Although the cold weather is still lingering, you may have noticed that the days are getting slightly longer – or is that just me trying to be optimistic?  The arrival of spring is a welcome return to warmer weather and brighter days and a time for the traditional ‘Spring Clean.’ Decluttering your space can transform your life giving you a huge sense of relief, a clear mind and lifting your spirits.

Let’s be honest, most of us have papers cluttering surfaces or a room that is bursting at the seams with things we no longer use or floor space swamped with discarded shoes, bags and toys. Many of us long to have an uncluttered space but knowing where to start can be quite overwhelming so here are some of our tips to get you started …..

  1. Start with just 10 mins – although this will only make a small dent in your clutter you will feel great that you have a made a start and probably be surprised with how much you achieve.
  2. Enlist the support of the people living with youdeclutter your home for mental wellbeingit is worth having a conversation with everyone living with you to explain that you really want an uncluttered home and that you could use their help – try to be persuasive and encouraging, rather than nagging and negative. Agree some shared goals so that everyone knows what to do to help sort out the clutter.  If you have children, teach them where things go and the habit of putting things in the right place – it will take time and much patience but you will reap the rewards.
  3. Designate one area for all paperwork – papers create a lot of clutter because we usually put them in different places – on the kitchen worktop, on the table, in the study, hidden in a drawer or left in the car. It’s hardly surprising that it is difficult to find anything! You will feel more organised if you use an inbox folder or box file to keep all incoming paperwork in one place.
  4. Learn to deal with your paperwork quickly – set aside some time each week to sort through your paperwork. Go through the papers in your inbox folder, starting from the top and working down. Make quick decisions to bin it, file it or make a note of the action you need to take and place it in an ‘action file’. Don’t put anything back in the inbox folder.
  5. Pick up 5 things and find places for them. These should be things that you regularly use but that you put anywhere as you don’t have a place to keep them. Take a few minutes to consider the best to store them and then always use this place in the future; for example shopping bags might be best placed in the under-stairs cupboard next to your shoes so you remember to take them when you change shoes before leaving to go to the shops. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time and slowly the clutter will disappear.
  6. Get rid of the clothes you don’t wear help get your home in orderas you are choosing your clothes for work or going out, spend a few minutes pulling out a few items that you haven’t worn in the last year and give them to the charity shop. If you do this a little at a time until your wardrobe and clothes cupboard only contains outfits you actually wear.
  7. Clear out your medicine and bathroom cabinets – if you don’t have one place for medicines, then find a safe place to keep them all. Check all expiry dates.
  8. Visualise each room as you would like it to be. Decide which furniture is essential, what doesn’t belong in the room, what is cluttering the room. Decide if more storage options are needed. Once you have visualized how the room will look uncluttered, you can then create a step by step decluttering plan.
  9. Create a ‘holding’ box. When you are sorting through things, you will find that you know exactly what to keep (the things you love and use) and what to donate to charity or recycle. But there will always be the things you don’t use but you think you might need sometime in the future or there is some sentimental value – if you struggle to get rid of these things, put them in a ‘holding’ box and store the box in a cupboard or in the garage. After six months, look at the box again and you will probably find that deciding to get rid of the things will be easier.
  10. Donate unwanted things to charity. Load items designated for the charity shop into your car so that it is delivered and not left sitting in a corner of the room. Some charities now arrange collection of large items e.g. furniture

If you need some help to sort out your home, we can offer you a one hour free consultation to discuss how we can help you declutter and organise your space.  Please contact us for further details.