Imagine your dream space. For inspiration tear out some inspirational pages from magazines, or I really like making a Pinterest Board! Having an image in mind, along with your big-picture intention, will help clarify what to keep and what to get rid of.
Choose an area of focus. Break down the job of getting organized into smaller, more manageable tasks, and focus on one small area at a time. Make each room a separate project, and subdivide further within each room. Trying to do everything all at once could easily leave you with a larger mess than what you began with. (Select your bedroom for example, then start with a desk drawer, a bookshelf, a closet, the top of a dresser, etc.)
Clear the space. Nothing says possibility like a blank canvas. Remove everything from the area you are organizing, clean it off, and you're ready to get started.
Sort into four piles. Use boxes or bags to sort everything into the following self-explanatory categories: keep, toss, donate, fix. When selecting what to toss, ask yourself, "Could I actually donate or recycle this?" and with the fix pile, again be truthful with yourself, "Do I actually have the time, tools, and capacity to fix this?"
Revisit the keep pile. Ask yourself if you love and use what you are keeping and whether is reflects your big-picture intention. If objects of sentimental value bring you joy, keep them!
Give everything a home. Decide where each item will live, keeping like things together.
Choose containers. Buy containers only after you know what you'll be storing and where. **Measure the space where the container will go before you head to the store. This step is very important!
Maintain. Don't put it down, put it away! This is a great habit to establish everywhere in your home.
Tune and tweak as needed. As life changes, organizing also needs to change. Be willing to revamp your systems in order to keep up with your changing life!