9 Effective Tips to Declutter Your Home Quickly
The amount of clutter one can accumulate in their home is baffling. I know personally, right after the madness of the holiday season, I have to wade through all of the stuff in my house.
While it may just be a little clutter at the moment, trust me where there is a small amount, there will inevitably be way more! Well, I’m here to tell you today that you no longer have to live in a cluttered home. Follow these nine useful tips I’ve used to declutter your home quickly.
-
Make A List
Pexels
Much like how you make a grocery list for going shopping, make a list for each room of what is a necessity to stay in there. Making this list will help to keep you on track of what’s important and give you the satisfying feeling of checking something off once it’s completed. Now, of course, you can’t think of every item in that room that has to stay. Just be sure that when you come across something that is not on the list and you think is essential, to take the time to consider “Is this needed/when was the last time I used it?”
-
One Room At A Time
You should in no way try to tackle your whole home in a day. That can become overwhelming and counterproductive (you will see why in my next bullet). Instead, address one room at a time. You could tackle 2-3 in one day if you feel you can but not the entire house. Selecting just a few at a time helps you to indeed focus on the space and declutter your home easily. If you feel pressured to get to every space in a day, you may not dedicate the right amount of time to each area. As the great saying goes, “Never half-ass anything. Whole-ass one thing.”
-
Set A Time Limit
Have you ever found yourself sitting down going through your old 5th-grade diary you came across, or some old item you haven’t seen in forever? You look back up and hours have passed. This is why setting a time limit is important. We all have a tendency to get stuck looking at or reminiscing about things we come across while decluttering and lose track of the job. By setting a time limit (and having the checklist from bullet 1), you can more effectively declutter your home quickly. I would say somewhere around 20-30 minutes a room so that it is efficient and keeps you moving nad on time.
-
Get Containers
Containers are one of the greatest gifts given to (wo)man, and The Container Store is just the cherry on top. You will never feel more organized in your life than when you leave The Container Store. However, one of the greatest pieces of advice I read was to first organize your home and then select containers. This makes so much sense! If you go in guns ablaze to The Container Store, you are probably going to walk out with more items then you need, thus leading to more clutter in your home. It is better to look at the space you have and see where containers will effectively fit and then go in with the purchase in mind. Once again just like the grocery list, it is much better to go in with a plan than just a free for all.
-
Make Use of Space You Have
Speaking of not getting unnecessary storage, take a look at the space you have already. Make use of the drawers and nooks you may have in the room. Perhaps once you clean out that junk drawer (we all have one don’t worry) you will see that there is so much space for more useful things. In the end, it will save you so much worry and money if you can make use of the space you have.
-
Garage Sale/Online Sale
This is one of my favorite ways to declutter because you get a little reward in return: MONEY! Why not make use of the things you no longer need and sell them? You will be amazed at the things you think no one will want and someone is willing to pay money for. I know I’m always surprised. You could set up your own garage sale or sell some things online. There is a website called Decluttr where you can sell CDS, DVDs, games, books, and tech items like old cell phones or game consoles. You can sell your bigger items there that at a garage sale you wouldn’t get much for. Now if you have a garage sale, be sure to take the things that don’t sell directly to donations. Which brings me to my next point…
-
Donate Your Stuff
If you can’t/don’t want to sell it, donate it! There are so many companies that will happily take the items you no longer need in your household. I know that when I use to set up for garage sales, at the end of the day, there was a company that would take all leftover items for donation. This could be a great motivation to help you declutter your home quickly. Think to yourself, “Do I really need this? Will someone else benefit from this more?” Typically, if you tend to think of it as doing some good, it may be easier to give it up.
-
Season-ize
Season-ize your items. By this, I mean sanction off all items that are unneeded during that season. Do you really need fall candles out in winter? Are sweaters necessary in summer? Those kinds of items you can place into containers or Ziploc Space Bag- Vacuum Seal Bag- 13 Bag Variety- 4 Travel, 2 Med, 5 Lrg, 2 XL and store away until needed. This can become a great process as each season comes. Unpack one season and package up another. This is a great effective way to help declutter your home quickly.
-
Tackle The Closet-Over time
Lastly, and I saved it for last because it’s the most strenuous, tackle your closet over time. It may not be so difficult for you but I know going through my closet and deciding what needs to be there and what can be donated/packaged away is so hard. Instead of going through everything in one go, be watchful of your choices for a while. Turn all of your hangers with the hook facing you, and as you wear each item, turn the hanger back the other way. At the end of the season, see which items you didn’t wear and decide if it was because of the wrong season or you no longer wear it. If you no longer wear it, get rid of it then and there. It’s quite a satisfying process and helps you to make a decision.
Nobody likes a cluttered home (nor do people like visiting one). And the process to decluttering it can be trying. Take these nine practical tips and begin to declutter your homes right away! How do you clear away the clutter? And when are you going to start? Let us know in the comments.
Resources:
Ziploc Space Bag- Vacuum Seal Bag- 13 Bag Variety- 4 Travel, 2 Med, 5 Lrg, 2 XL
