Notes From A Professional Organizer

Decluttering and organizing are two useful tools for homes and apartments that may not have an excess amount of space. Professional Organizer and Feng Shui Consultant Chelsea Tsuchida gives us insight on how to clear your home — and your mind — to find space for the things you love and let go of the things you don’t.

“In a similar way to how meditating allows us to notice our thoughts, decluttering and organizing forces us to slow down and notice our belongings. When we designate a home within our home for everything, we don’t waste space storing items we no longer want or need,” says Tsuchida.

Clear Your Space with a Clear Vision

Tsuchida says that utilizing space starts with being in the right headspace. She recommends that you “pause and reflect” before starting a major organization or decluttering journey.

Tsuchida says to start by “[envisioning] what living your best life would look like in your current home … It will give you clarity on what you value most, which will help guide your decisions moving forward.”

While organizing and decluttering often go hand-in-hand, Tsuchida says focusing on one or the other at first is helpful.

Here are her basic guidelines for determining which is the best option for you to start:

“If your goal is to downsize your belongings and create more spaciousness in your home, then you’ll want to start by decluttering.

“If you prefer to keep all, or most, of your belongings and instead figure out ways to make your space work for you, then you’ll want to focus on organizing and strategically selecting products to maximize the space you have.”

Starting Your Journey

If you’ve decided to declutter, where should you start?

She recommends you choose one of two areas of your home: the entryway or the place with the least emotional connection.

“For most people, the entry area is relatively small compared to the rest of your home so it may also feel more manageable in terms of the time required to complete it,” says Tsuchida.

As for starting with an area with little emotional connection — like the bathroom where you don’t keep many sentimental things — Tsuchida says this can “give your decision-making and executive functioning skills time to ‘warm up’ and practice on the easy stuff.”

“If you compare deciding whether to keep a bottle of sunscreen versus an old family photo, the former feels a lot more low-risk so you’ll be able to make that decision much faster. This, in turn, builds your confidence in being able to tackle other areas and categories in your home,” Tsuchida explains.

Notes for Success

Getting started can seem like the hardest part, but breaking it down into smaller portions will help alleviate the feeling of organizing and decluttering being an insurmountable task.

“You don’t need to block out an entire day or weekend and try to tackle your whole house at once … Just commit to one 15-minute block a day, or one drawer or shelf at a time,” says Tsuchida. “Small, consistent actions will give you big results and over time, it will start to feel easier the more you do it.”

Whether you decide to tackle organizing and decluttering all at once or gradually, give yourself grace and don’t put too much pressure on being perfect.

Tsuchida leaves us with one more piece of advice: “Our spaces are meant to evolve with us. If your routine or lifestyle changes, take inventory of your belongings. Move things around. Try out different systems. You can always change it back.”

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This story appears in the January/February 2026 print issue of Ku‘u Home magazine.