Has the clutter in your home taken over your valuable living space? If so, you're definitely not alone. Thousands of people across the country are dealing with a home that has too many things kept inside it that hinders the home’s livability. When the clutter has started to take over it's time for you to take charge and get it handled before things start to get out of control.

Here are some tips you can use to get that clutter organized and put away properly.

1. Do you have too much stuff?

This is the first thing to look at. If you have too many things it's time to start getting rid of some of them. When you're looking through your belongings a good rule of thumb is to consider whether you've used an item within the last six months. If not, do you really think you need to have it lying around? If it's something seasonal that's completely different but if it's not you really need to take a good look at the item and decide whether it can go.

2. Everything needs a home

All of your belongings need to have a home. This would be a selected space inside the house where the item belongs. For example, a space should be allocated specifically for pet supplies, home movies, tools, light bulbs and other necessary household items, telephone books, cleaning supplies etc. A lot of clutter can build up when there really isn't an allocated space for these things and they all end up getting put together in drawers or closets that start to overfill. When everything is compartmentalized it's easier to keep track of things and discard items that are no longer of use or have expired.

3. Put everything away in its proper place

It's easy to establish a type of "dumping zone" in the home where things are set down to be handled later. This dumping zone can quickly become a cluttered area as members of the house forget about items that have been left there or avoid them altogether.

If you find that you have this type of zone in your home you'll need to establish some firm rules and get them agreed upon by all family members. Things need to be put away in the right place once they have been used in order to keep the clutter under control.

Do you have a messy house? Start by establishing a home for various items and go from there. Everyone needs a starting point with a house full of clutter and this beginning will give you the structure you need to work with to get things back in control.