When Laura Wittmann’s kids were little, they had a saying that would trigger an instant flurry of activity around their house.
“As is normal for most homes, items seemed to magically wander from their normal ‘place of residence’ to another area of the house,” Wittmann said. “So when I would holler out, ‘Time for a walkabout!’ the kids knew it was time for them to walk around the house picking up any of their stray items that were out of place. It could be a stray sock, books, toys, hair elastics, paper, anything. It’s not a huge overhaul, but it simply means that items are collected from one room and put back into their proper home in another room.”
Wittman shares another 100 tips and tricks to declutter your home in her book, Clutter Rehab [Ulysses Press; April 2026]. In this compact, practical hardcover, she provides bite-size, doable strategies that help busy families regain control without spending an entire Saturday reorganizing the garage. We sat down with Laura to discuss how parents can start the Cluttering Rehab.
What are the common decluttering challenges that you have noticed that parents have faced?
I think families struggle to keep up with all the stuff that comes with kids and their activities. Yes the physical stuff like uniforms and equipment but also now the digital forms and paperwork. These days most everything is organized and tracked online so you might be thinking well then that’s easier to organize, no paper piles! However what I see now is that instead of physical paper clutter we’ve got a greater mental load to worry about. Gone are the days where the registration forms sit out on the counter until you get around to filling them in. Now it’s all online and you’ve got to have a system to remind yourself to do it. So calendars and planners are more important than ever, especially a system that both parents can access in order to be on the same page. A system of setting aside 10 minutes each day to update the calendar is essential to staying organized.
How can parents keep some sort of organizational plan for assessing and decluttering our children’s toys and clothes?
I firmly believe that we need to be training our kids young the concept of letting go. It doesn’t come naturally for them (or us, let’s be real!). But life is constantly changing and as things come in so then do things need to go out. Not doing this is where clutter gets out of hand. We all need an easy system to manage the clutter and the stuff that is to be donated. Every household needs a donation station. Mine is a laundry basket at the bottom of my linen closet. As I move throughout my house and find things that are no longer being used, loved (or we don’t have the room to store!), I can simply toss them into the laundry basket. When it’s full I deliver it to my local thrift store. From an early age, teach your kids to do the same. I promise it’s a practice that gets easier with consistent training. This can be helpful with outgrown clothes as well. Or if you want to keep them to hand down to siblings, have a system for that too. Systems are what keep us sane!
Tell us how we can divide chores with the entire family.
Everyone makes the mess, everyone contributes to the clean-up is my philosophy. Assign daily and weekly age appropriate tasks. Kids love a checklist so provide them a simple one and give them clear instructions on your expectations. I’ll often hear parents say go clean your room to their child, however that really isn’t clear at all. What that looks like to each person is going to look vastly different. So that might mean working together on it a few times (remember to create a home for everything so kids know where things go back!) and then take a few pictures of the space for them for future reference.
Tell us about your history and how you became the Organization guru we love.
I became the Organizing Junkie in 2006 when I started my blog. I was on maternity leave with my youngest and spending a lot of my days organizing my house. I started documenting my process online and things took off from there. I loved sharing simple hacks and solutions to organizing dilemmas. It didn’t have to be Instagram worthy, it just had to function. I organize so I can be more efficient (meaning less work!) with how I manage my home. I don’t want to spend hours every weekend cleaning out the garage so I organize my life for efficiency. I want to keep my home running and uncluttered with the least amount of work and I’m here to tell you, it is definitely possible!
You have a book, Clutter Rehab: 101 Tips and Tricks To Declutter Your Home And Organize Your Space. What was your favorite part to write of your book?
My favorite part is always teaching people how to purge, purge, purge. The more you purge the less you have to find a home for. The overwhelm that comes from too much stuff is a killer and often keeps us from dealing with the problem. But we tend to make it more complicated than it needs to be. Simple daily habits, smart systems and some container boundaries can be implemented so you can breathe easier and finally conquer the clutter!! That’s clutter rehab ☺
