You have too much clutter in your home. So what do you do? How do you decide where to start so you can reduce the clutter in your home and make your walkways safe once more?

Getting started is easier than you think. If you want to take control of clutter, get a few boxes — start with one for each room in your home and begin organizing one room at a time.

“Begin this initiative by removing everything on top of your cabinets, tables and in bookcases, and then place it all in a box,” said Keith McCleary, academic director of Interior Design at The Art Institute of York — Pennsylvania. If there are other random accessories in the room, remove those, too. Keep just the basic furnishings. Now sit with the room in its simplest form for a short time.

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After a day or two has passed, go back to the box and look for items that define your personality, or will be noticed by guests visiting your home. “Ask yourself: when is enough, enough?” said McCleary. “Each piece of furniture in the room can function to complement. Accessories and works of art should contrast.”

Interior design students at The Art Institute are taught to help their clients step back and ask themselves: Is it finished now? You can err when you go shopping and purchase nice pieces for your home, because before long you may have accumulated too many of those nice things. Take a hard look at some of those things you don’t really want or need; it might be time to share that stuff with your local Goodwill.

After you complete this exercise in each room in your home, you’ll notice that the clutter has disappeared. Now you can recognize how attractive the remaining items are in that same space. This initiative takes determination and focus, but when you’ve completed the exercise, your focus can be on the lovely space you’ve recreated. To learn more about The Art Institute schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/nz.

This article is courtesy of Brandpoint.

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