Getting Your Home Organized: Are You Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010

Some people have so much clutter and so much stuff all over the place, they think all it's going to take is some fancy storage system they have in the home improvement store and everything will be fine.

A few shelves here and a few more drawers there... and presto!

Everything is organized.

But it's usually not the case.

I used to have clients call me up because all they wanted was a "system" for their closet or garage.

But when I get to their home, I realize the problem is much deeper and extremely common.

TO MUCH STUFF!

And usually, adding storage only masks a bigger problem.

See, some people think just by putting in storage they can keep more stuff, when in fact all that's happening is you're moving things around, making you think you are more organized, but in reality you still have the same amount of clutter ... it's just a little neater.

Which brings me to the point of "putting the cart before the horse."

Before you even think about storage, you have to do a real, honest assessment of the things you own.

I can almost guarantee you can get rid of some things.

Clothes, books, tools, boxes of who-knows-what, spare parts, junk...junk...junk.

So before you even think about spending money on storage systems - whether it's cheap metal shelving or high-end fancy shelving units, start with the horse.

The clutter.

Get rid of things you don't need. Clear off the counters. Empty the drawers.

Have a yard sale and clear some space.

Then, you can work on the cart.