Your phone beeps and “Be there in an hour!” appears across the screen. In that moment, you look around your apartment and only then did you realize how messy your place has gotten. Your kitchen, dining room table, living room, desk, bathroom, every room is filled with scandalous clutter.
You would like to call Olivia Pope and her team in to fix everything. But let’s face it. Olivia is too busy eating popcorn, drinking wine, and hanging out on the balcony of the White House with Fitz (spoiler alert, oops) to worry about the four month old collection of mail sitting on your kitchen table.
The good news? You can do it without a fixer.
*Cue shutter sound*
Pick 5. Pick five locations and five items in each location to throw away, put in its rightful place, or straighten up. Got cords all over the entertainment center? Group them together, and try your best to hide them. Nobody wants a distraction from watching Jake running with his shirt off.
Give yourself 10 minutes. You don’t have time for a complete purging session. Do a walk through in each room you know your guests will be in at some point. What are the first signs of clutter that pop out to you? Giving yourself a time limit in each room allows you to pick out the most noticeable clutter items quickly, get rid of them and move on to the next item of business without overthinking and getting distracted with bigger projects.
Out with the old. Getting rid of old items can drastically help remove clutter from a number of locations. Think about old announcements and invitations on your refrigerator. Don’t need them? Throw them away. Want to keep them for memory-sake? Store them in a memory box. That mail collection you have building up? Quickly go through and separate the junk mail you know you don’t need from the bills and other necessary mail without even having to open the envelope.
Clear counter space. Whether it’s your kitchen or your bathroom, a clear counter with minimal items on the surface can make a huge difference at making the entire room appear clutter free. Put items away in drawers and find a new home. If you absolutely have to keep items out and about, do your best to straighten them up and make them look presentable. Group like-items together and make neat stacks.
Tidy up. Do quick tasks to get rid of unnecessary clutter in every room. Take out the trash. Make your bed. Fluff your pillows on the couch, and fold the blankets. Empty the dishwasher, and reload it with any dirty dishes. Put away your shoes that are lying around. Hang up your clothes. Do tasks that will get things off the floor, off the bed and make your space look and feel in order.
Now light some candles, pour yourself a nice beverage and revel in the fact that scandalous clutter has been handled. And you’re the real life Olivia Pope.
