How do we create a clean house?

Most people want a clean house. How do we do it? Do I need a professional organizer?

Right now my home is in shambles. We're doing a major renovation of our house and we are preparing to move out for a while. I've pulled everything out of bookcases, closets, nook and crannies in order to pack.

It's a disaster. It looks like an episode of Clean House.

But it's also a great lesson in HOW to clean your house! The mantra is: everything in it's right place (isn't that a Radiohead song?)

Everything in it's right place, everything in it's right place...

Clutter is created either by not having a place to put things (like putting the mail on the kitchen counter, leaving your dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, or piling the toys up in a corner) or by simply being too lazy to put things where they belong. If you are reading this I'm sure you're not the lazy type!

Designate a space that you will arrange all your clutter. This could be a spare room, the garage, the yard, or the dining room table. Clear the other areas of ALL clutter.

Don't the rooms look nice now? Don't you wish they could stay this way?

Now, one piece at a time, find a place for that "clutter". Think hard before you put it somewhere. Evaluate. Ask yourself "is this the right place?" and "do I really want this here?" Most of the items should end up out of sight, but nothing should look out of place.

There will probably be items you can not find a place for (your barbie collection? Precious Moments figurines? Big buddha statue? 87 pairs of shoes?). You now have two choices: either create a new space to put these things (such as buy a new piece of furniture or build an addition) or GET RID OF IT!

Let it go. If you haven't used it in a year, you probably never will. Ebay is a wonderful place to sell items with value that you can ship, otherwise you'll probably have to give it away or have a yard sale.

A clean house is a happy house. Be happy!

Do you have other cleaning or organization ideas? Share them!