An organized home is a healthy home.  By that, I don’t mean you need to have a cold or minimalist environment, but rather a comfortable place where you are able to find what you need and take pride in what you have.  A truly organized home is one in which everything you have is what you truly use: where wasteful duplication of items is minimized, so that all of the items are meaningful and useful to you.

Through years spent as a professional organizer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I’ve found that people can have different reactions to disorganized spaces, but in general, such spaces tend to deplete our positive energy. Clutter can cause people to feel stressed, as if they are in a fog, anxious, antsy and even the need to just to get away.  Conversely, the feelings they have when they are in a controlled, tidy, decluttered environment are those of happiness, calm, balance and peace.

It is so important for our well-being that we be a steward of our things and make a positive impact on the environment by paring down, only buying what we need and love, and repurposing and donating what we do not use or need.  As an organizer, my goal is to help people attain this sense of balance and peace.

Kudos to you if you already have an organized home, and if not, take a deep breath and think about what you can pare down.  Select a room to start with, and begin the process of decluttering.  If there are items that you are holding onto for emotional reasons, think about the memories you have attributed to these items, and recognize that the memories themselves will always stay with you.  Next, channel your thoughts into thinking about the pleasure or use that someone else can get from the item. For things that you want to retain because they serve an important function in your life, celebrate them by finding a worthy spot for them in your home. Continue this process throughout the room you are working on and then proceed to the rest of the spaces in your home.

If you, like many people, find the decluttering process to be difficult or stressful, a professional organizer can help.  We leverage our skills and experience to help you pare things down and set up your space in a pleasing and effective way that will allow you to celebrate the items that are to be kept and help you to create a happy and healthy home for your family.

Sherry Onweller, professional organizer, is the owner of Everyday Organizing Solutions by Sherry, a professional organizing company in NJ, offering customized organizing solutions to residential and business clients. To learn more, visit EverydayOrganizingSolutions.com or contact Sherry at 908-619-4561.