Decluttering Your Home Tip #1
Start Small
Having a lot of unecessary stuff can be stressful and decluttering your home can seem like a daunting task. That is to say, if you feel stressed about decluttering, start small. You can simply start with a drawer or cabinet. After that, work your way up to a closet and so on.
As a result, during this process of starting small and working your way up to larger areas in your home, you will build momemtum. Therefore, what once seemed intimitading will soon feel much easier to accomplish.
Decluttering Your Home Tip #2
Create Four Separate Piles
As you go through the areas in your home, start separating items into four groups.
- Trash/recycle
- Donate
- Sell
- Keep
Parting with our items is hard. Not only do some things hold memories, but they can hold value and I know it feels crummy just throwing things away. Therefore, by selling and donating you can look at it as though you are getting something in return for decluttering your home.
Whether it’s money in your pocket for selling your unused or gently used items. Or by donating and knowing someone else can get use out of something you no longer need.
Anything that you do not use or need and cannot be sold or donated, is trash. Remember, the goal here is too keep only necessary items.
Where to Sell Items
Facebook Marketplace is a great platform for selling household items. You are able see the profile of the person you are chatting with and you can choose whether you want them to come to you, you go to them, or you can meet them in a public setting. If the interested person is an avid Marketplace buyer or seller, they may even have a rating or reviews from their past transations that you can view. In my opinon, Facebook seems to be the most credible site for selling items. However, you always want to be careful and have someone with you when you plan to meet your buyer if possible.
Other websites such as Offer Up and Mercari are also great places to sell items.
Decluttering Your Home Tip #3
Have Storage Bins and Organizers Ready
Before you start decluttering, find storage containers that will work for the area you are planning to go through. This way, when it’s time to put back your keep items everything is organized and tidy, and the area will feel complete.
Below are some storage container and organizer ideas:
First, we have storage shelves! Shelves can be used for garage organization and they are especially great for adding more stacking space to closets. I personally have the first one below in my guest bedroom closet, and I stacked storage bins on the racks which helped me remove a lot of clutter!
Next, we have storage bins and baskets. Storage bins can be used for many different areas in a home. Large storage bins, like the first set featured below, are great for stacking in a closet or garage. On the other hand, the smaller, middle set below work well in cabinets, pantries, drawers, closets and more!
In addition to shelves and bins, you can also use drawer organizers. Drawers can get sooo messy! The best way to declutter drawers and keep them organzied is by using drawer organization bins or dividers. Here are just a few of the very many you can find.
Decluttering Your Home Tip #4
Remove the Unwanted Items From Your Home ASAP
Now that you have put back all your keep items in an organized fashion, it’s time to get rid of the items you are selling, donating or throwing away. You want to do this right away while you have momentum and not procrastinate.
For instance, you may think, “Oh I’ll take these bags to Goodwill next week after I do this other thing.” Or, “I don’t have time to list these items for sale right now, I’ll do it another day.” Before you know it, it’s been weeks and those no longer needed items are still sitting in your house.
Therefore, you should make it a priority to get rid of them as soon as possible. You want to feel less stressed and have a decluttered home. If you put off getting rid of the items, you just end up with organized clutter.
Decluttering Your Home Tip #5
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help if the job seems too big to accomplish by yourself. Decluttering your home is hard work. Having someone help you organize and determine what you should keep or get rid of can take the pressure off of you and make the task of decluttering your home less stressful.
That’s a Wrap
I hope these five tips assisted you in decluttering your home! If you have an immense amount of items you may feeel like you don’t want to begin this task at all. But, remeber to start small. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can break it all down into days, weeks or however long it takes, as long as it gets done. However, once you have conquered one area and you have your things separated into piles, start working on getting rid of what you need to right away.
If you enjoyed this post, check out my Sunday cleaning routine next!
Always, Morgan
