Here are some very simple quick decluttering tips to bring some order to chaos
So you feel overwhelmed by declutter in your house?
You don’t know where to start?
Declutter one room at a time.
Walk into the room and carefully consider all the objects that are in there.
Three decluttering tips in one. Do I really need it, do I really love it, or do I have no need for it? By identifying these objects in this manner will bring you a greater sense of relief because you can clearly Identify the value of each object.
The 3 box trick
As decluttering can sometimes be quite overwhelming you may need to spend some time on this process. It doesn’t have to be a long process for a single day.
Instead focus on a few minutes every day in identifying your possessions and sorting them onto boxes or black bags. Simply get 3 boxes and label them, Keep, Charity or Give Away or Rubbish.
Going through the 1st process above of identifying each object will help you quickly organise your possessions into the relevant boxes. Just a few minutes every day adds up and within a week you’d be very surprised how organised you have become.
Parting with someone else’s stuff
You may have inherited some furniture from a relative or some form of trinket on the
mantelpiece that belonged to someone else. Unless this holds some very dear memories, you are not living someone else’s life.
This may seem very harsh, but someone else’s memories are not your memories and you need to give it away or sell it if there’s some value in it. Throwing it away is usually not an option for most people. So consider selling it on Ebay or there are some free recycling sites where people will find a use for it and clutter up their homes instead.
Wardrobe transformation
The wardrobe is another area that gets cluttered very quickly. We all get attached to things, especially the clothes we wear.
You may have an old jumper which is full of holes but has some form of significant meaning. You may have had it when your first child was born or wore it to your grandmother’s funeral. Other people simply see it as an old jumper which has seen better days.
One of the best and easiest decluttering tips is to hang your clothes backwards on those large plastic hangers. As you wear each item of clothing, simply hang them back the proper way on the hanger. After a month or so, the clothes which are still hanging backwards, you should consider giving away or selling.
Set a storage strategy.
If you do need to keep stuff even for a short while, devise a storage strategy. Use the decluttering tips below
Clear acrylic boxes with lids is one of the easiest ways to go, easy to purchase and store. These can be particularly handy for garages or lofts and can be reused over and over.
Shoe organisers which hang over the back of the door are a great use of space. They may not be everyone’s idea of getting rid of clutter, but they do help to use a space behind a door, especially in children’s rooms or garages.
If your loft is clean enough, consider storing summer clothes during the winter and vice versa. This will also give you a good opportunity to go through your clothes and get rid of anything you are not using.
Take before and after photos of the spaces you are decluttering. This will help in setting your mind on the task at hand. Once a room or area is finished you will have a greater sense of relief and it will spur you on to declutter other rooms around the house. The photos are great reminders of the task you have just completed.
Dealing with paperwork
Paperwork can be extremely overwhelming as most paperwork is relevant, it may be legal, informational or sentimental (think birthday cards and personal letters).
Paperwork can have a tendency to be in every room in a house. It can hinder the process of decluttering, as it can be time consuming to go through the paperwork. Just focus on everything else in that room to make it clutter free first and leave the paperwork till last.
So a good decluttering tip is, before you start organising and decluttering each room, collect all the paperwork from the surfaces, floor, overflowing drawers, and put them all together in a box, carrier bag or basket.
This gets rid of the paperwork straight away and allows you to continue in that room.
Then each night when you are sitting down, maybe watching television, go through the paperwork at your leisure, 20 minutes each night and before you know it your paperwork is done!
These are just a few decluttering tips to get you started, there are many more. But these are simply a quick starting guide to help you remove that sense of being cluttered and feeling overwhelmed.
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