5 Ways to Declutter Your Home

With Christmas fast approaching it’s that time of year again where we have to make room for the new by removing the old. Removing clutter from our homes can be an arduous task and can often cause a multitude of arguments between household members! If you feel that your house is starting to look overcrowded or you are forever looking at clothes, items and accessories that you never use then follow these five simple steps to de-clutter your home.

1. Be Ruthless!

It sounds like a simple statement but when it comes to possessions we can become very sentimental. While we all like to hold on to items with real meaning we often hold on to items that are perhaps not as necessary or meaningful as they seem. Be ruthless when sorting through the items in your home and ask yourself, does it mean anything to me? When was the last time is used it? Is it broken or is it valuable?

2. Can it be useful to someone else?

Create separate piles for items that you are de-cluttering. Use one pile for items that are useless or broken that need to be placed in the general rubbish. Create another pile for items that can be sold at local car boot sales, auction sites or online sales page (this is a great way of making a few pennies for items that would normally be left in a cupboard collecting dust). Then make a pile of items that cannot be sold but are still good enough to be donated to a charity shop.

3. Complete each task before starting another

Don’t begin your de-cluttering by pulling out every drawer and storage space in the room and piling it all together. This will be overwhelming and will be more likely to leave you in a state of confusion and disorganisation. Make a list of tasks that need to be completed and tackle them one at a time until they are all ticked off. For example start with de-cluttering your wardrobe, then move on to your dressing table and finally any smaller places such as bedsides and ottomans.

4. Re-organise the items that you keep

When you have decided on the items that you want to keep, don’t just throw them back into the drawer or cupboard that they came from; instead re-organise them so that they are easier to locate and store. Co-ordinate clothes into sections based on season, colour or style and dedicate drawers to the same sorts of items for example make-up, stationary and electricals. Vacuum bag any clothes that will not be worn until the next season and ensure that any magazines or comics are stored in order of publication.

5. Do Not Re-clutter!!!!!

We have all done it! You have de-cluttered your house only to re-fill it with nik naks and bits and bobs in the following months.  Don’t do it! When shopping, ask yourself do I really need this? Where will I keep this? How long will it be useful for? If you cannot justify your purchase then don’t buy it! Are you buying a dress just because it’s in the sale or a waffle machine just because you read about it in a magazine? Stop and consider all the hard work you put into de-cluttering and ask yourself do you want to go through it all again!

For more ideas on de-cluttering you home interior, take a look at our latest Pinterest board – Pinterest – Declutter.