I grew up in a rather messy household, my room included. However, through the years I have come to realize that perhaps it was less the way I cleaned my room and more the amount of stuff in my room. I don't remember a time when my room was not messy, I also don't remember ever having to get rid of any toys. This idea holds true with my mother. I recently began to clean and organize her craft room and inside we found refund stuff from perhaps before I was even born. She obviously has trouble getting rid of things. I think a lot of people that have trouble organizing and de-cluttering have this problem. I know that since getting out of college I have tried to keep my stuff to the bare minimums. So far, this has worked quite nicely

Whether you are cleaning out a room in your house, or just a pocketbook, I suggest you emptying it out completely first. The exception to this rule though is any large furniture you plan on keeping in the room, that can stay. Though if you are also planning on painting the room I suggest that goes as well. This will really give you a good idea of the space, and how much can reasonably fit in such space. If you are converting an old bedroom, as my parents have done, into an office or library or other such room, this will also give you a better idea of how the room will work in it's new capacity. You will see this idea used all the time in home improvement shows on tv like Clean House and Trading Spaces. There's a reason for it, it works.

No, I'm not asking you to go puke in the bathroom, I'm simply suggesting you get rid of anything that is not key to the room it is going back in. Get rid of any clothes that no longer fit, or have some kind of wear issue (ex. they are ripped, are missing a button, or need to be hemmed) if you haven't taken care of that problem now you never will. Also, get rid of clothes you never wear anymore. If it doesn't have any sentimental value it needs to be as good as gone. For those with some sort of sentimental value give it a good think before keeping it. Think about why it has meaning to you and if others in your family might want to hold on to it as well, then feel free to keep it for them, if they are grandchildren for example, or if it might mean something more to someone else, give it to them. If however, you can find a proper place for it in the new room and it does not add clutter, then keep it. I know I only spoke of clothes but this goes for everything. Remember that junk drawer you have, do you really need two handfuls of pens? If they work and you can't bear to get rid of them think of donating them. Perhaps a local school could use them or a senior center. I'm sure you can think of many other examples of things to purge.

Now, take everything you have decided to keep and begin categorizing things. If you are organizing a bookcase you may want to organize books by genre, or author, if you have a lot of the same. Clothes can get organized by when you wear them, color, or kind(ex. t-shirts, jeans, etc). If you are going through a craft room it is a good idea to get lots of clear bins and a label maker. This way all of your scrapbook paper can have it's own home, and it's own clearly marked address. Next time you want to do some scrapbooking you won't be discouraged because you can't find your tools. You can keep a "junk" drawer but try to label that as well, perhaps it is the office drawer with things like pens, and rubber bands? Or the workshop drawer that holds screwdrivers and lightbulbs. Try and think outside of Miscellaneous. This category can mean anything and will not help when trying to find something. Perhaps that box of miscellaneous is really hair doo-dad's or kitchen thingy-ma-bobbers. Whatever the case, doo-dad's and thingy-ma-bobbers will probably be easier to remember than miscellaneous, and more fun to say.

Now comes the end of your work. Begin by putting the furniture where it belongs, this is also a good time to redcorate a bit, perhaps that sofa would look better pulled away from the wall, or the bed could be put up against a different wall. This will also help in the re-fill as you won't be putting things right back where they were before. Obviously keep like things with like, scrapbooking stuff goes with scrapbooking stuff, etc. You may also want to create seperate areas throughout the room. I did this in my last apartment. I had a sleeping area, an office area, and a seating area. This helps even more to organize. The key really to having an organized house, pocketbook, car, whatever, is simply knowing where everything is. This way, when you come home with something new you can know right where to put it rather than putting it any old place. Happy Organizing!