Clutter Emergency Card

My husband and I will officially been married for 2 years on Tuesday (yipee!). I was talking with him this morning with the shocking realization that some things (such as a bedside table) have not been cleaned out for 2 years! It's so weird to think we've had things for years in the household rather than months. It was at that moment I realized we had collected quite a bit of "stuff" during this time, some of which we did not even like!

I already posted about clearing clutter as one of my New Year's resolutions. And like any resolution, I have been dedicated to keeping it faithfully these two whole days of 2010. Our guest bedroom/office currently is housing a giant trash bag full of items I decided we didn't need or even want. One way I determined what was to stay and what needed to go was using a clutter emergency card.

I pulled out the card whenever I couldn't decide what to do with a particular item:

• How long has it been since I used this?

  Do I like it?

  Does it work properly? Is it broken?

  Do I have more of this kind of thing? How many do I need?

  If I keep this, what will I get rid of to make room for it?

  Can I locate this information somewhere else (probably on the internet) if I
  need it?

It really helped me make quick decisions about certain items I otherwise would have ignored with the intention of 'coming back to it later' (ex: An old unattractive candle that I hardly ever used, but felt the need to keep since it still worked fine- I didn't even like this item so I pitched it. Ahhh, that feels better!).

I plan on tackling each room's surface space first. After that I will work on the 'insides' such as closets, bookshelves and storage areas. One blogger I'm turning to for inspiration is Organizing Junkie, since she is obsessed with organizing things and keeping clutter under control.

Stay tuned for more as I ransake the apartment in the battle against clutter.