People Share 40 Before And After Pics Of Them Cleaning Up

With autumn blues kicking in, it’s easy to lose your motivation to do things, especially the ones that were never your favorite in the first place. For many people, it’s household chores. While others find joy in organizing things and sparkling transformations that take the house to a whole new level of order, others struggle to lift their finger and start.

So in order to find out where to look for that much-needed inspo to get your home in order, we spoke with Ivanka Siolkowsky, a professional organizer who helps others find that same inner peace in their daily lives. Ivanka is a former elementary school teacher who says her life was transformed when she began learning the many benefits of minimalism and organization.

“Online is a beautiful place to start. Many professional organizers, like myself, have social media channels where we offer tips and tricks for how to navigate through your organizing journey,” Ivanka suggested. “Once you see the results of clients we’ve worked with, and see that it IS possible, this might give you motivation to begin the journey!”

For anyone who’s worrying that tidying up will require maximum effort and a huge budget, Ivanka reminds us that tidying isn’t about spending money. In fact, “it’s about learning how not to! Don’t go out and buy a bunch of organizational supplies! Do the declutter and purge first,” she said.

Ivanka explained that almost always, during this process, you’ll find bins and containers that will aid you in the organization portion. She also urges everyone on a mission to declutter their home to remember that less is more. “The less you have, the easier it is to organize!”

It’s one thing to organize your home once, and a whole new other challenge to keep it that way. Ivanka suggests that in order to make that effect last, you need to address your patterns of consumption at the source. “Don’t buy things you don’t need. Once you’ve gone through and decluttered/organized your home, make sure everything has a place. At the end of every day, take 10 minutes to do a 'room reset' and put everything back where it belongs,” she said.

“If you desperately want to buy something new, only do so to replace something that may no longer be serving you,” she said, arguing that this will keep your home in order!