1) Get rid of things
2) Get cute storage tubs so they look decorative instead of functional. (I use a lot of those round hat boxes and wooden trunks or chests.)

That's the extent of my tips but they work pretty well.

Oh- more routine for me means having a place for everything, including a BOX (not a little envelope or bag) for "random bits of mail that don't need to be dealt with within the next 3-4 weeks. This box generally has its lid open at all times but can be covered when you want things to look particularly tidy.

A small pile that needs dealing with asap (once their asap moment passes they get tossed into the other box).

Long term things that need to be kept track of (concert tickets) get pinned to the wall next to the calendar or paperclipped to the calendar on their month.

Magazines get stacked.

That takes care of a lot of it right there.

The biggest stay-decluttered tip that has ever helped me is the touch-it-once principle. The moment things pile up, the perception of effort to tackle the pile grows exponentially, and it gets put off and off and off.

Don't bring the mail in and drop it on the counter, thinking you'll "come back to it." Sort it right over the trash, and dump as necessary. Bring the dishes to the sink as soon as you are done, don't let them pile up on your computer desk. Wash the pots and pans as you go.

Set up a few cardboard boxes or bins and start throwing stuff in to donate to charity. As soon as you are done with a purging session, take the bins directly to your car and drop off at a thrift shop. Also, line one of the bins with a garbage bag and throw trash in that. Put them next to one another: Donate, Keep, Trash. Just like they do on all of those get organized t.v. shows. I have done the directly-to-bin-then-car thing a few times and it was very gratifying. You forget about the stuff once it's gone.

I guess one of the best and easiest things to do is to pick up the house before you go to bed. Make a run through of the house. Straighten things up and throw things out. Put the newspaper in the recycling. Make sure there are no dirty dishes in the sink. Wipe down the counters in the bathrooms and kitchen. Put out clean hand towels and dishtowels.

I read a tip that your dresser drawers should only be 3/4 full. If they are crammed to the top you'll be more apt to leave drawers open with clothes overhanging, or fail to put things away. I think it's important to go through clothes and throw away or donate old ratty T-shirts and such. You only need so many clothes.

If you're lazy like me buy a really big trash bin for your kitchen. I really admire those people that have the little garbage bins under their sink. I'm not ambitious enough to constantly take those out. I have a big silver bin in my kitchen that holds a lot of trash, leaf bag size, that I only have to wrap up every few days or so instead of daily. Put bigger trash cans everywhere. I don't have a little tiny thing in my office, I have something a little bigger than a little bathroom sized can.

I like those accordion style file systems. That might work for your brother, instead of a big metal filing cabinet.

Try not to buy stuff. :-)

Ooh, the box thing reminded me of how every organization chow I've seen on cable while at the gym has started with boxes: Donate, Keep, and Trash. The Keep box is always much smaller than the other two. Then once you have everything sorted, go through the Keep box and sort it out again into the three boxes.

in addition to the one-touch rule, I really like the did-i-touch-it test. Turn every single hanger in your closet backwards (you know, hooked from behind, the awkward way, instead of hooked from in front, the natural way). After you wear something, when you put it away, hang it up the normal way. After a year (you can go shorter if you don't have a seasonal wardrobe), anything on a hanger that has not been turned around, goes away: trash, donation, cut into rags, but get rid of it. You didn't wear it in a year; unless it's your wedding dress or your grandmother's Chanel suit, it's clutter. You do the same thing with folded clothes by pining a piece of ribbon to everything folded in your drawer.

The other major source of clutter for me is things which--for stupid reasons--don't feel like trash: wine corks, ribbons tied around boxes of posh chocolates, the wood samples the one carpenter left behind when I was getting closet quotes. It has been suggested to me that a great way to declutter that stuff is to get a medium-sized bin of some kind and when I feel that I can't throw something away, I should put it in the bin instead. Every six months or when the bin is full, whichever is first, dump everything out and discard anything that now looks like it's trash.

Also, have you looked at Unclutterer?

I'm trying to declutter now, too. I'm moving from my large flat back into my mother's flat (help!). That means I have no storage whatsoever.

I'm throwing out pretty much everything. All the old linen that is falling to pieces, all the old crockery, the tupperware that's missing lids etc. I haven't had a chance to go through my paperwork, but I've been going through drawers and if I haven't used it regularly, I've thrown it.

I have a few boxes full of "memories" - postcards, tickets, pieces of junk that have sentimental value, and everything else is gone.

The problem is, my mother decided to "help" me move, by going (unasked) to my home (without telling me first) and bringing several bags of the "going to a new home" stuff to the new stuff. Also by taking the tasty treats out of my cupboard and EATING them.

She offered me some of MY FOOD for dessert last night - and when I asked if it was my food she was offering me she responded with a "if you don't want us to eat it, lable it". Cos, you know, having it LOCKED IN MY FLAT TWO SUBURBS AWAY means it's all fair game.