What’s worse than lots of clutter? Tripping over it as we try to do anything around the house. With the new year already here, don’t you just want to sort through everything and really declutter your space?
Here are our top ten practical tips to living clutter free!
1. Make a plan
This is top of the list. There’s no point going around willy nilly without any action plan in place. You’ll get side-tracked and lose focus, and then ultimately nothing will get done. First things first, work out which spaces around your house need to be sorted out. When looking at the space, figure out what you actually use it for so you can work out what actually constitutes clutter for the area. The key thing to remember is that decluttering doesn’t necessarily mean throwing or giving things away. It also means reorganising – moving things around so they have a specific place in your home.
When working out your plan, it’s also helpful to set a deadline. A goal will motivate you to keep going when all you want to do is crawl onto the couch. It will also help you stick to your plan and ensure you get everything done.
2. Decluttering comes first, storage comes second
There’s no point purchasing and organising storage if you don’t know what you’re storing. Once you’ve decluttered your room, then you can start looking at what storage options work best. Storage will also help you keep things neat and tidy long after you’ve arranged everything. Just remember to actually put things away. A good idea to keep things clean is to have secondary secret storage. Couches with storage inside or beds with drawers work wonders when it comes to making sure everything has a place.
3. Have separate categories
When looking through your things, it’s helpful to separate them into four separate categories – keep, throw, donate and repurpose or reassign. That final category is when you move things between rooms in your home. Once you have the items that you know you want to keep, you can reorganise the room in a clean and minimalist way.
4. Start small
There’s no point going too hard, too fast; you’ll just get overwhelmed. Especially if you’re not the organised type. So start small. Give yourself half an hour and one part of a cupboard, or a couple of drawers, and start working your way through them. Once you’ve done that, give yourself a bit of a break. And then start again. The more you do it, the more motivated you’ll feel. Remember, you don’t have to tackle an entire room in one go. And you most certainly don’t have to tackle your entire house in one go. Just remember to keep going, no matter how much you’re loathing the process.
5. Recruit others
If you live alone, it’s time to recruit your friends and family. Decluttering is something everyone and anyone can get involved in. If it’s your friends, you can even offer for them to take some old, yet unnecessary treasures off your hands. If you live with your family, most definitely put them to work. It’s their home too and if they’re going to live in it, so they should help out too.
6. Stay on task
It’s very easy to get sidetracked. It’s the most common reason that people need help decluttering and it’s the most common reason people give up halfway through the process. Find a way to keep going. If that means rewarding yourself after sorting through every drawer or section of the room, great. Or if it means doing everything in 15-minute increments, awesome. Find whatever works for you and stick to it. The key here is to remember that decluttering for a short period of time each day is a smarter alternative to trying to get everything done in one full day, ony to get sidetracked as you go along.
7. Use every trick in the book
There are so many ways you can see what you actually use. Do your research and implement what’s going to work for you. For example, Oprah recommends the hanger experiment. In this situation, hang up all your clothes facing the same way. Once you wear something, put it back in the closet with the hanger in the opposite direction. After six months, you’ll see what clothes you tend to to reach for and what can be discarded. Or take the 36 items approach. This method sees you find 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate and 12 items to be returned to their proper home (whether that’s in the house or another persons altogether). Do this every month.
8. Be decisive
Now we know this is easier said than done, but when decluttering it’s crucial to be decisive. And don’t be afraid to be ruthless! It can be hard to part with things. But be realistic. If you haven’t used the item in more than six months, chances are you’re not going to. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule – when it comes to sentimental items, perhaps give yourself a bit of slack.
9. Display items
Putting things on display not only shows them off, especially if they’re pretty items, but it also reminds you to use them. Putting your belongings in glass cabinets keeps them free of dust and off the floor. Plus, glass cabinets are a lovely addition to any room.
10. Be persistent
It’s all fine and dandy to spend a few days decluttering, but if you’re not persistent with your cleanliness, all your hard work will go to waste. Don’t allow things to get cluttered again. If you need to, do a 15-minute clean up at the end of each day. If the kids’ toys are strewn about, make putting them away a game for the children. And before you go to bed each night, make sure everything is back in its place. That way, you will start each new day fresh and tidy.
De-clutter and de-stress
With these 10 tips you’re well on your way to decluttering your home. Who knows? After sorting through, reorganising and revamping every draw and shelf, your home may be as good as new! For more inspiration on how you can bring practicality and excitement to your living space, visit the Artilux blog.
