If you’re like most people your home has a certain amount of clutter in it. From time to time the clutter drives you crazy but most days you don’t even see it.

Clutter, for most people, represents negative feelings. Things they know they should do but just don’t feel they have the time or the energy to attend to just yet.

Dealing with clutter can make your home, and your life, feel a whole lot better.

Every home has clutter zones. These are places where clutter accumulates. It only takes one or two items out of place for things to accumulate quickly. Mail, keys, magazines, completed school projects. They all take up valuable space and take away from allowing a sense of flow and openness in your home.

Getting ready to declutter your home is as much a mental process as it is a physical one. You have to ready yourself for a new way of dealing with things in your home, and your life. Declutterng your home and life takes time and commitment; you have to think more about what you buy and be ruthless about what has to go.

One of the quickest ways to begin the process is to go through your home and choose a set number of things — five to ten items per room — to get rid of. If you haven’t work it or used it in the last year then it’s probably not worth holding on to. That old exercise bike? Turf it. Knick-knacks and items that you don’t have much affinity for should also go.

Tips for decluttering your home:

• Go through all your cupboards, closets and bookcases. See what you have. You’ll find things you’d forgotten and chances are you could well live without it.

• Look for furniture that offers style and storage. An armoire or chest of drawers will look great in the living room — and help keep clutter at bay as well. A bench in the front hallway, for example, is a great functional item — you can sit on it to put on shoes and boots, and under the seat there is a lot of space for storing bulky gear.

• Baskets are a great way to keep things from piling up around the home. A shelf with baskets can hold items such as keys, outdoor gear such as sunglasses and sunscreen in the summer and hats and scarves in the winter. Use a low basket for magazines and other items that pile up on the coffee table.

• Only buy items that you need. Don’t buy for when you’re thinner. Or for when your five-year-old daughter is nine. Chances are you’ll forget you have it and it will just take up valuable space in the meantime.

• Do buy storage containers, label them and use them. Start establishing systems. Where the out-of-season clothes can go. Where to put craft supplies and valuable papers. Actually take note of the system and put that in a safe place for future reference.

• Use unused spaces for storage. Under the bed, about the top shelf in the closet, the back of the door…all are great ways to find unused space. Just be sure to only fill it with necessary items, however, don’t just shift the mess to a new place.

• If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of clutter just take one small area and work on it. Then move to the next one. It doesn’t have to be a major event, just a process that you follow each day until it’s finished.