Since childhood, “Chaos to Calm” host Michaele Tocco has always admired the art of keeping things in order. 

“I have actually always been organized, even as a little girl,” she said during a conversation with aspireTV. “I know it sounds cliche, but even as a little girl I would get up in the morning, and make my bed. I always had the cleanest room.”

Tocco even had that same mindset for her toys.

“Even for my Barbies, I had one of those old school, huge Barbie houses that my grandmother bought me so I would get the Barbies dressed up and get their hair combed. For me, that was so awesome to just line them up on the wall next to the house,” she recalled. “I would go get my mom and I’m like, ‘Look at them, don’t they look so pretty?’ Then, I didn’t want to touch them for the rest of the day. So, I never really played with them very often. When I did, my main goal was to make sure they looked good and that the dollhouse, even down to the little furniture, was neat.”

As everyone is preparing for the holidays and getting their homes for the new year, Tocco calls out one way that people can overwhelm themselves before even getting started.

“I think one of the biggest misconceptions going into the new year period is that you have to have this solid game plan by December 31st or it’s not going to happen,” said Tocco. “Or, it’s not going to happen or that everything has to be in place and you have to do it all in January. In those 30 days, you just drive yourself crazy, trying to organize as much as possible or the rest of your year is downhill and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

 

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As she gears up for the holiday season, new year, and beyond, Tocco left us with some key tips for getting your home so that’ll keep everyone in the household happy.

Make A List

“In my habits with my family, we make a list,” said Tocco. “We make a list of our 2024 goals, so if there are any home organizing projects that my husband and I didn’t get a chance to get to in the current year, then we add that to our list.

Start Small

Whether you paint an accent wall or finally tackle the linen closet, Tocco also advises finding minimal things around the house to get started on before jumping right into the big stuff. 

Get the Clutter Out of Your Mind

“We all jam so many things in our mind that we want to do,” said Tocco. “Getting that clutter out of your mind and writing it down on paper or even on a digital app or some type of calendar will help you outline your goals and then actually make the plan for it.”

Create A Schedule

By breaking down the timing for getting certain projects done, the organization expert says this tidbit is one way to knock out your goals without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself or your household.

Purge Throughout the Year

Tocco’s final tip is probably one of the most important. 

“I think when people think about decluttering and purging, they get overwhelmed because they visualize their entire home and that’s not what you want to do,” she expressed. “Even just constantly checking your closet. I always recommend three to six months with editing your clothes or if you’re doing laundry and you’re putting clothes away, make space by finding items that you don’t regularly wear and adding them to the donation pile.”

She continued: “It doesn’t have to be this grand event, just make it a regular habit of getting into habit of organizing different areas of your space throughout the entire year.”