Many homeowners find the idea of living a simple life with less stuff filling up their home’s space appealing. However, when it comes time to actually declutter a home, many people become overwhelmed, anxious, and defeated by the prospect of owning less.
Learning how to declutter your home (and, by extension, your life) does not have to be as painful as some make it out to be. And the advantages are numerous. A clean and clutter-free home means less to clean, more space, and can make a better impression when it comes time to sell your home.
Top real estate agents, such as those at Harvey Kalles Real Estate, agree that a tidy, clean, and organised home appeals to prospective buyers, potentially allowing you to sell your home faster.
If you’re stuck and need help decluttering, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here are a few interesting decluttering tips to get you started on your home decluttering project.
Find a Place for Everything
One key to clutter-free living: Everything in your house requires a place to call home. Home organisation should ultimately be about making it super simple to put things away.
This entails providing items with a convenient and consistent place to “live”—the more visible, the better. If you’re concerned about where your mail will land when it enters the house, it’ll end up all over your countertops and other surfaces.
However, if you have a recycling bin or a bills basket in the mudroom, you’ll catch all of that paper clutter before it spreads. Professional organisers frequently advise labelling bins, drawers, and shelves, at least until you and your family members get used to the new system.
When Cleaning, Never Leave a Room Without Something
Little habits, rather than extravagant cleaning days, are what ultimately keep a home clutter-free. Professional organisers recommend grabbing a misplaced item (or three) before leaving a room as an everyday decluttering hack.
In other words, simply make returning items to their proper locations a part of your daily routine as you move through the house. Grab that sweatshirt you left on the living room sofa and return it to your bedroom on your way upstairs to brush your teeth.
When you return downstairs, take that stack of dishtowels from the laundry room, fold them, and stack them in the drawer next to the sink. You won’t have as much clutter to deal with come the weekend (at least not as much).
Declutter in Small Increments
Why stop at rearranging things throughout the day? You can also fit in more organising than you think by focusing on small tasks.
Many of us do a few major decluttering projects each year, only to feel like a failure when the clutter returns within a month. What is more effective is to make decluttering a daily habit. Instead of opening your leggings drawer and tossing C-list pairs to the side while searching for one of your favourites, take five minutes to weed out the ones you despise wearing.
Make a donation bag and keep it in your car so it doesn’t accumulate in your bedroom. Go ahead and gloat tomorrow when you open your leggings drawer and see only favourites neatly stacked. You are fantastic. Tomorrow’s post will be about skin care.
Seasonally Refresh Your Spaces
Rotating seasonal clothing is an old-school habit worth adopting because it naturally encourages us to rethink what we really need, get rid of items we no longer use, and reconsider how we organise our wardrobes.
The key is to edit your space ruthlessly and set limits to simplify each area. Put donations in your car, for example, to ensure accountability and follow-through.
Also read: From Cluttered to Cozy: How to Make Your Bedroom Feel Like a Retreat
