NO ROOM
TO SWING
A CAT?
Time to
make room
for life.
Guide to
de-cluttering your
home
Before you get started
Before you start decluttering, take a moment to reflect on what your
goals are. Do you want to create more floor space by removing some
furniture? Perhaps you want to organise some of the smaller objects in
each room. You might even turn your home into a minimalist haven,
where you have nothing but what you need. Deciding what your aims are
for your home will help you to begin your task with a clear purpose in
mind.
Decluttering one room at a time will help you to avoid being
overwhelmed. If you start in the rooms where you most need space to
move around, you can get the harder task out of the way.
There are 5 categories to consider when it comes to decluttering each
space.
1.
Keep – this is for items that you use regularly and you can put away
immediately
2.
Donate – this is for items that you want to donate. It is important
with this category that you stick to your decision. And donate as
soon as possible.
3.
Keep but put away elsewhere- this is for items that belong in
another room / cupboard. Keep these items aside until you are
decluttering that space. If you look to put it away immediately you
can get distracted by another area that needs to be decluttered.
4.
Rubbish – have rubbish bags ready to throw things away.
5.
Box and store- during the process of decluttering you will encounter
items that you may not use but you are not ready to get rid of. Put
these items in a box and date it. Store it out of sight in an attic,
garage, storage unit. After 6 month to a year if you have not opened
the box then it is time to get rid of it.
Preparation
Before you start decluttering there is the temptation to run out and
buy storage containers or extra furniture because you are sure this is
the only way to get the clutter under control. This is not necessary at
this stage you will only run the risk of adding to the clutter with items
that you may not need.
The aim is to clear out what you have first and decide then if a space
will benefit if you introduce a storage system.
Tools you need when decluttering your home.
• Rubbish bags
• Recycling bags
• Box/ bag for donations
• Boxes for long term storage items
• Container you can use for returning items from one room to
another.
The kitchen
Kitchens are one of the rooms that can easily get cluttered. Many people
find that they have ended up with a huge collection of various
appliances. You can also discover that your surfaces, cupboards and
drawers are all full of things you don’t use. It can call seem a bit
overwhelming, but if you work through it methodically taking one
cupboard at a time, it won’t be such a huge task.
Rather that starting with your surfaces, leave them until last. You will be
pulling things out of cupboards and drawers, so you’re only going to
mess them up again.
Before you get to organising your food supplies, look through your
kitchen equipment. You might have pots and pans you don’t use or
utensils that are past their best. Work out what you want to keep and
what you want to remove, and try to be strict with yourself.
Ask yourself when have I last used it?
• Never – then its time to get rid of it. You might have kitchen
gadgets you bought on a whim, but it turns out you never use the
egg poacher or apple corer.
• In the last year – unless it is a seasonal item that you do use then
clear it out.
• Regularly - these are the item that you need to be able to access
easily
Riffle through your food cupboards, fridge and freezer too. Fill a box with
anything that’s been in there too long. There are some things you might
want to take to a food bank and others that will just need to go in the
bin. Use the opportunity to empty everything and give it all a wipe down.
Before you put everything back, consider reorganising it. For example,
your herbs and spices will be better off in a spice rack than rolling around
in a cupboard.
When you finally get to your surfaces, be strict about which appliances
you need to have out all the time. Some could go away in cupboards
and others could even go into storage.
Decluttering bathrooms
The bathroom can become cluttered with a multitude of small objects. Toiletries and
medicines pile up on every available surface and in your medicine cabinet. Children's
bath toys take over the room, and clothes and towels get dropped on the floor. Start
clearing the surfaces so that you can begin to see the room under the clutter. Decide
what you need to put away and what can be removed.
If you have a cupboard or cabinet, organising it will make it easier to find what you
want. You’ll no longer have to rummage past old medications and the like to find
some painkillers or a bar of soap.
.
Clearing out bathroom cabinets
Do you use it!
Are there items in your cabinets that you do not use? You tried it once
and didn’t like it so now it has been banished to the back of the cabinet.
Now is the time to get rid of it. Give it to someone if you know they use
the product otherwise throw it away.
Reduce the volume
Look at how many of each item you have in the cabinet. Do you have an
excess amount of one product. You don’t need to have more that 3 of
any product in the bathroom.
Check the date
How long have products being sitting in the cabinet. Are they still in
date? Once a product is opened the clock starts ticking on these items.
Most products have a “period after opening date” – a picture of a jar with
something like 18m on it which means the product should be good for 18
months after opening. When in doubt throw out anything that has
changed in smell, colour or texture.
Adding to you bathroom storage will help to keep clutter under control.
Consider vertical units to maximise floor space. Also putting a laundry
basket in the room gives you somewhere for clothes and towels.
Living room
The living room is a social area, where everyone gathers to spend time
together. As such, it can easily become cluttered with daily items.
Start decluttering by removing all the items that don’t belong in the room.
Then move on to the surface area clutter that has been left behind. Look
at your shelving and display units and decide if you really want to keep
everything there. Has this space become cluttered and just a place to
keep things rather than an area to display the items that you love.
Once you have finished with the surface areas it time to clear out the
storage cabinets and drawers. I’m sure you will find old remotes and
cables that you no longer need but have shoved out of site because you
didn’t know what to do with them. Now is the time to discard them. Only
keep items that you genuinely use in this room. You may find that when
you clear out everything you don’t need as much storage space as you
thought. You could be left with excess furniture that you can remove from
the room clearing up valuable floor space.
Its important to be practical when decluttering while you may dream of a
tranquil clutter free living room the reality is some items need to remain
but you can be creative in how you store them. Children's toys can be an
eyesore and it is not always practical to store them in another room so
you can look to find a toy chest that ties in with the aesthetics of the
room
To get on top of the daily clutter try creating some boxes or baskets for
everyone's things. Each person gets their own and has to take the box of
items to their own space to put away.
As for the more permanent clutter, you need to decide what to keep and
what to remove from the room. You might decide that home accessories
like candle holders and cushions only get in the way. If our collection of
accessories has taken over the room, its time to pare it back.
Bedroom clear out
A clean and uncluttered bedroom makes for a goodnight’s rest. A chaotic
bedroom makes you feel tired and stressed. If the last thing you see at
night is a chair pilled high with clothes and a cluttered nightstand then
you are going to have a restless nights sleep. The key to a tranquil room
is having everything safely tucked away in its rightful place. Your
bedroom should be your sanctuary, a space where you can go to relax
and recharge for the next day.
Divide the bedroom decluttering in to 3 areas
1.
Bed area
2.
Vanity/ dressing table
3.
Wardrobe & chest of drawers
Bed area
• Start with the bedside lockers and clear everything out one drawer at a
time. Throw away any rubbish that has built up and only replace items
that you need to keep.
• Under the bed- take out everything that is stored here. This area can
be a great storage place but you can easily forget what you put there.
If you have not used anything under there in the last year then it is
often a sign that you no longer need the items and they can be got rid
off.
• The bedding – access the number of pillow, cushions and blankets you
need on your bed. Pair it back to the basics and create a clean
streamline view when you walk into the room.
Vanity/ dressing table
This space can become overflowing with clutter leaving only a glimpse of
your vanity table top to be seen. You need to be realistic on what you
are going to keep. Problem with having too much products is you can
never find what you want when you go looking and end up replacing the
product leaving you with duplicates of many items.
• Check the date- like most things cosmetics have an expiration date. A
good rule of thumb is, if you can’t remember buying it then it is
probably time to bin it.
• Do you like it?– just because you received something as a gift or spent
a bit extra on an item does not mean you have to keep it.Iit is ok to git
rid of it. If you can donate it to someone great if not dump it.
• Do you still use it- often you have half open bottles of products that
you have stopped using for one reason or another. Decide to finish the
bottle and not buy anything new until you do or dump it.
Wardrobe & chest of drawers
Take everything out and discard the items that:
• Do not fit anymore
• Are outdated
• You have not worn in the past year.
Only spend time trying on items that you are unsure about. If you are still
unsure replace the item in to the wardrobe but with the hanger facing in
the opposite direction to the rest of your clothes. If after 3 – 6 months you
have still not worn it then you know it is time to clear it out.
There may be some sentimental items of clothing that you will never
wear again but still want to keep. Pack them up in an airtight container
and find an area where you can store them safely.
Kids bedroom
Kids bedroom can become unorganized very quickly. With small children the
outgrow clothes in a few months and toy preferences can change just as
quickly. So it can be a challenge to stay on top of it.
1.
Start by going through the wardrobe and chest of drawers and clear out
any clothing that no longer fits your child refuses to wear. It can be helpful
to have a donate basket in the room permanently so that you can
regularly clear out clothes and stop them cluttering up the wardrobe.
2.
Toys- sort through toys and dump anything that is broken and donate
anything that is no longer played with
1.
Start
2.
Toys- If your children are old enough get them involved in choosing
what they want to keep and what they are happy to give away. This
helps them take responsibility of keeping toys tidy in the future.
Dump anything that is broken or games that are missing pieces.
3.
Books- go through all the books and separate them in those that
your child still enjoys reading and those that they have outgrown or
don’t enjoy.
4.
Video games – clear out the ones that no longer get played. These
can often be returned back to the gaming store in exchange for store
credit. Your kids will be delight with this.
5.
Artwork – It can be really challenging to decide what to get rid of. Of
course everything your child makes is special but realistically you
can’t keep it all. Display the pieces that your child is exceptionally
proud of and then let them decide what ones they are happy for you
to get rid of. You can have a keepsake box where you store all the
special pieces and you can go through it during the year to see if
you still want to keep everything in it.
Minimalist Lifestyle
For those looking to attain the minimalist lifestyle and want an efficient
way to get it. Start by clearing everything out of the room and store in
boxes in another room. Over the next several weeks retrieve an item as
you need it and return it to the room. Items that are used regularly will go
back where they belong and the rest can be got rid of. It’s drastic to do
but it really does work.
Where to store everything
After decluttering each room, you don’t want to end up with several
boxes of things just lying around creating new clutter. To avoid this, make
a plan for when you can have everything cleared out.
Items to donate – move the box of items to the font door and make a
plan to drop them to your local charity shop the next time you are going
out.
Items you are selling – take photos of everything straight and advertise
it for sale as soon as possible. Set a limit on how long these items will
stay in the house. If after this time the item has not sold then donate it or
move it to storage
Items for Storage – after a big declutter you are going to have items
that you want to store safely until you need them or decide that you are
ready to part with them. If you have room in your attic or garage to store
them safely then do this. If not you need to find a friend or family that
may have room or you can easily rent a storage room at your local self
storage facility.
When decluttering it is important to follow through and finish the project
completely. If after clearing out a space you have bags to donate to a
charity shop and items that need to be placed in storage then do it
straight away. If you leave them sitting around they are just creating
another area of clutter and undoing the hard work that you have done.
Once you’ve decluttered your home, its sure to feel like a whole new
place. You’ll have a clearer mind when you have tidier home.
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