Cleaning up Household Clutter Is Part of Spring was written by Julie Crawford and originally published in North Shore News.

SPRING is sprung, the grass is ris: I wonder where my cell phone is?

Ah, spring! That season where things bloom and multiply, including the piles of papers, fliers and laundry in my home. My life is a daily treasure-hunt for those dastardly keys, notebook and wallet, all of which like to burrow underneath the piles of stuff I’ve acquired.

Linda Chu, professional organizer, and owner of Out of Chaos: Professional Organizing Solutions, insists that I am not alone. People’s hearts beat a little faster in springtime, as they eye the bits and pieces they’ve collected over the winter.

“In spring the sun shines into all those crevices that were dark,” she says. “We see all the dust and the boxes that have accumulated.”

It’s a time for crocuses and new beginnings, she says. “People are busting out of their shells, so it’s part and parcel for them to want to reclaim their spaces at this time of year.”

The trick is to go beyond spring cleaning and develop a system that will keep you and your home better organized.

Chu and re-designer Lyn Spicer will host a seminar entitled Conquering Clutter: Reorganize and Redesign March 28 at John Braithwaite recreation centre. The talk promises practical tips on how to develop organizing systems and design strategies for your home.

A lot of people are seduced by home magazines and decoration programs that feature uber—organized families in pristine homes. But where’s all their stuff?

“We watch TV shows and see these miraculous reveals,” she says. “But what’s happening during the commercials? What are they not allowing back onto the set?”

You have kids, you’ve got photos, you’ve got finger-painted drawings: you don’t see that in the design magazines, notes Chu.

A space can’t be beautified until all that stuff is dealt with, so decluttering is the first challenge for designers as they enter a client’s home.

Our living spaces are a lot leaner. “When did a 700 square-foot become a two bedroom?” asks Chu. “We used to have broom closets, remember them?” So our spaces are smaller, plus we have more possessions than ever. Chu’s clients frequently include members of the “the sandwich generation”: people who are raising children and also have their parents living under the same roof.

That means kids’ toys, plus 40 or 50 years of parent’ possessions. “So how do you put your family on a clutter diet, and sort through the mass of accumulation for the nuggets?”

It’s not about hiding it all away, she insists. “If you do have something that’s precious to you and it’s hidden, you’re not recognizing its value.”

There are practical design tips that allow you to bring these treasures to the fore, without tripping over them on your way to the door.

That could mean grouping a series of framed photos together, creating a focal point, rather than just having one frame per expanse of wall. And when your home is so full of possessions, you may not be able to see that there is a common theme at play or a colour that could tie all the elements together. “Sometimes a strange eye can see a colour combination, a design thread that would be a natural complement to the background colour,” says Chu.

Use furniture to full advantage: a curio table is functional and can display that precious collection of china miniatures from Aunt Eleanor. Chu calls it “the practical and pretty” at work.

Keep to classic styles, which never go out of fashion. Not everyone can afford to reinvent themselves each time the colours change. If you stick to a fairly neutral background then you can play with colour and texture in your accessories.

Storage lockers are just a way to put off the decision-making process for another day.

“The big secret is, later never comes.” That moment of indecision is what causes the piles in your home, says Chu. “The moment you put it down, you’re a goner.”

Chu’s uses the five-step S.P.A.C.E. process* (sort, purge, assign, contain, then evaluate items for function and form) makes clients look at each and every item in their home anew. “People have no choice but to live leaner, but you don’t have to ferret out all the things that are important to you.”

Couple that purging of household clutter with sensible design tricks and you’re well on your way to a more livable home.

For more information on how to eliminate household clutter, visit www.outofchaos.ca.

*The S.P.A.C.E. principle was originally developed by Julie Morgenstern in her book Organizing from the Inside Out.