Clutter in your home can be a huge cause of stress and anxiety in your home, especially when you’re living in a smaller space such as an apartment, where you might not have enough space to store all of your prized possessions.
If the clutter in your home is causing stress, you don’t have to live that way. We’ve shared five simple steps to help you start the decluttering process to make your home a more organized place to enjoy.
Tackle One Area at a Time
One of the most effective ways to get rid of clutter is to pick an area and work on it for a set amount of time. If you try to declutter your whole house at once, you’ll become overwhelmed. Pick a kitchen counter or one wall in your home and get to work. Plan to focus on decluttering that one place for one to two hours. Finishing one area will help you feel great and keep you motivated to keep decluttering.
Create a Home for Everything
Clutter happens when you come home and put everything on the coffee table or kitchen counter. Items pile up and cause confusion. The longer you allow this to happen, the more clutter you’ll have. That’s why it’s important to create a place for every item in your home. You should have hooks for your keys, files for your mail, and a shredder on hand to eliminate paper clutter before it becomes a problem. If you live by that old adage, clutter won’t be a problem for long.
Give Every Room a Purpose
Another way to tackle your home clutter problem is to dedicate a specific purpose to every room and then remove items that don’t belong. For instance, your kitchen should be dedicated to food preparation and food storage. If you have piles of paper in your kitchen, move them to an area dedicated to mail. Every bedroom in your home should also have a purpose, such as a playroom, craft room, guest room, etc. Prioritize based on the amount of space available.
Get Rid of Items You Don’t Use
Getting rid of things is a hard step, but an important one if you want to eliminate clutter. Yes, you work hard for your money and it’s hard to part with things that you’ve bought or were given, but the fact remains: you don’t need everything you have. When deciding whether to get rid of something or not, ask yourself if you’ve used it in the past year. If the answer is no, then it’s probably safe to get rid of it. Remember that it’s OK to hold onto items for sentimental value, but not everything should elicit this feeling for you.
Install Plenty of Storage Solutions
Sometimes the root of clutter stems from the fact that you don’t have enough storage in your home. When possible, implement storage solutions so that you can keep the things you want without creating clutter. Hang hooks in the mudroom, add extra shelving to your closets, and buy storage containers for under the bed.
If you’re ready to eliminate clutter from your home and life, begin by implementing the steps in this article. Decluttering will make your home a happier and more comfortable place to be. Clutter should never get to the point that it affects the flow of your home, so get started decluttering today to improve the way you live.