It’s the most wonderful time of the year -- time to send the tweens and teens 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 teens head back to school and you take the steps to get your house back in order, I have ten tips and tricks to de-clutter and organize your home this fall:
- Before the onslaught of this school year’s crush of homework, make sure you have de-cluttered last year’s! Pull out all the homework from the previous school year (empty backpacks, desk drawers and those piles you've been meaning to tackle) and pick the best of the best - that great poem they wrote about their birthday, or that amazing paper that will get them into college. Save the things that are substantial and will remind you who they were at this time in their lives.
- After a summer of “I’m bored” you’ll have a great idea of what your teens really play with and use. Time to donate or toss items that they have outgrown. By the time that your kids reach the teenage years, it’s time to let go of the bulk of their childhood toys and kid’s books. Keep the best of the best for the sake of memories (or the “someday there will be grandkids” box), but the rest can go!
- Did summer reading lists create a glut of books in your home? Time to do a purge of the books that won’t be re-read or will never be read. Of course there are classics and favorites that will be kept, but ask your kids if they really are going to read Guardians of the Galaxy 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 weekends. Check with your local library to see if they are accepting books.
- Puberty means that your kids have outgrown a lot of last year’s clothes. Time to do a deep dive on their clothes and donate or toss the clothes they don’t wear anymore. 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 anymore. First, take an inventory 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 in the hand-me-down box. Also, consider doing a clothes swap with other families.
- Most kids get new backpacks for the 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. A lot of people aren't aware that most 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 from 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.
- Everyone is back at or has moved on to a new sport, so back-to-school is a great time to get rid of old sports equipment and out-of-date uniforms. A client once 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 work work with a girl's school there 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.
- Once everyone is settled in their new schedules, pull all the towels out and see which ones can go. This is an easy one. 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.
- Tackle your garage. Twenty-five percent 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! 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/clutter that come in.
- Constant snacking has probably turned the kitchen upside down. It’s time to return order and systems back to the kitchen. 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. 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. Forty percent 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!
- Next year think about de-cluttering during the summer, but while the kids are away. Once back-to-school hits, everyone is running at top speed.
About Tracy McCubbin
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.
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. OneKid OneWorld is Tracy's “full time, non-paying passion.”
