We’re all guilty of hoarding belongings that we don’t need, don’t use, or just can’t bear to get rid of. But research has revealed that clutter is bad for your health, relationships, career and your wallet. If you’re on a mission to declutter your home, whether you’re looking to sell your house, downsize, or simply need to sort your overflowing cupboards, we’ve got a few tips on how to get started with decluttering your home.
Tips on how to declutter your home
1. Create areas of focus
Section your home into manageable areas of focus. This could, quite simply, mean focussing on one room at a time, or a specific area within that room, like the kitchen cupboards, or your wardrobe.
2. Make some space
Ensure you have enough space to be able to sort through your belongings. Often, when decluttering, it gets worse before it gets better. For instance, when sorting through a cupboard, it is easier to remove all of the contents, so you can easily sort through them and then return them to the cupboard. Make sure that your surrounding area is as clear as possible.
3. Allocate sorting piles
You will inevitably throw some items away, but also think about whether your items could be of use to someone else. We would recommend creating a number of piles; one for your rubbish, another for recycling, and another for items that can be donated to charity.
How to declutter each room of your house
Decluttering the living room
It’s in the name, living rooms are usually very well lived in and that, regardless of how hard you try, means they end up being quite cluttered. The number one culprit for hoarding clutter? Your coffee table. Whether it’s books, magazines, candles, flowers, that box of chocolates you dip into on a Friday night, clutter magentises to your coffee table. A quick fix to giving the illusion that a room is clutter-free is to make sure your coffee table is at least 75% clear.
Decluttering the bedroom
Meant to be a place of zen and calming, a cluttered bedroom screams the opposite, but, fortunately, it can be a quick one to tackle. First, put any stray clothes away in the drawers and wardrobes that they belong in, make your bed, and throw away any rubbish that’s residing around the room. Next, head for your bedside tables. Over time they will have built up unwanted and unused items, books you’ve finished reading, receipts, glasses, that you can sort through and store in their rightful home.
Decluttering the bathroom
Lack of storage tends to be the issue that leads to your bathroom being cluttered with all of your lotions and potions. First you need to make sure you’re not holding on to any empty shampoo bottles, so get rid of any rubbish and anything you no longer use. Then, space allowing, utilise the space under the sink to instal some storage to hold all of your clutter. Whether that’s a cabinet, or fabric storage boxes, your items don’t need to be scattered all over your bathroom.
Decluttering the kitchen
Keeping your kitchen clutter free is no mean feat. Often the hub of the home, so much happens in the kitchen – cooking, eating, socialising – that its contents need to cover every eventuality. The key for decluttering your kitchen is to remember that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Your kitchen cupboards will be home to all manner of items and its here that you can really make some space by organising their contents.
Begin by emptying all of your kitchen cupboards, starting with those that contain food. Ensure you throw away anything that is no longer in date. You should also consider if there is anything that you haven’t opened, and no longer eat, which could be donated to a local food bank. Put everything that remains back into the cupboards where they belong. Repeat this process for all cupboards, focussing on your glassware, utensils and baking paraphernalia, before tackling the cupboard under the sink.
Once you’re happy that you’ve cleared as much as you can, turn your attention to the countertops. Remove everything from the side that you don’t use every day and that should be stored away. The space you’ve cleared in your cupboards will be a great new home for these items.
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