To keep your home in the best possible shape, make it a goal to declutter your living spaces. Decluttering can be overwhelming, particularly if you have accumulated a lot of belongings. It doesn’t have to be a difficult project, though. Here are some tips and tricks to make decluttering your home easier.
Start Small When Decluttering Your Home
You don’t have to declutter and organize the entire house in a single day, or even a single weekend. Choose an area that you feel needs attention. Start small with one cabinet, your home’s first-aid kit, or a sock drawer. As you complete one spot, you’ll see a difference, and feel motivated to continue on to the next area.
Create Time to Declutter
When you develop a system for decluttering, plan a few hours here and there to tackle larger areas. Set aside a day to declutter the bedroom closets. You may need an entire weekend to make the garage clutter-free. Set times in your schedule and stick to the plan.
Clear the Area When Decluttering Your Home
No matter where you choose to begin, clear the spot that you will be decluttering. If you choose to begin with a kitchen drawer, remove everything from the drawer. Lay the items on the countertop, on the kitchen table, or even on the floor. After you’ve removed everything from the space, clean it thoroughly. Wipe out the kitchen drawer and clean underneath it. If you’re decluttering a closet, dust the shelves, wipe down walls, and clean the flooring. A clean space creates the feeling of starting fresh and you’re more likely to maintain the area.
Sort Belongings
After you’ve removed everything from the space, sort items into different categories. Collect anything you don’t need in a pile for donation. Put trash in the garbage bin. If you find things that belong elsewhere in the house, gather them into a box or basket. Finally, you’ll be left with the items that actually belong in the space.
Choose Storage Solutions
Now that you know what items you’ll be returning to your space, plan the best ways to store these belongings. For example, in a bathroom medicine cabinet, put things you use most frequently within easy reach.
Develop storage solutions for each of your newly cleaned spaces. Your bedroom closet is an example of a space that may benefit from an organization system. If your closet was messy and the floor was littered with clothing and shoes, look for ways to better store your belongings. Home improvement stores have closet organization systems that can be customized to fit your space.
Maintain Your Clutter-Free Home
Make the effort to keep your newly decluttered spaces neat. Always return items to where they belong. Get family members into the habit of doing the same. Labels can be helpful for maintaining organization. Label boxes, bins, and even cabinets with their contents. This way all of your family members know where things belong. The labels will help remind them to return items to their place.
Decluttering does not have to be overwhelming. The project can be as large or as small as you want to make it. Work through your house area-by-area or room-by-room and you’ll gradually begin to see a difference in your living spaces. Clean, tidy, and clutter-free living spaces make house cleaning easier and they help keep your home a relaxing and comfortable place to be.
Danny Inspections offers home inspections to customers in the Chicago area. Contact us to schedule our services.