The #1 Mistake People Make When Reorganizing, According to Clea & Joanna of The Home Edit

Get Organized with The Home Edit stars Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin are opening up about the number-one mistake people make when reorganizing, and we’re totally guilty.

PureWow recently sat down for an exclusive interview with the founders of The Home Edit, who shared their secret to success: start small. When asked about the most common mistake her clients make, Clea revealed that people take on too much, too soon.

“Without a doubt, they start too big,” Clea told PureWow. “They watch our show or look at our Instagram, and they’re like, ‘Oh, OK. I’m just going to start in the garage and pull every single thing out.’”

“An hour before dinner,” Joanna added. And then continued, “You have to really start small. Start with a drawer, start in a very small contained area that you can see the process through.”

Clea explained that by tackling small tasks, you’ll get closer to your final goal without feeling too overwhelmed.

“You need to see everything through from A to Z to really understand how it works, to understand how long things take, to understand how to purge and group things by categories, and how to measure space to find the right inserts,” Clea said. “All of those things, they take time. And if you could apply that same, those same principles to a drawer, you can apply it to a closet or a larger space. But if you automatically start at the biggest mountain, you’ll just shove it back because you’re like, ‘I don’t have time for this.’”

Good to know it was the mountain of clothes that caused us to quit and not just our desire to give up and watch every season of The Crown.

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