This is the story of the incredible shrinking house.
It seemed like a mansion when you first bought it. There were lots of bedrooms and a large family room and dining room. The kitchen had plenty of cabinet space and room for a table.
As the years wore on, the bedrooms began to shrink as you added new furniture, drawers of clothes, rows and rows of books and an overwhelming supply of toys for the kids. Now the family room is littered with your video and CD collection and there is barely enough wall space for a large screen television.
If your house seems to be bulging at the seams, then removing some of the clutter might be the answer. Clutter can have a negative emotional effect, as it makes some people feel that they are unorganized and out of control. Even a true pack rat will admit to feeling a little anxious about opening the closet or basement door.
Clutter can take many forms, from old newspapers that are piled on tables, desks and chairs to boxes of sewing patterns and fabric samples to piles of toys and stuffed animals. The goal in sorting through clutter is to find a place for everything, whether that place is in the garbage can, on a new shelving unit in the garage or in a bag you deliver to a nearby charity.
This type of project is well suited for these cold winter months, as it can be completed indoors. It also requires little home improvement experience and usually can be completed without the use of power tools.
The only cost is your time and the price of garbage bags and cleaning supplies. And, you might find some items that can be sold to generate some income.
Before you start, take a cold, hard look around the house and make a list of the areas to clean. Then rank the areas in order of priority. In some cases, you might want to divide the list into small and large projects.
Set aside a few days, or weeks, to sort through each area. Depending on your schedule, you may have to work on it in small steps. Try not to get discouraged at the size of the task. Remember that the house did not shrink overnight, it took months or years of hard work on your part. Hopefully you can reverse the tide in a few short weeks.
Also remember to give yourself credit for small steps. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in one-hour segments.
The most difficult task often is deciding where to start. Should you sort through the family room that everyone sees when they visit your home? Or, will it make you feel better to clean out your closet so that you know what clothes you have?
If you only have an hour to work on this at night, then focus on one closet or small bathroom at a time. If you have eight hours to tear through a room, then start with a bigger area.
If you have children, try to enlist their help in cleaning rooms that they play in. Depending on their ages, they can help carry books into a box for the garage sale or pull all their old clothes out of the closet. Be prepared for a few shouts in protest, however, as a child demands the return of his worn stuffed animal or favorite jeans.
As you sort, realize that the rooms might look messier as you pull everything out of the closets and begin to organize. You will have to walk around stacks of clothes and boxes filled with books and garbage bags strewn around the room.
Keep focusing on the task at hand and the house will expand little by little each day.
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Have questions or information to share about the remodeling process? Write to Allison E. Beatty, in care of the Your Place section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611.
