No Mess, No Stress – Tips for Decluttering and Organizing Your Home

Stuff – if you’re anything like me, it gets everywhere. From paperwork piling up on desks and laundry towering out of the hamper to wardrobes filled to bursting. And the more people living together, the more the clutter grows out of control!

Clutter is Bad for Our Health

The reality is that most of us just have too much stuff – and we’re also not organizing our belongings correctly to make the most of the space we have. Living, working and driving in a cluttered environment isn’t good for our health either, affecting our mental wellbeing. Mess and clutter makes us feel disorganized and overwhelmed, making even simple tasks like getting breakfast in the morning a chaotic process. In a tranquil, tidy environment however, people automatically feel calmer and in control – and our homes should provide this.

How to Declutter and Transform Your Home into a Sanctuary

1. Don’t take it all on at once: Organizing your home is a huge job and trying to do it all in a single day will leave you feeling exhausted, stressed and overwhelmed. Instead, take it on for an hour or so each day and complete small sections at a time. That way, you’re reaching goals and can properly focus on each step of the process.
2. Trash, sell, recycle, donate: There are plenty of reasons why we hang on to clutter – we’re too busy, items are useful even though we don’t need them anymore, or we intend to use something but never actually get there. As you work through each space, divide items up into those that can be useful to someone else (either as a charity donation or to sell), things that can be recycled, and trash. This will ensure that you don’t waste anything – and selling unused items is a great way to get some cash to treat yourself later for a job well done.
3. Clean first, then organize: The first thing many people do when they start the decluttering process is to head to the shops and buy plenty of storage items – but it’s much more effective to clean out your home first. This way, you’ll know exactly what you’re going to store, how many storage items you need and how big they should be to fit your space and needs.
4. Be objective and ruthless: Take a practical and strong approach to getting rid of items you no longer use. Ask yourself: Have I used this item in the last year? Do I have too many of this item? Is this item truly meaningful to me? Clearing out clothes that don’t fit, projects you’ve lost interest in or items that no longer are useful in your life is a challenge – but it’s also an uplifting and freeing experience, so don’t let the past hold you back.
5. Get everyone involved: It’s one thing to take on this process when you live by yourself, but it’s a whole other ballgame when you have a family home! Decluttering is a great opportunity to get the family together to take responsibility for their stuff and their home. Kids can take care of their own rooms and you can all work together on shared spaces. Taking unused goods, clothes and toys to your local charity center is also a wonderful lesson to learn about how we can each help others and bring joy to someone else’s life.

Maintaining Your Clutter-Free Home

Once your home is clutter-free there’s no way you’ll want to go back to the way it was, but this means putting some rules in place.

1. Make use of storage systems: Different storage systems work for different areas of the home, and it’s up to each person in the home to use the systems you’ve put in place. Hanging bike racks in the garage means no one can leave bikes lying on the garage floor. Tools should be put back in their place on pegboard systems and utensils should be hung up rather than stuffed into drawers.
2. Organize your laundry: Laundry is definitely one of the biggest challenges in a family home, and it shouldn’t be just one person’s responsibility. Individual laundry baskets mean each person’s clothes are kept in one place and are that person’s responsibility to collect – minimizing lost items and mix-ups too!
3. Pre-dinner tidy-up: Evenings are when families – especially parents – are most in need of some relaxation, but houses are usually at their messiest. While you’re preparing dinner, it’s a great time for the kids to clear up the living space. Have shelving and storage dedicated to toys, books and games to make clearing up easy.
4. Regular maintenance: Clutter has a way of creeping up on us even when we have the best intentions, and it can be tempting to leave it all to a big clear-out in the spring. It’s easy to avoid this dreaded task however, if you try make decluttering a regular part of your lifestyle. For example, avoid buying a new item unless you’ve gotten rid of an old or broken one, have a bin dedicated to charity that you can drop items in throughout the year and drop off when it’s full, and learn to say no to items that you don’t really need – free stuff seems great, but it quickly adds up into a mountain of things you don’t use.
5. Remember your goals: Whenever your home starts to gather clutter, remind yourself of your original goals and how good your home felt when it was finally organized. This is a great way to stay motivated, live a less stressful live and keep your home the wonderful environment that you deserve!

We wish you all the best with decluttering your home!