Rules Of Order

You don’t need matching baskets to manage your clutter. Professional organiser Fay Wolf shows us a better way.

- Kathy Barnes

There is no right way to organise, says Fay Wolf, a ‘recovering perfectionist’ and author of New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks (and Everyone Else). In fact, the concept of organising can be so overwhelming that many people never try. Her advice? “Embrace the imperfection of it all, and forget being Pinterest-perfect.” You don’t need to buy an expensive storage system. Wolf believes that most messes can be fixed with recycled containers and common sense labelling. Here’s how to get your house in order.

1. CHANGE YOUR THINKING

Let it go. “Once you decide to let go of an item, you free up physical space in your life as well as inner clutter, because you never have to concern yourself with it again,” says Wolf. Shed the idea whether you have it together or you don’t. Organising is an ongoing practice, which means you’re never done. Don’t let the project size stop you from starting. Doing something is better than doing nothing!

2. GET MESSY