If your home is overrun with clutter as far as the eye can see, it’s time to take action and focus on getting it organized once and for all! Summer, is the perfect time to organize and declutter your home, if you didn’t do so in Spring.
While it’s unlikely you’ll transform into the next Marie Kondo overnight, learning a few practical clutter-busting methods can keep your home from looking like a mess. With minimal amounts of effort, your home can finally feel like the peaceful, livable space you’ve been dreaming of.
Clear off all flat surfaces…and keep them clean
The fastest way to make your home look less cluttered is to clear off all flat surfaces. Think countertops, tabletops, nightstand, etc. Put everything on the floor and only add back the essentials.
Then, corral the rest in drawers, bins or hang them from hooks. You’ll be amazed at the difference! When I say to put the other items into drawers, closets, bins, etc., I am talking about the other things that you need to keep, but don’t need ON your flat surfaces.
One thing that I do want to note, though, is that you don’t want to take off all your items and then stuff them into drawers. If you have junk, make sure you aren’t stuffing those items back into drawers and closets. Toss them, sell them, donate them.
Ask yourself what items you actually use – and ditch the rest!
Speaking of…the most important step to organize and declutter your home is to purge everything that you don’t or won’t use. Often, I see people fill spaces with pretty, labeled bins (when they are trying to get organized) with contents they will never need. Simplify, and start with only the things that you know you definitely need or want. There is no reason you have to declutter the same things over and over again.
Many times, you’re tempted to hang on to things because you feel like it’s a waste of money if you should ever have to buy them again. But there’s a cost to keeping something. You need to think about where to store it, give up the actual storage space, or take up precious empty space.
Not only will you spend time organizing it, you’ll have to remember where you put it when you need it. Then put it away, organizing it again when it gets messy, and well…. you get the picture. Is that item really worth the time and effort it’s going to take to keep it? Think about it BEFORE you declutter and put things away, the first time.
Use the 90/90 rule
The 90/90 rule has you ask yourself if you’ve used the item in the last 90 days and if you will use it in the 90 days to come. If the answer to both is “no”, out it goes.
The actual time of 90 days is flexible, and you can adjust it to whatever suits your lifestyle, but the framework helps you decide whether an item is as necessary as you might think.
Declutter area by area
Looking at one freshly cleaned-out space might inspire you to declutter the rest of your home, too. To keep the momentum going, declutter deeply in small areas. If you declutter a little at a time all across your home, you will have a full bag of donations, but no specific peacefully-decluttered space.
For instance, you could decide to declutter – all the way – the junk drawer or a particular cabinet in the kitchen. Start with just one cabinet or drawer. Then move on to the next cabinet or drawer, until you’ve decluttered all of them. Tip – get small bins to organize your drawers, so you don’t end up with random junk drawers again.
Once that’s done from start to finish, you can move on to your next small area. I like to focus on one room at a time, but break it up into small areas. Your kitchen for example, you could start with organizing the drawers. Then move on to your cabinets, countertops, etc. Need some tips to organize your pantry? Learn how here!
Figure out what to do with your stuff
Another hard part of decluttering is trying to figure out what to do with your stuff. Sometimes, people think it’s easier to just keep it hidden away, instead of finding someone to buy it, a donation center, or hosting a full-on yard sale.
When you organize and declutter your home, you may be tempted to rehome things to a storage facility. Do you really want to pay to store something, that in reality, you are never going to use or even think about again?
Do you have large bulky items that you don’t want to lift yourself? You might want to consider getting help from professionals such as Star City Services! These residential, commercial, and long distance movers Ronaoke are a family-owned and operated moving company, bringing 4 years of experience to the table. They pride themselves on delivering a stress-free moving experience full of communication, affordability, and fast services.
Need some more organization ideas? Try one of these 7 home organizers to help you get started!