6 Ways To De-Clutter Your Home
Being stuck indoors during winter can make you feel a bit trapped. Don’t let the clutter in your home add to your frustration. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when you try and think of where to start de-cluttering, so here are some tips to help you on your way:
1. Start Today
Procrastination is the major obstacle to de-cluttering – so start now!
2. Choose A Small Area To Start
Choose something small like tidying your underwear drawer. Decide you are going to spend 15 minutes cleaning out the drawer, put on some of your favourite music and get started. Empty out the entire drawer and as you pick up each item, ask yourself if you really need it. If not, then get rid of it.
3. Keep Up The Momentum
If you feel energised then keep going. But always work on one area at a time and finish it before you start somewhere else. Decide to do a set amount each day, such as 30 minutes. You’ll be surprised how quickly you will get things done.
4. Letting Go Of Old Stuff
Once you’ve decided to let things go, try and get them out of the house as soon as possible. Unwanted items can be given to charity, friends and family or recycled. Or you could sell them at a secondhand clothes shop or advertise in your local newspaper.
5. How Does It Feel?
While you may feel a huge sense of relief, you may also feel guilty about getting rid of certain things, especially if they were gifts. People are often scared that the minute they part with something they will need it and so they hold onto unnecessary things. The truth is that you cannot hold onto everything you have ever gotten IN CASE you need it one day. Keep things that are important to you, but get rid of those things you’ve forgotten you had or haven’t used in a year or two.
- Sentimental items – be sentimental but selective. Choose a beautiful box in which to keep sentimental items.
- Broken things – have broken things fixed and if you don’t do it soon, discard them.
- Paper – be ruthless with paper. File important papers neatly in a box or cabinet. Put junk mail straight into the recycling and decide how long you will keep newspapers and magazines. It’s very unlikely you will want to read old issues months down the line.
6. Storage
Once you have got rid of unnecessary items, you need to find a home for everything you want to keep. Store your items in groups, like all vases together. Put the things you use most often in easy to reach places. Consider filing cabinets, storage boxes and shoe racks for storage.
