What are some benefits of clearing clutter?
- It makes it easy to clean the home.
- Organized things are easier to find.
- It is a way to take stock of what is available in the house.
- You can sell some stuff to earn money.
General Tips for Successful Decluttering
Decluttering the entire house is not easy. You will need the following tips to help you do it successfully.
Plan
Decluttering will take a long time. It may take days, weeks, or even months. Either way, it is vital to have a plan. Think of where you would like to start. It is advisable to work with one room at a time. Even in a room, you can divide it into sections and work through each before moving to the next. This makes your decluttering process easy to do and track progress.
Determine at what time you will be doing the decluttering. Set aside some time every day. Also, set timelines and try to adhere to them. The amount of time to allocate to each place will depend on how much stuff you have in there. Be realistic and generous with the time allocation.
Use Boxes to Sort Things
It is recommended that you use the four-container method to efficiently declutter any room in the house. For this, you will need four cardboard boxes or any other suitable containers. Label these boxes as trash, sell/give away, store, and in use.
You will then need to sort everything in the house into different categories. Items that you use frequently will go to the ‘in use’ category. You will eventually place these back in the house.
Items that are used seasonally will go into the ‘storage’ box. These may include Christmas decorations, skiing gear, and warm blankets for winter use only. After sorting, these items may be stored in a garage, storage facility, or basement, depending on your available options.
The ‘sell/give away’ category comprises functional things that you no longer use. You may sell them or donate them to people who need them. ‘Trash’ holds damaged and broken items that need disposal.
Get Everyone Involved
Decluttering is not easy but having all family members take part eases the job. Your kids can declutter their rooms, so you only have to work on common areas. You will need to guide them on doing it and check progress.
The main advantage of getting everyone involved is that they will understand how hard decluttering is. They will not hold on to clutter in the future.
How to Declutter Each Room
Living Room
This is an area that is highly prone to cluttering. From misplaced kids’ toys to tangling wires, causes of clutter in the living room are diverse. It would be best to start by removing things that do not belong here. Kids should keep their toys in their rooms while letters that belong in the study should be kept there.
Look at the wires connecting each device. Remove those that are dysfunctional or not in use. If your cables are too long, consider replacing them with shorter ones. Use furniture to cover cords and keep them out of sight.
What about the things that belong in the living room? Should you just place them on the coffee table? Of course not! Get creative with storage options. Use hanging shelves to keep books, decorative pieces, and other appropriate items. Ottomans and other hidden storage options should be embraced for keeping things out of sight but within reach.
Bedroom and Closet
Your bedroom is probably the most cluttered room in the house. It is where people keep everything that looks out of place elsewhere. Start by making your bed like a pro. Next, look at your nightstand. How many things have you placed on top? If there are more than five items, you need to remove them. Use the four-container method to determine what to keep.
Move read books to the study and throw away empty tissue boxes and other junk up there. Kids’ toys should be kept in one place, preferably an open basket after sorting to remove any damaged ones.
Next, empty the drawers and closets. Sort each item individually and place it in the correct category. Avoid holding on to things based on emotional attachments. The items that need to be put back must be neatly arranged and organized, so each is easy to find. Any dirty clothes need to be washed while torn clothes may be thrown away or mended. You may also consider getting a custom-designed closet that is easy to organize.
Kitchen
The first place to start with is the visible countertops. Only leave essential appliances on top. Those used occasionally can stay in cabinets and be taken out on a need basis. Next, open up the cabinets and look at everything inside carefully. Sort into the different categories and only keep what is needed.
Getting custom kitchen cabinets can also help reduce clutter. You can have a mix of closed and open cabinets that you can use to organize the things you need in your kitchen neatly.
Bathroom
Decluttering the bathroom is relatively easy. Remove all unnecessary items from the countertop, empty drawers, sort contents appropriately, and organize soap and towels.
Next is organizing the items to keep. Place similar items in one place. All medicine should be placed in one place, while soap and bathing products should be put together.
Boxes can be used to make drawer dividers. Use these dividers to create different zones to ease the storage of similar items together.
