Clearing and Decluttering Your Home

Decluttering your home! Do you “live” in your house? Or does the clutter “live” in your house? Sometimes you might have a hard time trying to figure this one out. Maybe it’s been so long it has become a lifestyle. Maybe you’re thinking it may haunt you forever?

Do you have family members who “live” with you and dump their junk wherever they want because they don’t know anything else? Do you ever feel like you want to rent a hotel room to get away from it all?

Living in a cluttered home can make you feel tired and hopeless, like you’re not in control of your life. Well, if you’re thinking the clutter is too much in control, get yourself back in the driver’s seat and take control!

Whether you’re getting ready for holiday gatherings or simply want to enjoy a little more breathing room at home, clearing out the clutter can make a big difference.

Be Prepared for Clutter Removal

Yes, it is a bit of an art, and it does take practice and patience. Starting the process may not be the easiest thing to do, but as time goes by, the journey does come to fruition.

If you take it one step at a time, you will make mounds of progress. You will see the act of removing clutter as an enhancement to your home decor and living environment.

The first thing to do is prepare to clear the clutter so you can put everything back in a way that makes sense, is organized, and is clean. You will most likely need some of the following items:

• Garbage bags – Not only for garbage but also for items you will be throwing away.
• Boxes – These can be used for things you’ll be donating or giving away and for items you find that belong in other rooms in the house.
• Donation boxes or bags – Make it easier to gather items you no longer need so they’re ready to drop off at a donation center.
• Clear storage containers and labels – These will be used for storing seasonal items (clothes, decorations, etc.), your kids’ memorabilia, toys, and things that only come out occasionally. Label them accordingly so you can find what you need later.
• Cleaning supplies – Because when you’re down to the ground, you’ll want to clean and tidy up.

A cluttered home is visually and physically draining. Get ready to un-stuff the stuff and bring back the order to your home.

Evaluate Your Home

Take a moment to look around your home and assess its appearance. Rearranging your living environment can do a lot to reduce a cluttered appearance. It will also make your home more inviting to you and your guests.

Use your most critical artist’s eye. Go room by room, look at the overall picture, and visually assess how the room greets the eye.

Display Items

Look at the items you have on display. Do you still like them, or are they dated and you really haven’t noticed them sitting there for years? Have they become an eyesore on your shelf, collecting dust? If you don’t have any special attachment to them, get rid of them.

Furniture

Use the same critical eye for furnishings and other accessories in a room. Look at the arrangement of chairs, sofas, dining tables, coffee tables, end or casual tables, tabletops, lighting, fireplaces, beds, and so on.

Too often, we hang on to furniture just because it’s there. Get rid of worn-out chairs and other items by either donating them to thrift stores if they’re still usable or throwing them away if they’re in bad shape.

This kind of evaluation process can be a big step when decluttering your home and making it more attractive.

Fewer things are easier to maintain and make cleaning quicker and easier, too! Sometimes this can be the major culprit in rooms looking and feeling cluttered.

Making a New and Comfortable Layout

It might help if you have some graph paper, the kind with faded blue lines, so you can sketch your rooms to scale. If you don’t have graph paper, use plain or ruled paper and estimate the layout.

After you’ve sketched the outline of the room, cut out squares and rectangles for the furniture, lamps, coffee tables, beds, dressers, etc. Rearrange them to come up with a better layout and then try it out for real!

If one designed layout doesn’t work, rearrange or remove a piece or two to get the uncluttered appearance you’re looking for.

There are also some very good computer programs for designing room layouts. If you’re comfortable using a computer and purchasing a program written for this application, you might want to give it a try.

Pick Up the Junk

When you’re clearing the clutter from the room you are working in, be cold and calculating.

Okay, there are some obvious things you don’t need to hang on to:

• Moldy foods.
• Broken knickknacks.
• Old papers, books, and magazines that are ripped, stained, or smell of mold.
• Old furniture and accessories that are worn out or no longer usable.
• Clothes that are stained, ripped, don’t fit, or aren’t your style.
• Anything you regret having and don’t remember why you got it in the first place.

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: if an item isn’t ripped or stained and is still in good condition, consider donating it to charity. Someone else may appreciate it.

Be Prepared

Set your boxes out so you can easily put donation items in one, things that go in another part of the house in another, one for the things you’re keeping in the room, and one for items that need to be stored. You can also have a separate box for things you plan to sell.

Don’t put items that belong in other rooms away until the room they belong in has been gone through and cleaned. This helps keep you from moving clutter from one room to another.

Use garbage bags to put everything that is just plain clutter and trash in them. Recycle what you can and dispose of the rest. These items need to be scooped up and removed, never to grace your home again.

Work in Small Sections and Get Help

Work on one small area at a time. Instead of emptying every closet and drawer at once, finish one shelf, drawer, or section before moving on. This keeps the mess manageable and helps you see your progress.

Don’t hesitate to enlist the assistance of another family member, especially if moving furniture is included in your plan of action. It saves wear and tear on your back and encourages the rest of the family to buy into the idea of clearing clutter from your home.

Clean Before Replacing Things

When you’re done, give the room a good cleaning before you put things back. Vacuum furniture, wipe down counters, and clean shelves, drawers, and closet floors while they’re empty. It’s much easier to clean these areas before putting everything back. Now clutter is a thing of the past. Hurray!

Dust your hands off and give yourself a pat on the back.

Are You Having a Hard Time Deciding What Stays and What Doesn’t?

Everyone has family memories. If this is one of your tough decisions, put items safely in a storage container and store them. You don’t have to get rid of everything that isn’t useful. Some things are meaningful, and that’s okay. The goal is to make room for the things you enjoy and use rather than keeping everything out of guilt or habit.

When Was it Last Seen, Used or Worn?

If something hasn’t been seen, used, or worn in a long time, ask yourself whether you’ll really use it anytime soon. Chances are, if you haven’t done anything with it in a long time, you most likely won’t in the future either.

Paperwork

Do you have a mess of papers but can’t seem to rid yourself of old pay stubs, bills, credit card statements, and other paperwork? Do yourself a favor and go through those papers. Shred documents with personal or financial information that you no longer need, and keep important records according to how long they may be needed. You don’t have to hang on to every old bill or statement forever.

Kids Toys

If you have kids and you’re having a hard time deciding which toys to keep, look at what is truly important to them and what they actually play with. The rest can be donated to other kids who would love to play with the things your kids don’t use.

Let’s be honest, some of us have way too many clothes. If you can’t part with things that you actually wear but really don’t have the room for them, buy space-saver bags or storage bins that store nicely under the bed or in a closet.

What Can I Do with the Stuff I Don’t Want?

If you have gifts you’ve received and don’t like, either give them to charity or regift them (just make sure you know who gave them to you so you don’t regift them back). Don’t feel bad about not keeping them; someone else will love what you don’t. Spread the joy!

If some of the things you are getting rid of are in good condition, have a garage sale. Take your stack of books to a store that will buy them back from you. Why not try and make a little money from all the effort you’ve put into cleaning your house up?

Share with family and friends. What you don’t want might be another person’s treasure.

It’s Time to Start Fresh!

Don’t try to fill every nook and cranny. Keep it simple.

Putting Back the Things You Want

After cleaning the room, it’s time to start fresh and put back only the things you want, need, use, or plan to bring out for the holidays. This might be a good time to make room for holiday decorations, serving dishes, extra linens, and other seasonal items.

Think about the plan you created above for your furniture layout and accessories. Everything will have a home.

Put it Back Where it Came From

If someone takes a game down, when they’re done, make sure they know to put it back where it came from.

Organize like with like. If you don’t want your DVD collection on a shelf, buy a footstool that is also a storage place. These are also great for magazines, books, etc. Just be sure that when you have finished a magazine or book, you don’t hang on to it longer than necessary.

Storage Ideas

Over the years I have learned some things from friends and others that are actually really good ideas. Here’s a few:

• This is one of my favorites. Store sheet sets inside their matching pillowcase. Clever, isn’t it?
• My girls have always loved their jewelry. A neat idea for bracelets and rings is a paper towel holder. You can use the countertop kind or the kind that attaches to a wall. If you use the stand-up kind with a small tube, the small tube can be used for rings.
• Get a cable organizer for the office or entertainment area.
• Another of my favorites, and so creative, is using spring rods to divide cupboards for items like cookie sheets, serving platters, etc. Ingenious!
• Label storage containers, especially those holding seasonal items and holiday decorations. You’ll know what’s inside without having to open every box when it’s time to decorate.

Decluttering Your Home and Keeping It Fresh

Decluttering your home every so often will keep it from getting overly stuffed again. Put a reminder on a calendar and stick to it. After all, less is more. More doesn’t always make you happier, right?

Clean as you go. After a while, this will become a habit, so your house is less likely to become cluttered again.

If you do have an inkling to buy more, ask yourself if you really need it or if you have a place for it before you swipe the credit card.

Storage Options