Get Organized in 2025
Now’s the time to plan to make this year your most organized yet
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
It’s the best possible time in your life for whipping your home into shape.
Your children are grown (maybe even flown!), you may be retiring soon if not already. And if you’re considering downsizing in the future, getting your stuff tidied will make that job much easier.
Area experts offer their best tips for organizing.
Tips from Maureen McCarthy
Owner of H.B.I.C. Declutter, LLC in Syracuse
“Starting small with boundaries and time limits is the best way to begin. Generally, projects like organizing or right sizing your life and home can be overwhelming. The new year is a perfect time to set some goals — small achievable objectives. If you are looking to purge your linen closet or kitchen junk drawer these are ideal places to start.
“Avoiding more sentimental or emotional situations in the beginning can keep the energy towards moving forward. Things like boxes of pictures, collectibles or family heirlooms are better left to a time when family and friends can help out. Often, time to process, engage and share memories is needed when you decide to tackle that project. Order the pizza, serve drinks and take a trip down memory lane with your loved ones. Having them there to help decipher what is valuable, functional and in reasonable condition will reduce some of the burden. Your 12-piece china set from your family is priceless to you. Knowing that it’s packed away safely in your attic is comforting but it’s not enjoyed. Think about donating it to your local soup kitchen or domestic violence shelter. Keeping a couple of your favorite pieces to display proudly can be a gentle reminder of those memories.
“Setting time limits can help you stay focused and avoid becoming overwhelmed. If you are able to designate one to four hours a week you will be able to make a noticeable difference in your situation.
“Remember to respect your boundaries to prevent burnout and avoidance. Setting a deadline can help you determine what timeline you will need to follow to succeed. Make it reasonable, give yourself grace and ask for help.
“Research your options for donations, things to be disposed of and sale items.
“Decluttering hot spots like our dining tables or entryways can give visual motivation. If you find that your junk mail ends up in a large pile on your kitchen counter, something as simple as a small wicker basket will help. Choose a container that will give you enough space to keep the mail tidy and not big enough to go a long period of time before you address it.
“Begin the habit of placing the mail in the basket immediately. Once the basket is full choose a time that works for you and go through the mail. Having a simple process and maintaining that will create an organized scenario that you will want to experience more often.”
Tips from Liz Bremer
Certified professional organizer and owner of Put it Simply Organizing, LLC in Manlius
“Usually at the beginning of the year, I talk about what systems they have in place, what is working and what is not.
“There’s typically the ‘launching pad’ and often people have a ‘landing pad’ for things leaving and coming into your home, but I don’t recommend having a ‘landing pad.’ A launching pad is a flat surface near the door where you leave. You place things there so you have a visual cue to take things like library books, your purse and keys, donations.
“Get rid of all the junk mail right away. Ideally, have a place for mail so you can separate it by person in the household, so they know their box or bin has something in it.
“If you’re shopping, all the bags should be put away upon entry. That is one of the ways that clutters up homes the most. I find bags that haven’t even been opened in corners of rooms.
“A hands-on organizer can help you set up the system so clutter won’t happen again and we can help you go through the backlog and become independent of us.
“Identify the function of what you want that catch-all or ‘junk room’ space to become. What needs to be removed from that space to make that happen? In terms of removal, we use the SPACE methodology created by Julie Morgenstern: Sort, Purge, Assign a home, Containers, Equalize.
“People don’t want to throw away mementos, but they don’t know what to do with them. They want to consolidate them and then we can assign them a home.
“With photos, there are often duplicates. Or blurry ones. Keep one picture of someone blowing out the candles, not 50. You need just one to revisit the memory. Keep only the best of the best.
“We don’t buy containers first. We wait until we know what we’re keeping. The dimensions determine what we’re purchasing. Enter the containers’ dimensions on Amazon and we get it one day.
“Most of the time, my clients have containers they can repurpose. We walk around the house and ‘shop’ for containers they’re not using.
“One of the pitfalls of organizing is zigzagging around. What happens is we start in one area, try to put it away in another area, realize it won’t fit. So, you start organizing another area. Three hours go by and you’ve organized nothing. Just stay in one area. Have boxes and bins you put things in as you make decisions: trash, recycle, donate or put elsewhere. Sometimes piles get reincorporated into the space. You can use laundry baskets or Amazon boxes. At 20 minutes before the end of your organizing time, you’ll put things where they’ll go.”