Most people have quite a number of items they are no longer using. Maybe you keep telling yourself that there is a day that will come in handy, but that day never seems to come. If it gets to this point, consider decluttering your home. You will be surprised how decluttering makes it easy for you to organize your things, and you will have more space to move around. It also helps in that you have less to clean. Find below some tips to help you declutter your home.
Pick a Day and Dedicate it to Decluttering
Choose a day where you will focus solely on decluttering. This goes a long way in preparing you mentally so that you do not reschedule when the day comes. Also, decluttering is not something you do in 30 minutes. It involves a lot of sorting and so, expect it to take time. If you are decluttering the whole house, it might even be almost an entire day. Therefore, set a date simply for this. If you feel like doing it all at once is too overwhelming, then do it in phases. You can allocate each room one Saturday afternoon and do it in a month. Either way, if you do not make time for decluttering, you will never get to it.
Categorize Clutter
Before you get started, you need to develop a sorting system. Get like five boxes and label them. This helps you know where everything is going. Here is an example of how you can label items.
- Donation: These are items you no longer use, but they are in good shape, and someone else can use them. Before you start sorting items for donation, look at a guideline of items you cannot donate. Some things are unacceptable, and you will only have wasted time.
- Rubbish: There are items that you are holding on to, but you know they are useless and cannot be fixed. This is what goes into the rubbish box.
- Recycling: Items like recyclable glass, paper, and plastics come here.
- Garage sale: There is no reason why you should not make money out of your clutter.
Start With One Room at A Time
The worst mistake you can make when decluttering a space is making one room halfway, then moving to another room. You will waste a lot of time, get confused, and become frustrated. Instead, take one room at a time. If it is the bedroom, start with the closet. Look at clothes you no longer wear, what you can give away and what you should throw away. If you have not worn something for more than a year, most likely, you no longer need it. You can then go to the kitchen, bathroom, pantry, basement, attic, etc. This system ensures that when you are done with a room, there is no going back.
Maximize on Storage
Most of the time, your home looks cluttered because things are all over the place instead of well-stored. For instance, instead of placing many things on the kitchen counter, create space for them in cabinets. If possible, you can have another cabinet installed. The space under your stairs can also be storage for items like books, hats, sports kits, umbrellas, and anything else cluttering your space.
Return Items to Their Right Place
If you remove spice from the spice rack, return it instead of leaving it on the counter. Put the shoes back in the shoe rack when you are done with them. This allows your items to stay in the right places and reduce clutter. After that, you can request house cleaning services for a fresh house. Also, do not forget to schedule another decluttering session, even if it is in a year.
While decluttering is not always easy, it definitely feels amazing when you are done. Follow the guide above to have an easy time decluttering your home.
