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How to Declutter Your Home

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Home & Garden  |  How Tos

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  • Introduction

    • Maintaining an organized and clutter-free environment is an essential aspect of creating a peaceful household. Your surroundings have a strong influence on your ability to function properly on a daily basic. For most people, living in a disorganized space only leads to more clutter and chaos. If you're always losing things or are constantly searching for important papers, it's time to declutter your home.

  • What Is Clutter?

    • All homes contain a certain amount of clutter. But when the clutter grows and starts to accumulate, that's when you have to get rid of it. If you answer "yes" to the following questions, it's time to declutter your home.
    1. Do you have a closet full of clothes that don't fit or are outdated?
    2. Do you have piles of dirty clothes on the floor?
    3. Are you always losing important paperwork?
    4. Are there piles of mail and magazines on tables and countertops?
    5. Do you have a hard time finding simple things, such as light bulbs or scissors?
    6. Are there items sitting on the floor that shouldn't be there, such as toys or papers?

  • Step 1: Analyze Yourself

    • When people decide to declutter their homes, the first thing they do is purchase a bunch of new containers and organizers. They assume that their clutter problem resulted because they don't have enough space or storage products. But purchasing more totes won't change anything unless you change yourself first.
    1. Keep focused. Remember that decluttering involves organizing your belongings and getting rid of things you don't need.
    2. Give yourself time. For some people, decluttering their home may take months. So be patient and stick with the plan once you start.
    3. Make a list of all the rooms in your home. Ask yourself which areas need the most attention and identify all the problem areas in your home.
    4. Understand the real issues. Remember that in order to have a home that is permanently clutter-free, you should think of it as a problem with you (and your ability to get rid of things you don't need), not your home or the amount of space you have.

  • Step 2: Create a Plan for Change

    • The first thing you need to do is to sort through all of your belongings. If your home contains wall to wall clutter, the thought of organizing it will leave you feeling overwhelmed. But if you create the right plan, the process will seem less complicated.

  • Develop a System

    • Creating a way of sorting through your clutter is the only way to get rid of it. Set up a system of boxes with different categories. Each home will have a different number of boxes depending on how much clutter you have. The minimum you'll need is a box for items you want to keep, a box for items you want to give away and a box for items you are unsure about.
    1. Locate several large empty boxes.
    2. Using a thick marker, label your boxes with categories such as Donate, Save, Unsure, Recycle, Move and Trash.
    3. Depending on how much clutter you have, you may also want additional boxes for items you'd like to Sell or Fix.
    4. Purchase a box of sturdy trash bags. Line your Trash box with one of the bags or simply use the trash bags by themselves.

  • Step 3: Sort Your Clutter

    • Now that you have a system in place, the next part is to start sorting.
    1. Set a timer for 15 minutes a day to declutter a specific area. If you try to declutter the entire house in a few days, you might become overwhelmed and quit.
    2. Start at the entrance of each room and sort through items clockwise.
    3. Once your boxes are full, get rid of everything except the items you want to save.
    4. Stick with your sorting plan until every room in the house has been sorted.
    5. Don't add to the problem by bringing in new items. Don't purchase anything unless it's truly necessary.
    6. Each family member should declutter their own space. Remember to involve everyone in the sorting process since they are the ones who will also have to maintain it.
    7. Pick one room at a time. Sort through all the items in that room before you move on. Tips for decluttering individual rooms:
      1. Bedroom: Your bedroom is supposed to comfort you, so storing items in your room should be kept to a minimum. Purchase under-bed storage containers to keep items off your nightstand.
      2. Living room: The main areas for clutter in living rooms are usually coffee tables and other tabletops. Every night someone in the household should take 15 minutes to clear off the tables.
      3. Kitchen: As you declutter your kitchen, remember that you should get rid of anything you don't use for food preparation, cooking or cleaning.
      4. Bathroom: Make sure you periodically go through your medicine cabinets and remove expired medicines and old prescriptions.
      5. Office: If you have an office or work area in your home, be sure to separate it from the rest of your home. Don't turn this room into a "junk" room. Remember to keep your desk clutter-free by filing paperwork and mail right away.

  • Tips for Letting Go

    • The main reason that clutter starts to build is because most people have a hard time throwing things away or giving them to charity. As you sort through your belongings, there are some things you should keep in mind.
    1. Take one item at a time. During sorting, make quick decisions about whether you want to keep the item or not. Remember the goal is to get rid of stuff. The longer you take to decide, the more likely you will end up with stuff you don't really need.
    2. Question yourself. If you don't know what to do with an item, ask yourself some questions for clarity, such as "Do you love this item?", "Have you used this item in the past year?" and "Do you really need this item?" The more questions you ask yourself, the easier your decision will be.
    3. Move on. Possessions can become a reflection of our personal history, so it's easy to form an emotional attachment to them. If you're having a tough time getting rid of stuff, remind yourself that your goal is to move on from the past and clear the way for a more functional living space.
    4. Take out the trash. A large portion of the clutter in your home is actually trash. Remove all the obvious trash from each room on a daily basis. Be sure to throw away or recycle the following:
      1. Expired items such as medicine and food
      2. Old magazines and newspapers
      3. Junk mail
      4. Clothes that are torn, stained or ripped beyond repair
      5. Packaging and boxes that are no longer useful
      6. Broken televisions and electronic equipment
    5. Give it up. Remember the best way to declutter your home is to remove all the items you don't use. Donating to charity or friends is much better than having something sit in the closet. Be sure to donate, give away or sell the following:
      1. Clothes you haven't worn in the past 12 months
      2. Extra furniture you aren't currently using
      3. Gifts you've received that are just sitting in your closet
      4. Items you can no longer use such as betamax tapes or 8-track tapes
      5. Unfinished crafts and supplies
      6. Items you know someone else will get much more use from

  • Step 4: Devise a Maintenance Plan

    • The most important part of decluttering your home is to commit to a maintenance plan. Once you have sorted through each room in your home, you can begin the next phase. Don't go back to the same habits that created your clutter problem in the first place.

  • Stop the Clutter Before It Starts

    • There are a few simple things you should do in order to maintain your new environment.
    1. Remember that you can't have a cluttered home if you don't bring it into your home in the first place. Don't bring unneeded items into your home.
    2. When you purchase necessary items such as clothes or furniture, get rid of old items.
    3. Resist impulse purchasing. Don't purchase anything on a whim.

  • Don't Let Paper Overtake Your Home

    • It's amazing how much clutter and chaos can be created from something as simple as paper. Maintaining an organized space requires a new system for dealing old paperwork, mail, newspapers, magazines and other papers.
    1. Organize your important paperwork in a file folder or cabinet.
    2. Open your mail everyday and file the items you want to save.
    3. Throw out junk mail immediately.
    4. File away papers as you receive them. Don't fall back into the habit of stacking papers or mail to be filed later.
    5. Instead of saving an entire magazine, clip the articles you want to keep and place them in a binder or folder.

  • Get Everyone Involved

    • Organizing your home is a family task. Everyone in your household needs to follow the same basic rules for the decluttering plan to work.
    1. Before going to bed, alternate days where each member of the family takes 15 minutes to straighten out the living room and get everything in order. Starting the morning off with an organized environment helps set the tone for the rest of the day.
    2. Remember that your children model their behavior after yours. If you stay on track, so will they.
    3. Schedule a meeting with everyone in the household right away when you notice clutter starting to build up again. Explain the rules clearly.
    • After you organize your belongings and commit to keeping the clutter out, you will have time for more important things that you may have neglected.

  • Step 5: React Promptly If Clutter Returns

    • You've worked hard to declutter your home, but what happens if the disorganization returns? Remember that clutter is often created by personal issues and not a problem with your home. If you're having a difficult time following the maintenance plan, you need to attack the issue right away.
    1. Assess the clutter ratio in your home.
    2. Locate the area where clutter is building.
    3. Organize the area using your previous sorting system.
    4. Ask yourself why the clutter starting building again. Is someone in your household slacking off on the plan? Schedule a meeting with everyone in your home and go through the rules for decluttering again.
    5. Make sure you're taking 15 minutes a day to organize your space. Increase the time you spend decluttering by another 15 minutes a day if necessary.
    • If you're still having problems with clutter after dutifully following the maintenance plan and reacting promptly to new clutter, you may have a more complicated issue known as hoarding.

  • Are You a Hoarder?

    • Some people have a harder time maintaining a clutter-free environment because they suffer from compulsive hoarding. For these people, there are psychological and emotional components to their clutter-filled environment.
    • Experts say there are three criteria that determines whether someone is a hoarder.
    1. Parts of your home are so full of clutter that you can no longer use them. For example, you can't use your kitchen because it contains too much stuff.
    2. Your clutter causes you embarrassment, depression or anxiety.
    3. You save a large number of items that you never actually use.
    • If you agree with the statements above, you should seek professional help in addressing what is a possible hoarding problem. No matter how severe the problem, you can conquer it with the proper guidance. Once you pinpoint the reasons behind the new clutter, it won't overtake your home like it did before.

  • Conclusion

    • Your home is supposed to be a retreat away from the struggles and problems of the outside world. Maintaining a clutter-free environment is one of the ways to instantly improve your home and your mood. You'll be able to focus on the more important issues in your life with new energy. Once you declutter your surroundings, you can start to work on decluttering all aspects of your life.

  • Resources for How To Declutter Your Home


 


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