If you want your home to be a calm, oasis-like, clutter-free space all the time, then read the expert advice we have for you below.
- Start small
First of all, clutter can be overwhelming especially if there is a lot of it That is why is so important that you start with a small pile and have realistic expectations for any decluttering that you might do.
For example, no matter how motivated you are, it’s unlikely that you will be able to declutter your whole house in a single weekend, particularly if your items have built up. Instead, a much more realistic goal might be to declutter a single room or even a single cupboard or chest of draws.
- Establish 3 piles
Next, before you begin you’ll want to set up three piles for the things you sort through. These piles will be labelled keep, donate, and throw away. Being clear on where each item is going from the beginning of the process will make the entire thing faster and easier, as you will only have to make one decision per item.
Indeed, there is only one other way to declutter your home that’s faster than this and it is to use a professional junk hauling service. Such as service can make decluttering even speedier because you don’t have to split them into three piles. You just need to decide that you want to get rid of them and the junk haulers will take your items away and go through them later picking out things to be recycled, reused, or resold where possible. What this means is that not only does it make the entire decluttering process less stressful but you can be sure that you are doing your best for the Environment as well.
- Use a timer
Next when it’s time to go through a pile of items and decide whether to keep them or not, having no deadline is a bad idea. This is because decluttering has a way of expanding to fill all the time you set aside for it, and still not get done properly. Instead, the best approach is to set a timer for a specific task such as clearing out a single drawer, or single shelf. Be realistic with your time limit, but shorter is usually better as it helps you make faster decisions, and gives you a sense of progress that you can use to motivate you to carry on.
- Use an effective decluttering approach.
Whether it’s Swedish Death Cleaning, KonMarie or one of the many other decluttering approaches out there, it pays to decide how you will choose to keep or get rid of things ahead of time. Indeed, the most important thing here is to pick a method that works for you personally.
This means if you tend to be more of an intuitive type of person Marie Kondo’s ‘does it spark joy’ might be the best option. However, if you run on a more logical operating system then considering whether you have worn or used an item in the last 12 months might be more effective.
- Decide on a space to store you keep items.
Next, to declutter effectively, you need to make sure that you don’t start re-cluttering as soon as you are done. This means you will need to decide on and clear out some storage space to keep your items.
When you are putting the items you wish to keep back in your storage space group them together where possible. For smaller items use baskets, cups, or jars to hold them all in the same space and make them easy to find use, and access.
- Institute a one-in, one-out policy
Once you have done all that work to make your home clutter-free, you’ll want to keep it that way. That is why it’s vital that you institute a new policy of one item in and one item out. What this means is that whenever you buy a new item and bring it into your home, you’ll need to donate, or throw away an item that is currently there. In this way, you can limit the chance of clutter building up again in your space.
- Create a permanent decluttering area.
Last of all, one of the most effective ways to keep your home a clutter-free space is to make a decluttering area. It only needs to be small like a cardboard box in the garage or a crate. Then you can put any items you no longer want straight in that and take them to the charity shop every so often.
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