We've all moved locations at one point or another, and the process of doing so…
Decluttering your house has undeniable advantages – advantages that help your family save money and live a healthy lifestyle. With the rise of minimalism and the wild popularity of Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” it seems that the world has gone mad for decluttering. Knowing how to declutter your home will start you on the path to a less-stressful life.
Declutter Your House
There’s a reason why everyone and their sister seems to obsess over tidying up – it feels good! Coming home to a clutter-free living room, pulling groceries out of an impeccably organized pantry, and opening up your closet without the fear of something falling on your head definitely has its advantages.
If you’re moving, knowing how to declutter your home is a must. With less stuff to move, you will spend less time packing (and unpacking), and if you’re extremely organized, you’ll be able to pop things right into boxes and unpack them in your new home with an instant location for everything.
You owe it to yourself and your family to declutter your house. Even with your crazy schedule and crazier kids, tidying up hardly has to be a chore. Decluttering your entire home may seem an impossible task, but with a little dedication and a regular routine, cleaning out your rooms and closets will become second nature. Here are some practical tips for decluttering your house.
Tip #1: Give Everything a Purpose
Clutter happens when things end up in places they shouldn’t. Sometimes, clutter occurs when irresponsible kids don’t want to put toys away. Other times it’s a late night when putting things away isn’t exactly your highest priority and you just want to crawl into bed. Perhaps there’s just too much stuff and not enough places to store everything.
If your house has fallen into this particular clutter trap, discerning the purpose for everything is an easy way to begin sifting through the stuff you love and stuff that you should pitch. Analyzing each item and taking stock of what you need versus what you don’t need is the first step to decluttering your home. Items without purpose or meaning to your family can head out the door; you don’t need them now and you won’t need them later.
On the other hand, things that you use daily or that serve specific purposes (even if they’re sentimental ones) need their own places for storage or display. Functional items should have a cabinet or closet space. Sentimental items you can display prominently in an available space – after all, sentimental things make you happy, so why hide them away?
Tip #2: Take Small Steps
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and decluttering your house certainly doesn’t have to occur in one either. Take little steps each day to make a bigger impact overall.
Start by focusing on one room per week. Begin with the bathroom, where items may not have sentimental value to you, otherwise you may start in a room that sends you on a rabbit trail of nostalgia, using up the entire time you’ve set aside to declutter.
Go through the medicine cabinet first before checking under the sinks. Sort the linen closet, and reorganize the vanity. Before you know it, you’ve got one room down and you’re ready for the next. At this steady rate, you can declutter the majority of your home in a few weeks.
Tip #3: Use a Box System
Quick! Grab four boxes and a permanent marker. Label one “Keep”, one “Toss”, one “Storage” and the last “Give Away”. Then unleash the kids on their bedrooms or the playroom and lay down some ground rules to determine which items go into which box.
Turn decluttering time into a productive activity for the whole family to cut down on the “ugh” factor of sorting through yet another room on your own. Of course, don’t forget to sort through boxes to ensure that family treasures haven’t ended up in the donation pile! You can also apply this method to sorting through other areas in your home. The pantry might yield a good amount of donatable items for your local soup kitchen, or you may find plenty of forgotten items destined for the garbage pile.
Categorizing your clutter gives you a better sense of what you need and how others may benefit from your clutter. Decluttering also removes potentially harmful things from your home, such as moldy toys, rotten plants or little things your cat has found. Optimize this decluttering time by cleaning your house while you organize each nook and cranny.
Putting items in boxes does another thing: it gives you an idea of what needs to go to storage. Maybe it’s time to consider renting a storage unit for your extra stuff.
Get Some Help
Whether you need someone to help out with child care so you can sort through your household closets in peace, or you need a professional organizer who knows how to declutter a huge mess that’s really gotten out of hand, reach out and ask for assistance. Decluttering your house doesn’t have to be a solitary activity, so don’t let a lack of direction or spare time stand in your way!
When you’re ready to free up more space in your house and put those boxes into a climate-controlled storage unit, we can help. Contact us for more information today.
