Surrounding yourself with clutter isn’t a recipe for domestic happiness. Unfortunately, many of us can be guilty of hoarding things we no longer really need, with items accumulating over time.
But decluttering doesn’t have to be a painful experience. It can actually be quite rewarding when taking into account the various benefits. For example, keeping a home clean and tidy is much quicker and easier with fewer possessions. There’s less to clean, less to organise and less to keep tabs on as you go about your weekly routine.
In addition, canning clutter can make your home a far more enjoyable place to spend time. Then there’s the hygiene benefits of getting rid of the few things that do nothing but gather dust.
As with most chores and periodic domestic duties, knowing when, where and how to get started can be challenging. Nevertheless, plan your decluttering in accordance the following 10 tips and you’ll find the job surprisingly easy:
- Start with 10-15 minutes each day and gradually build momentum. This will help ensure you don’t overwhelm yourself on day one.
- Choose one thing each day to donate or give away to someone else. This could be anything you no longer need that’s still got some value in it.
- Focus on one room at a time and map out the order in which you plan to tackle them. Don’t attempt to jump from one room to the next and back again.
- Use a three-box system. One box for things you’ll be throwing away, one for items you can sell online and one for donations. Keep things organised here or it could quickly descend into chaos. If things to be thrown away start to mount up, consider a mini skip hire.
- Be ruthless with your old clothes and convince yourself to get rid of anything you’ve neither worn nor missed within the last year. If you’ve managed without it this long, you’ll probably get by without it at all.
- Team up with someone objective. This can make it much easier to determine what you need, what you don’t and what you’d be better off without.
- Make it enjoyable and less like a chore by rewarding yourself. Use this incentive to get in the right mindset, even if it isn’t a particularly enjoyable process.
- Take before and after photos of the rooms or spaces you work in. Seeing your efforts coming to fruition can be great for keeping yourself motivated.
- Make it an ongoing process, rather than attempting to tackle your entire home in the space of a day or two. Rushing the job rarely brings faster or more effective results. It’s more likely a recipe for frustration and earlier resignation.
- Consider alternative storage solutions, if you cannot bear the thought of getting rid of some possessions entirely. Self-storage units can be great for storing just about anything at an affordable price.
In summary
With people across the UK spending more time than ever in their homes, there’s never been a better time to declutter your space. Far easier than a major decorating project, decluttering can make a remarkable difference to every room of the home.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the longer you put things off, the more difficult and time consuming the job will become. Remember you don’t have to cram the entire clear-out into a single weekend. The ‘little and often’ approach often holds the key to successful and stress-free decluttering.