When you think about clutter, you may think about a kitchen countertop covered with a week’s worth of junk mail, keys and various other miscellaneous items. Your bathroom counters, tabletops, shelves and dressers may also come to mind.
However, clutter also builds up in spaces like your drawers, cabinets, closets, garage, pantry and other areas. A cluttered home has a truly negative impact on many facets of your life. Use these tips for reducing clutter to stay ahead of the mess.
Benefits of a Clutter-Free Space
A very cluttered home can leave you feeling stressed and even overwhelmed. It directly impacts your mental health and makes it more challenging to find the items you need when you need them. You might be more inclined to buy replacement products unnecessarily.
In addition, it’s more difficult to thoroughly clean your home. This plays a role in your health as well as the time and energy required to clean each week. More than that, your pride in your home can be diminished. You might feel embarrassed to have houseguests and uninvited visitors.
While the decluttering task in front of you can seem daunting, don’t despair. These tips will help you eliminate the clutter and prevent it from building up in the future.
Start Small and Focus on One Area
You don’t have to declutter your home in one day or even one week. The key to conquering a major project is to break it up into manageable tasks. Depending on your available time, consider cleaning out one drawer or cabinet each day. If you have more time available, declutter one room per day. Some people prefer to set a timer. For example, they may declutter for 15 or 30 minutes per day.
There are other strategies as well. For example, some people find it easy to get rid of one or two items per day. Others work well with a checklist. You can even use the 12-12-12 rule. Choose 12 items to keep, donate or toss on a daily basis.
Use the “Keep, Donate, Toss” Method
You’ll get nowhere fast if you aren’t decisive when decluttering your house. As a general rule, only touch each item once. When you hold that item, decide if you want to keep it, donate it or toss it.
To make your decluttering project easier, have separate boxes nearby to hold your “donate” and “toss” items. When you have fewer items in your home, it’s much easier to give everything a place of its own and minimize clutter in the future.
Don’t Hold on to Things “Just in Case”
The items that you keep should have true function in your life, or they should have sentimental value.
Don’t hold onto things because you might need them in the future. If you haven’t used something within a year and don’t have a firm plan to use it in the future, it should be tossed or donated.
Make Smart Storage Choices
After pulling out the things that you no longer want or need, you may still have many items filling the nooks and crannies of your home. Now, you need to focus on organization. Storage features like bins, racks, shelves, organizers and more allow you to group similar items together. They give each of your items a dedicated space..
This means that you can quickly return it to its rightful place after using it. Carefully research the many storage items available, and invest in options that are best-suited for the space available and for your items.
Keep Up with It Regularly
Once your home is decluttered and organized, your job is not done. Living a clutter-free life requires daily effort. Get in the habit of returning each item to its place after using it. At the end of the day, walk around your house to find items that are out of place. Get your home’s other occupants in the habit of doing the same.
In addition, to prevent overcrowding, get rid of one thing for every new thing that you buy. Seasonally, go through your wardrobe. Toss out items that you don’t plan to wear in the upcoming season or that you didn’t wear during the previous season.
Clutter is more than a nuisance and an eyesore. It has a significant impact on your living experience, your health and your home’s cleanliness. At TidyHere, we are your complete solution for decluttering and cleaning. To schedule your first house cleaning service in Boston, Massachusetts with our team, contact us today.
