As January is in full swing, I am craving organization and minimalism. During the holidays my children get an obscene amount of stuff, and my husband and I get more than we need. That is why we have decided that next Christmas we will ask our family and friends to buy us less or no gifts. I know it might be hard for our parents and grandparents as they live for gift-giving, however, we want to encourage experiences over stuff, like sporting events, gift cards, etc. Even better, I want to encourage our families to work together to pool our resources to support a local family in need.

This intention and goodwill will not help us this year, as the amount toys, books and games has taken over my home, and I am constantly looking for ways to manage it. This year, I enlisted the help of professional  organizer Anne Gideon of Just Get Organized in order to establish some helpful tips to manage the holiday hangover. Anne has been in the organizing business for over 17 years and works with clients all over the GTA - Read Anne’s top 10 reasons to de-clutter for some inspiration.

Here are some of Anne’s helpful tips on how to better organize your home and ways to teach your kids to do the same.

• Focus on one room at a time: Tackle every drawer, closet and corner in that room.  Determine the function in each space and only have items that support that room. For example, a guest room should only have items like linens, towels and greenery. All too often guest rooms become a dumping ground for off season clothes, wrapping paper and junk

• De-clutter: Anne made a statement that is extremely insightful and will stick with me forever: CLUTTER IS POSTPONED DECISIONS. That’s right clutter is stuff you don’t know what do you with. When de-cluttering, take the time to think about how often you use the item and how it serves you in your everyday life. Try to emotionally detach yourself from the item and envision a clutter free space that will bring you calm and a sense of accomplishment.

Get your Kids on board and establish organizing skills early.

• Organize & Purge: My boys like most kids, get bored of their toys pretty quickly and they end up sitting in a corner collecting dust. With the exception of Lego, hot wheels cars and art supplies, everything else has a short life span. Editing and donating toys and books is a great way to manage clutter. Anne suggests doing a big edit and purge 1-2 months before your child’s birthday and Christmas – in order to make room for the inevitable number of items to come. Organize by categories (ie./ stuffies, trucks, dolls etc) and let your child decide which items are special to them. Allow your child play while you sort their room, and then bring them in every 20 minutes or so to get them involved in the editing process.

• Bedrooms are for reading and sleeping: Keeping with the theme above to have items in rooms that support that room – that rule is very important when it comes to kids rooms. A child’s room, like any bedroom, should be for sleep and reading. Too many toys and clutter can interrupt a child’s sleep. You can have one category of toys in a room like stuffed toys or Lego, however, everything else should be housed somewhere else like a toy room, living room or basement. Arts and craft can be housed in the kitchen where creating usually takes place.

Encourage Daily Tidy Up: I struggle with this one. Sometimes I find it easier to tidy up myself, instead of begging and pleading with my 4 and 6 year old boys to pick up after themselves. However, I know that doing it for them this isn’t going to serve me or them, now or in the future. So, every night and a few moments on the weekend we have been working on keeping our spaces clean. Also, once everything is organized, toys and games have a home, your children will be more inclined to put stuff away.

 If you found this post and tips helpful and would like to know more, please contact Anne. She will help you get organized and simplify your life!