One Type of Clutter You Can Save

I am not opposed to saving "just in case I need this one day in a very specific scenario" items IF you have a dedicated spot that is easy to remember and easy to access. Shoved randomly in a junk drawer does not count!

The key is to:

1. Define the category clearly

2. Dedicate a container to that category

3. Put the container out of the way of your daily life but easy to find when you need it.

Need some concrete examples?

1.      Extra Hardware for Furniture

Does it feel scary to trash the allen wrench and spare bolts that came with your Ikea desk? Shove those babies in a Ziploc bag and label the bag “Ikea desk, Mike’s office.” Put that Ziploc bag in a plastic bin labeled “Extra Hardware.” This bin can live in the garage or basement. If you are someone who feels more comfortable keeping a paper copy of an appliance manual, those manuals can live in this bin, too. When that bin becomes full, take a few minutes to assess the contents and determine if anything can be trashed… maybe the hardware for a lantern you installed 15 years ago in a house you owned in another state? You can safely trash these without fear that you will want them in the future.

2.      Mystery Keys

Do you have keys in a junk drawer that you are saving because they might be important but have no known use currently? Stick them in a bag or container and label it “Mystery Keys.” Add the date so if you don’t touch the keys for 2 years you know it’s safe to trash the bag.

3.      Beauty Products I Might Want to Try

Is your bathroom counter currently cluttered with 30 products but you only actually put 5 things on your face each day? You don’t have to do an extreme declutter and trash the rarely used stuff, but put it in its own bin on a high closet shelf. Label the bin “Maybe Beauty” or “Try Later Stash” (anything that makes sense to your brain.) Things like a free face mask you want to try sometime or a shade of lipstick you won’t wear until next summer can live in this bin. They are there for you when you want them but they aren’t taking up prime real estate on your counter every day. You can rotate items in and out of the bin as the seasons change or your habits shift. You can also use this bin as a sort of purgatory for items you might eventually throw away but aren’t quite sure about yet…

4.      Clothes that Don’t Fit

There are many reasons why you might want to keep clothing that doesn’t currently fit on your body. If you are a woman in the midst of pregnancy, postpartum, or hormone shifts you will very reasonably want to hold onto clothes for a future season of life. You may also be wanting to hold onto some clothes that used to fit and you hope will fit again someday. I do not push clients to declutter every piece of clothing that doesn’t fit. I do suggest that a client decides how much storage space they are willing to dedicate to “maybe someday” clothes. In practical terms this could mean dedicating one large bin to clothes that don’t fit but are special. The bin is your limit for how much you keep.

 

Extra Game Pieces

This one is a bit niche, but if you are a big board game family, it might make sense to have a dedicated bin is for spare board games pieces like dice and pawns. When a game wears out you can keep the dice and pawns as back ups for the next time a piece goes missing. You could also toss random puzzle pieces in here when you’re vacuuming and find a piece that might go with a puzzle you still have. Keep the bin of spare pieces in your game cabinet.

 

The “What is this?”/ “Maybe Trash?” Bin

This one is kind of funny but you know you encounter objects in your home that look like they are important but have no known function. These typically get tossed in a junk drawer, or any drawer, but consider intentionally creating a bin for them and label it “What is this?” or “Maybe Trash.” Now these random, possibly important objects have a home. You can evict them after a while but they won’t just randomly be mixed in with things you are needing and using every day.

 

Let the “maybe someday” items have their space… but keep them out of the way of the life you know you are living right now!

 

Happy Organizing!