There are numerous benefits to decluttering your home. You’re more organized and you can find things when you need them. It looks better to prospective buyers if you ever want to sell your home. Research even shows that clutter contributes to stress. If you take one step at a time, decluttering doesn’t have to be difficult.
Divide Everything Into Groups
The best way to start is to divide everything into categories. Use boxes or bins for smaller items. Here are some ideas for categories:
- Keep it. This is the category for things you’re using regularly. You can leave them where they are or decide to relocate them.
- Store it. These are things you want to keep but don’t use often.
- Throw it out. Items for the trash or recycling bin.
- Sell or donate. You may sell some items at a yard sale or on eBay. Ask friends or family members who don’t live with you if they can use items you want to discard. Take a trip to Goodwill, Salvation Army or another donation center for old clothes or furniture. If you have a large load, some of these places will send a truck and do a pickup.
Straighten Out Storage Areas
After you bring items from your “store it” category to storage areas, you’ll want to organize these spaces. You don’t want your closets, attic, basement or garage to have random stuff piling up. You may need to do this in multiple sessions. Choose one target at a time.
Create Additional Storage
Many people find that they don’t have enough space to declutter and organize. You may need to create more space. There are several options for this.
- Get a closet organizer.
- Search for unused storage space in your home. You may already have spaces you’re not using. Common examples include crawlspaces and space under the staircase.
- Add hooks or a shoe organizer to doors.
- Build shelves.
- Get furniture with creative storage such as a Captain’s bed with drawers.
- Get creative and stylish storage containers. An antique trunk can provide storage and double as a coffee table, for instance. A storage Ottoman is stylish and decorative as well as a convenient storage space.
- Build or buy a shed. Even a small backyard has room for a shed. You can store a surprising number of boxes and other objects in a shed.
- Rent a storage unit. This is an extreme solution for larger items or lots of smaller items that you can’t find space for.
Start With Simple Tasks
Decluttering can seem overwhelming if your house is a disorganized mess. Don’t feel that you have to do everything at once. Start with a single task such as cleaning your refrigerator or a single closet. Create a list of areas to tackle. For more challenging spaces, recruit help from other household members. Get your kids to help if their room is on the agenda. Turn it into a game. If you do a little bit at a time, the clutter will gradually recede and your home will start to be more comfortable and organized.
For information on building the home of your dreams, Contact Covenant Homes.
