Getting rid of clutter is great, but it sucks if someone needed something you tossed out. Set up Unidentified Found Object (UFO) boxes around the house to collect random or unrelated items until you get a moment to organise them, or someone comes looking for them.
Picture: Kiesters/Flickr
You can use small shoeboxes or plastic bins as UFO boxes. Place these boxes around the house so that whenever you find a random item, you can put it in a UFO box in the area you think might be the most appropriate. For example, if you find a cable, you can put it in your home office’s UFO box.
Remember, these UFO boxes aren’t a silver bullet. If you don’t regularly empty and organise it, the random contents will simply pile up, and you’ll need more boxes. Check these boxes regularly with your family, roommates or other residents of the house.
Organise to Eliminate the UFOs [Unclutterer]
Comments
One response to “Declutter Your Home With Boxes For Unidentified Found Objects (UFOs)”
I just moved into a relatively new small house and I don’t want to repeat the clutter mistake in my rented bedsitter accommodation. I am lucky the previous owner installed a BIR with cube shelving as I was going to buy something from Ikea.
my idea is to store anything I have used to one shelf, this gets moved along as it’s relevance fades, or it gets moved to the first shelf if used again. I have other storage bins in the garage with older items.
one idea I might try is to fix an adhesive dot onto any object and remove the dot when the item gets used and throw out anything with a dot in June 2015 (or whatever period suits you).
You can do the same thing with clothing that is kept but hardly worn, perhaps a year?