5 Easy Steps To Decluttering Your Home

It’s not quite spring yet, but I do love a good spring clean.  Getting rid of all the unwanted clutter in the house is a great way to reduce stress levels and makes it a lot easier to clean too!

There’s No Time Pressure

Most people want to declutter their house in one day, but this can cause enormous pressure and make it feel a bigger task than it needs to be.  Instead just remove one or two items a day that you no longer need and in no time at all you will find yourself in a calmer more serene home and able to tackle the more difficult to declutter areas.

Think Before You Buy

Before you buy new items for your home, ask yourself “do I really need this?”.  If this answer is no then don’t buy it. It will just end up as more clutter in your home, increasing the feeling of chaos.  We buy so many items and feel the need to give people gifts throughout the year for various things, when all that happens is more ‘things’ are accumulated and not used.

Children’s rooms can be the worst place for clutter.  Not only do they accumulate so many toys and games through birthdays and Christmas, they don’t tend to tidy up very well.  Having a clear out of toys before big gifting events is really useful in the decluttering process.  If you get the children involved too you will give them good skills for their future and they will probably surprise you at how good they are at getting rid of unwanted toys.

Even when you are buying something as a gift for a friend, think about whether it’s something they would actually use.  If it’s likely to end up as clutter in their home buy them something they can eat or drink or vouchers for a day out.  I’m sure they would thank you!

Invest in Storage

Having somewhere to store all the necessary items is important.  But as these items are often used multiple times a day they then end up in a bit of a mess.  For example office ares can be piled high with paper work and stationery and it’s good to think of how to hide this mess a little bit.  We lack an area for an office, but have recently bought a bureau for the living room.  The bureau can be used as a desk and store the necessary items of a printer and laptop and all the paperwork that is needed, but we can easily close it up when not in use, hiding the office clutter.

Storage isn’t all about functionality, sometimes it’s nice to have a feature storage place for the decorative items you would like to display.  If you have a lot of space then something like the ladder shelf looks amazing with just a few key pieces displayed.  Although it’s probably not practical with little kids around, so we have currently gone with wall shelving units and will consider other types of display areas when the kids are older (and less likely to destroy it!).  Pop over to Lionshome for lots more storage ideas!

No Guilt Trips

Sometimes we keep things as we feel obligated to.  Family or friends have given us gifts and we just don’t want to get rid of them out of guilt.  I know I have felt this way over many things, even those items that are now broken, but it’s hard to throw them out without feeling that guilt.  Don’t do this to yourself, just throw it out if it’s broken or if it’s unused give it away to a charity shop or someone else who you know will use it.  You will feel better for it in the long run.

Don’t Get Overrun By Gadgets

We often love to have the latest gadgets, who doesn’t like to test out new technology?!  But the novelty soon wears off and often those gadgets then lie unused, cluttering up your home.  Go back to the “do I really need it?” mantra above and make decisions based on a long thought process rather than a spontaneous purchase because it looked fun.

There you have it, 5 steps to declutter you home and make for a happier, more serene lifestyle for you and your family.

Enjoy decluttering!

J x

* This is a collaborative post.