Last week I talked about space and whether we really need huge houses.  It's not that big an issue here in our area where most homes built before the 1990's were modest in size comparing to other parts of the county.  So most of us have Space Issues.  Did you know that in the 1950's the average woman only had 4 pairs of shoes?  Wow, what a change today!  They say that the average number of shoes in the closet for women today is 27 pairs and many women own up to 50 .  Add in the men, who average 12 pairs plus the women's handbags, upwards of 10 and you have a Space Issue.  Old homes do not have closet space.  What to do? <!--{PS..0}-->

If you need more space you need to declutter.  Clutter and space go hand in hand.  Today and tomorrow I will introduce some simple tips on how to get your space issues under control.

1. Let's pretend that you're moving.  If you were, you would be taking a long and hard look at your clutter and deciding what you can keep in order to move it, give away or sell, or throw out.  You must, must, must be hard core about this!  Do you really need all of those books?  How about multiple appliances you never use? 
2. Keep only what you love.  You must sit down and ask yourself the following question,  "Do I really have to keep this?"  If the answer is "No." get rid of it.  Sell it, give it away, or throw it out.
3. Less is More.  Less stuff is more time.  Less to clean, less to organize, less to put away.  Less makes your house feel bigger.
4. Containers are your best friend.  The easiest way to organize your house is with containers.  The Container Store is a great place to shop.  Find  boxes to store the items you love and want to keep.  Cubbies for the kids toys, clothing, art are easy to use and helpful in teaching them how to put things away. Baskets are useful and come in an assortment of sizes and shapes.  Target, Michael's, and Jo-Anne's are great places to find these locally and with super prices.
5. Put things away when done with them.  Everything has its place and you must be diligent about returning items once finished with them.  When you do this, you create order in your house and your life. 

Tomorrow I'll give you five additional tips to help control your life, and your space issues.  Less really is more!