Tackling clutter is the first step to achieving an organized home. In this chapter we’ll cover the all-important work of paring down your stuff to keep only the things you really need, really use, and really love. As for the rest, you can send it out the door to the landfill, to a friend or charity, or, if you absolutely can’t part with it, into long-term storage. Because a cluttered home can never be an organized home, you have to pitch before you can progress.

The next step is to examine how you use each room in your home. Are your things where they need to be, close to where you use them most often? Are there conflicts within spaces that lead to clutter and inefficiency, such as a family room that serves as living space, home office, and kids’ play headquarters? Where does clutter tend to grow the fastest and why?

Finally, we’ll discuss some techniques for maintaining order in your newly organized spaces. With the right storage systems in place, you’ll find that keeping ahead of clutter is all about good habits, not about changing who you are. In other words, you don’t have to be a born neatnik to make it work (although you will have to get all the other slobs in the house to follow the plan).