Guest Post by
Tracy McCubbin, Founder, dClutterfly
Website: https://tracymccubbin.com/
Non-Profit Website: http://onekidoneworld.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tracy_mccubbin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracy_mccubbin/
It’s the most wonderful time of the year -- time to send the
kids back to school and reclaim your household! After a summer of camps
and goofing around inside, your house may need a little tough love to get back
into shape for the fall. Research shows that the average American home has 300,000 items in it, and back-to-school is the perfect time to get rid of
the ones that you don’t need anymore.
As the kids head back to school and you
take the steps to get your house back and order, I’m sharing ten of my favorite tips and
tricks to declutter and organize your home this fall:
1.
Pull out all the
homework and artwork from the previous school year. Before the onslaught of this
school year’s homework and artwork, make
sure you have decluttered last year’s. We all know Little Timmy is smart
as a whip, but you don't need to keep every piece of homework he brings.
Homework has one purpose and one purpose only: to help kids learn. It's not to
be immortalized in boxes in the garage that you'll never look it. Empty
backpacks, desk drawers and those piles you've been meaning to tackle and pick
the best of the best. Save the things that are substantial and remind you who
they were at the time in their lives. As
for artwork, how many turkey hands does one family need? Pare down to a small
but great representation of their masterpieces and let the rest go. Take photos if you just can't bare to let
them go. You might want to also consider
making art books out of the artwork. A
crayon self portrait looks so much better in a book for the long run than in a
box in your garage. You can make them yourself with any number of apps but if
you need a little help, I love Souvenartebooks!
2.
Donate (or toss if
they are broken) toys that didn’t get used this summer. After a summer of “I’m bored,” you’ll have a great idea
of what toys your kids really play with. And don’t forget the holidays (AKA more
stuff) are just around the corner. 3.1% of the world’s children live in
America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally. The new school year
will jump them to the next developmental level, so really be honest about
what's going to get played with. If
letting go of toys is difficult for your kid, try the half way there approach.
Sort the toys into four piles: keep, donate, trash and not quite yet. Box up the “not quite yet toys” and put in a
closet or garage. Tell your kids if they
really miss the toy and want to play
with it, it's right there. But chances
are, out of sight, out of mind, especially with all the homework coming their
way.
3.
Did summer reading lists create a glut of books in your
home?
Time to do a purge of the books that won’t get read again or won’t ever
be read. Of course there are classics
and favorites that will be kept but ask your kids if they really are going to
read Captain Underpants for the 4th time. Most libraries are facing deep budget cuts so
lots of them have turned to book sales to keep their doors open a little later
and on weekend. Check with your local
library to see if they are accepting books and while you are there, return
those overdue library books!
4.
Running around in bathing suits and sprouting up like
weeds means your kids have outgrown a lot of last year’s clothes. Time to do a deep
dive on their clothes and donate the clothes they don’t wear or can’t fit into
any more. This is a great process to involve kids in as it gets them used
to the idea of letting go of stuff they don't use or wear any more. First do a pass when they are at school and
make a pile of the clothes you think are too small or worn out. Then when they are home, ask them what they
are okay letting go of. Have them try it
one to make sure it really fits. If
there are younger siblings or cousins, put them the hand-me-down box. Also, consider doing a clothes swap with
other families. Peace Love Swap can help you organize
one. And don't forget back-to-school
school shopping is on the agenda so make some room!
5.
Donate old
backpacks. Most kids get new backpacks for each school year. If last year’s pack is still in good shape,
think about donating to a local nonprofit that works with foster kids.
Use this as an opportunity to declutter backpacks, duffle bags and suitcases. Foster
kids are in dire need of suitcases, duffle bags and backpacks. Because they are moving around so much and
don't have a permanent home, they often move to foster home to foster home with
their belongings in a trash bag. Finding
a local organization that provides these donations to local foster kids is a
great way to teach your kids about giving back.
6.
Donate old sports equipment. Has the team gotten a new logo making the old
uniforms out-of-date? A client called me up to say that her daughter's school
team got a new logo and they had so many uniforms that were in great shape but
they didn't know what to do with them. I
happened to be going to Kenya at that time to work with a girl's school there,
so I volunteered to bring the uniforms to Nyamasare Girl's School and Orphanage
for their football team. They were so
excited about the new uniforms, they changed their mascot to the tiger to match
the shirts. Talk to the coach about
doing a team cleat drive. Everybody wins!
7.
Donate old towels to local animal rescue groups. Pool, river, lake, or ocean have all wreaked havoc on your towels. Once
everyone is settled into their new schedules, pull all the towels out and see
which ones can go. This is an easy one
because a tired towel is a tired towel.
Keep a couple on hand for spills and floods, but donate the rest to a
local animal rescue group. I even had a
family recently that took piles and piles of old towels to the SPCA and came
home with a new dog!
8.
Tackle your garage. 25% of people with two-car
garages don’t have room to park cars inside them, and after a summer of
everyone home, the garage has become the dumping ground. Tackle this before winter comes because this
is one of the biggest jobs on the list but maybe the most satisfying! Take a little time to come up with a plan to
attack the garage. First, start with the
purging. Then determine if some shelving
would help keep you organized moving into the school year. Remember an organized garage is like staying
thin -- you have to be vigilant about the amount of calories/things that come
in or else the weigh/clutter will pile on!
9.
Return order to the kitchen. Constant
summertime snacking has probably turned the kitchen upside down. The kitchen is a
great place to start with a purge!
Kitchens are magnets for clutter and you have to be brutal with the
purge, otherwise you are drowning in coffee cups you never use. The first place to start is with food storage
containers. Bring them all out on the
kitchen counter and match tops with bottoms.
If there's no top (or bottom) … OUT!
Check your plates, if they are chipped and broken, time to let go. Is there a drawer of old plastic Disney
plates that the kids aren't using anymore? Time to donate them. Next, take a look at your pantry. I feel really strongly about the food waste problem in this country.
40% of the food in the United States is never eaten, but at the same
time, one in eight Americans struggles to put enough food on the table. That being said, we all have lots of food in
our cupboards that our families won't ever eat.
So when doing your pantry purge, call your local food bank and see if
they take slightly “expired” food. Most
do! This is also a great time to take
stock of what foods the family really eats.
I like to make a master grocery list that lives on the computer or can
be printed out. That way, before you go
to the store, you can check the pantry to make sure you don't buy staples you
already have. And to stay ahead of the
clutter in the school year, never go to the grocery without a list. It's a surefire way to over buy.
10.
Next year think about doing this decluttering while the
kids are at sleep away camp! Once
back-to-school hits, everyone is running at top speed. Many of my clients book me for one of the
weeks that the kids are away at camp, and then save the second week for a
kid-free staycation!
Happy Decluttering!
Tracy has always referred to herself as “obsessive
compulsive delightful,” but who knew she could turn that trait into a booming
business? Nearly ten years ago, while working for a major television director
in Los Angeles, Tracy discovered she had the ability to see through any mess
and clearly envision a clutter-free space. Coupled with keen time-management
and organizational skills, Tracy soon found more and more people were asking
her for help. Before she knew it, dClutterfly was born.
Ten years and over 1,200 jobs later, dClutterfly has been
named “Best in Nest” by DailyCandy and has received the Super Service Award
from Angie's List for five years. Tracy is a regularly featured expert on KTLA
Morning Show, KCAL9, and Good Day Sacramento. She and her company have also
been featured in Real Simple, Women's Day and ShopSmart. Along with her team of
expert dClutterers, Tracy is ready to tackle any project, big or small.
In
addition to her impressive organizing tool belt, Tracy grew up with family
members who hoarded and knows firsthand that the effects of living amongst an
accumulation of possessions goes far beyond the home’s walls. This personal
experience gives her an advantage over most professional organizers as she has
a unique understanding of the mindset of the organizationally and
spatially-challenged.
When
she is not dCluttering, Tracy is the proud Co-Executive Director of OneKid
OneWorld, a non-profit building strong educational foundations for children in
impoverished communities throughout Kenya and Central America. OKOW is
providing kids with the basic (yet essential) fundamentals like desks and
books, as well as paying teachers’ salaries, building classrooms and even
installing solar power technology so students can study at night. OKOW's most
recent project #OneGirlOnePad will provide access to reusable feminine hygiene
kits to over 4,000 girls in Kenya, allowing them to attend school all year
round. OneKid OneWorld is Tracy's “full time, non-paying passion.”
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