Most family homes end up full of clutter, which can make your home feel too full and difficult to enjoy living in. If your house is full to the brim of toys your children don’t play with any more, clothes they’ve grown out of and books that they don’t want to read again, then you can brighten up your home with a good declutter. To make things go a little easier, try these tricks.
Do maximise your storage space. Decluttering will be a lot easier to accomplish if you have somewhere to actually put things away. Add some more storage to your home so you can give everything somewhere to go. Smart storage, like ottomans are a great option. Furniture pieces that do double duty as something like a seat, while offering up some storage space. Add more storage with shelving that can be used to show off your favourite pieces while keeping them out of the way. A storage unit can also be useful, as you can use it to store the things you still need but don’t use all the time, like out of season clothing, suitcases or things like skis.
Don’t take on the job all at once. Decluttering can take a while and is not much fun to complete. Break the job into smaller chunks to make it easier to take on. There are a few different ways that you could do this. Work room by room, or use a system like the KonMari method to break up the clearing into categories. Set timers to work in short bursts to keep your energy up to keep going.
Do use a Maybe box. As you’re going through all your things, you’re going to come across things that you aren’t sure if you want to keep or not. If you’re struggling to come to a decision, put the item into a box. When you’re finished sorting, put this box somewhere out of sight. If you want something that’s in there, then you can retrieve that item and keep it. Try not to look at anything else in there, so you aren’t tempted to keep more things. After a set period of time, like a couple of weeks or a month, anything left in the box are things you don’t need, so the whole box should be thrown out.
Don’t get carried away. It can be easy to get into the zone when you’re having a clear out, and you end up finding that you’ve accidentally thrown out all your winter clothes or got rid of the children’s favourite toys. A declutter can be refreshing, but think sensibly about each item before deciding it’s fate. Remember that you can keep things even if you don’t need them. You can keep things because they’re sentimental, or just because you like them.
A declutter is a great way to refresh your home and make the most of your space and the things you have, without being snowed under by clutter.
