10 Tips for Decluttering Your Home
Tired of living in the mess? Sick of not being able to find things? Not sure where to begin?? I hear you. Here are 10 tips to help get you started on navigating the clutter that is taking over your space. Because let’s be real…real estate ain’t cheap and we need to maximize what we have!
A Place for Everything….
Thank you Mary Poppins. A place for everything and everything in its place. This one is the golden rule in my eyes. You have an entire house to store your belonging (or an entire room/closet/drawer in some cases). At the end of the day, do you really need it if you can’t fit it somewhere reasonable? Let’s focus on bringing a bit of minimalism into our lives and only keep what we have room for. The best way to maintain a clutter-free space is to designate a particular space for something and get rid of it (or something else in said space) if there isn’t room. Example: I have a gift wrap closet. I rarely buy tissue paper, gift bags or bows because I’m an expert at reusing. The only thing I really buy is gift wrap. That being said, I have an entire closet dedicated to this so I can save money. But when does the saving outweigh the cost of space? Gift wrap is so inexpensive (hit the Dollar Tree or places like Joann’s, Home Goods, Ross post-holiday’s for the best deals). If I can’t fit all of my gift wrapping supplies into my closet, I have a rule that it gets tossed. If I really like a particular ribbon or print on tissue paper, I toss something in the closet to make room for it.
You can use this tip anywhere! Your clothes drawers and closets, holiday decor bins, bookshelves, kitchen gadgets, and more. It forces you to be mindful and decide what’s really worth keeping.
2. Weigh With Your Goals
Why are you trying to escape your clutter? What goals do you have to get things started? What would make things livable and what would be an ultimate goal for the space? If you are trying to declutter because you can’t sit on your couch anymore, make it a goal to find a home for whatever is taking over and a rule to keep it decluttered. If you want to have family overnight for Christmas but that 2nd bedroom has been a storage unit for too long, make it a goal to convert it to a killer bed and breakfast for grandma by the holiday season. You need to be realistic about why the clutter is in the way and how to get it cleaned up.
3. Identify the “Corner Chair”
Everyone has that “corner chair” in the room that no one can actually sit in. Why? Because it became the resting place for dirty laundry, a pile of mail, old books, the Amazon boxes you couldn’t find under the 4 jackets (so there goes returning it). Identify that vessel and execute! I have literally removed a piece of furniture from a space in my house so that I break the habit of piling up on it. I actually have 2 chairs that rotate around the house because of that exact reason. It’ll take you 30 seconds to put whatever you are setting down in its rightful place. (see tip #1!) In case you missed it…this doesn’t have to be a literal chair. It could be the end of your kitchen counter, a nightstand, a bench seat, the dining table…you name it. Clear the clutter, move the furniture if you are afraid of the habit, or place something like a lamp or a plant on it so it’s decorative and not available. Just identifying and attacking something this simple can make you feel soooo much better. It may even kickstart another project to declutter around the house.
4. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Square Feet
Photo Albums. I said it. If you are on the early end of millennial upbringing like I am, you probably have some photo albums stashed about. I personally love them. But we live in a world where our albums are now digital and we really don’t have the space to collect shelves of “Halloween 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004…..” We also don’t have the space or sanity to hang on to some of the childhood toys, clothes or memories that we know we will never use, but are too nostalgic to part with.
This. Is. Where. I. Love. Photo. Albums.
Pick a few cute ones to have on display if you enjoy having the hard copies. Or, use an online platform to create a book of fond memories. Use your phone to take pictures of everything and organize digital photo albums. TAKE PICTURES of the old plastic wagon you used to pull around when you were 5 or the Cabbage Patch Doll you wouldn’t let go of when you were 7. I know they are just boxed up in your garage or attic as we speak. Then donate them so that another kid can enjoy the same feelings those memories brought you. Donate to a local organization or church preschool. Every time you see the pictures, you can relive those memories without losing the square footage of the real thing.
*WARNING/RECOMMENDATION: If we are talking about family heirlooms, check around to see if any other family members might be interested in the item before donating! If you have items that you may pass down to your children, designate a set amount of real estate and pick the important things to keep!
5. Exit Strategy - Offer/Sell/Donate
Did you ever watch Clean Sweep in the early 2000’s? They would have the home owner empty their entire house, lay out 3 tarps, haul in a dumpster, and have the owner sort through every single item. Tarp 1: Keep. Tarp 3: Sell. Tarp 3: Donate. The Type A in me LOVED it. Similarly, we want to create a strategy to remove your clutter. We don’t need to clear the entire house! Maybe you just start with one closet or one room. Perfect. Create 3 piles/bags/boxes: Offer to friends or family, Sell online or through a consignment center, or donate. I use all 3 in this order to offload. If my friends or family do not want it and cannot take it within the week, I try to sell it or I donate it. You must offer these items up right away if you can! Otherwise the piles remain and slowly re-expand into your space. I find this strategy to be most useful when you “feel bad” about parting with things. If it can “go to a good home” or if you can make some money off of it, it tends to feel better. If not, you donated it to a good cause and that feels great too!
6. Limit Seasonal Storage
For some of you, it may even be to CREATE seasonal storage. Sometimes seeing how many bins or boxes can be eye opening. You only pull this stuff out once a year. Is it worth storing?? I use the black and yellow heavy duty bins from Costco. I have 4 Christmas bins (my favorite holiday to decorate for), 2 Fall/Halloween bins, 1 Spring/Easter bin and that's it. I also make sure to go through each bin before putting it away again to toss anything I don’t use anymore and anything that’s broken. This strategy cut my 5 Christmas bins down to 4 last year (lol).
7. Spring….No….Seasonal Cleaning
I find that Spring cleaning just isn’t enough. I like to clean by each season. This is a great tip for clothing especially. After “Winter” …if you can call it that in Southern California…I check my closet for jackets, sweaters or knits that I didn’t wear this year and I begin the Exit Strategy. If I didn’t wear it at all that season, I don’t need it. It’s that simple. Same goes for summer swim suits that are stretched out or unused, workout attire from summer or spring, Fall boots that are worn down or scuffed up, any accessories. It may not seem like much but I probably offload one to two trash bags FULL of clothes to friends each season. This is a similar concept for my seasonal storage. (tip #6)
8. Trade Out Kids Toys Every 1/4-1/2 Year
While this doesn’t actually rid clutter from your house entirely, it will help organize things and in turn, declutter. Designate a bin or two for kids toys and store it in your garage, attic or basement. <—- California basement??? Change out your kid’s toys quarterly or twice a year! Not only does this make your kids feel like they are getting new toys at random, but it is less for them to leave out and about. Pro tip: I do this for my dogs!!! The joy in their tail wag when they see mom bring out a “new” toy. They don’t even notice the other one’s missing. Your kids and dogs think Christmas came early.
9. Marie Kondo That Stuff!
If you haven’t seen Netflix’s Japanese wonder - Marie Kondo, you must. We all may chuckle sometimes at the idea of holding your shirt and thanking it…but in reality, this woman has it nailed. If a personal belonging no longer “brings you joy” why do you still have it??? “Honor” your belongings. Go through your clothing drawers, use her folding technique (it’s changed my life for packing when traveling) and really look at each item and ask if it brings you joy. Do it with your nightstand or with random knick-knacks that ended up as “home decor”. It’s a silly way to get rid of the “stuff” taking over your home.
10. Discipline - Accountability - Monkey See, Monkey DO
If clutter is truly taking over your life, you must be disciplined to take the time to crush it and to not let it return. Tell yourself to take on just one drawer today. Take just 15 minutes in the kitchen once a week. Don’t buy something just because “you like it”, ask yourself if you have the space for it.
Hold yourself accountable. When you notice yourself tossing something onto the table or “the chair”, take the 30 seconds to put it in its proper home. This will become the new habit over time and won’t feel like work.
If you aren’t going to keep your space tidy, why should you kids or your spouse? How will your children learn to clean up after themselves? How will they learn that material things are just that…and that we don’t have to cling to them? Monkey see, monkey do.
If you try incorporating these tips into your daily life, you will slowly but surely get through the clutter. It may feel like a mountain right now…but if you just take it step by step, day by day…at the very least it will be less clutter than the day before, right??