Company’s Coming! Decluttering your home

Company’s coming! What a great way to make sure you are organized! These words strike fear and get you in gear.  It’s time to tackle the guest room and the dining room.  Decluttering your home before company comes creates an inviting and welcoming space for them.  Follow these 5 easy steps to declutter and be ready for visitors.

Guest rooms become storage.  Dining rooms become work areas.  Both are easy spots throughout the year just to drop off bags from the car or other purchases you have not found a home for yet.  Set aside time on your calendar in 2 hour segments for decluttering.  You can get these areas back to their original use easily and efficiently.

• Reset and distribute.  Start by grouping items and then distributing to appropriate spots in your home.  Your kids can help by being runners. You can use a basket or plastic tote to help carry items to where they belong.

• Organize room by room.  Next go room by room and incorporate those items.  This will require some editing and blending of new and already owned items.  Get ready to cast off and donate what you have replaced with newer items.

• Create mobile storage.  If your dining room was used as a craft room, think about storing crafts in 3 drawer sterilite rolling cart. These can be rolled to the garage for storage while your room is being used for holiday dinners.

• Power through paper clutter.  If paper was stashed in your guest room, consolidate it into bags.  Use 15 minute time pockets to power through what you are keeping and what you are discarding.  Once you have culled this down, set up 15 minute periods to file. Powering through paper helps you know what to keep and what to discard.

• Fun and function.  Set your table for your holiday dinner early. It will keep your table from getting cluttered again.

• Freshen up.  Freshen up your guest room with new linens, a small tray of toiletries and mints, and fresh flowers to keep your room ready for guests.

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