How to Declutter One Room at a Time
Start small. Many people seem to want to start with the messiest room first. This is completely understandable because clearing away the clutter there will make a massive improvement. The problem is that these rooms can be so overwhelming that they never get finished. Starting a project with the most difficult task will often doom the whole project. If you’ve been collecting clutter for years and years, take baby steps. Start with an easy room, like a guest bathroom or even a closet or pantry. A little success can go a long way in motivating you to continue.
Start with a clean slate. Begin by emptying the room. Find an area that you can move everything into and take everything out of the room. This will allow you get a good look at everything you’ve got. It will also give you the opportunity to clean in places that have been overlooked for a long time. Wash floors, drapes, walls and windows. Get everything looking and smelling fresh and new. If you have decided to paint, this will also make that job much easier.
Sort items into broad categories first. Once your room is clean and you are ready to tackle the “stuff”, start by sorting into simple piles. Create one pile of items to keep and another of items to save. If your “keep” pile is especially large, force yourself to sort again and give up some items that didn’t make it out the first time. If necessary, get some help from family or friends who may be able to give you some much-needed advice on what needs to go. A good rule of thumb is that, unless it is an heirloom, if you haven’t used it, worn it or played with it in 6 months or more, you don’t need it. Keep reminding yourself that your mission is not to simply get a good look at all of your things. Your mission is to rid yourself of unwanted and unnecessary clutter.
Decide what stays in the room. Once you have decided what to keep, the next step is deciding what stays in the room. Some items could probably be more useful in another part of the house. Make sure that you minimize the number of things that go back. Less is more.
Organize. Take the time to organize items as you put them back into the room. Make or buy storage containers to conceal items that will not be needed continuously. There are many choices on the market for storage so you can be creative and trendy when you incorporate them into the room. Label containers if possible. Use shelving to store items that you want to display, but again, be careful not to put too many items on the shelves. Open space gives the illusion of a larger room.
Keep it clean. Once you have put everything together and have a clean, organized room that is devoid of clutter, it is important to keep it that way. There are reasons that people tend to keep items that they don’t need as well as reasons that clutter begins to build up in the first place, whether it is a lack of focus or simply a busy lifestyle that doesn’t allow much time for cleaning up. Understanding how things got out of control is a good step toward creating opposite behaviors. Just like you organized one room at a time, develop new family routines to stay organized one room at a time. Make a habit of putting things back in their storage containers after you’ve used them. If you get something new, find a place for it right away. As you bring new things in, try to make a habit of removing something old at the same time. Force yourself to deal with the mail and loose papers immediately so they don’t end up scattered or piled up, recreating the kind of chaos you are trying to avoid. Take 30 minutes at the end of each day to put everything away and straighten up so that everything is organized when you get up in the morning.
It can be very overwhelming to realize that your home has become less of a haven and more of a disaster zone. Making the decision to declutter and get organized is the first step to getting things under control. Once you’ve made that decision, following these simple steps will help you get organized efficiently and stay clutter-free.
