How to Make Decluttering an Easier Task to Pursue

This post is by Cherie of Couchbasedbiz. Check out the site for further tips, tricks and guides to running a business from home and staying organised while doing so.

Having a house clear of clutter can be a blessing for many reasons. It feels more free, open, and spacious than one that’s weighed down by mess. Not only will cleaning, decluttering, and replacing worn hardware reduce your stress, it’s also a great way to prepare for guests, a home appraisal, or anything else that might bring outsiders into your home. 

Empty It Out

No matter where in your home you’re beginning, The Huffington Post suggests starting by emptying the area out completely. That means if you’re going through your closet, pull out every piece of clothing, books, and knick-knacks you have stored. You can toss things onto the floor or onto your bed, just so long as your closet, cabinet, or bureau is empty after. Once the area is empty it will be easier to organize and decide what should be kept, and what is going to the dumpster.

Clean

After you’ve emptied everything, it’s time to scrub. This the perfect opportunity to give your space a thorough cleaning. If it’s a piece of furniture, such as a chest of drawers, you may want to move it while it’s light and give the carpet or wood beneath a wash as well. 

For those pieces of upholstered furniture with stains that simply won’t come out with conventional cleaning products — or if you have several pieces of furniture in need of cleaning — it’s time to seek out a nearby furniture cleaning servicethat can do the job right and do it efficiently. One of the benefits of hiring a pro is that they will come with experience handling various types of fabrics, meaning that your valued pieces will be protected from damage you may have otherwise inadvertently caused. You can use a service directory like Angi to read up on customer reviews and ratings as well before deciding who to choose.

Sort Your Things

While your floor dries, you can sort through everything you pulled out. This way, you only keep possessions that are valuable to you and your home. There are various methods for deciding what you keep, such as the KonMari or the Minimalist Game, so read up on different ones to determine which option is best for you.

Upcycle or Repurpose

Fortunately, even if our possessions are not in great shape, they don’t have to end up in a dumpster. Instead, why not try polishing them up so they might be turned into something else through upcycling? Most household goods can be adapted to become useful or decorative items around the home, so have some fun experimenting.

Rearrange

Now that you have pared down what you own, you can begin putting things back where they belong. Hopefully, you have less on your bookshelves now, but you may still need to maximize your space. So, put larger objects behind smaller ones, and layer shelves in a way to get more out of your available space.

Revamp Your Walls

Your walls can contribute to feeling cramped at home. Some tips to open up your space include painting your ceiling a lighter shade than your walls and painting your walls the same color as a large piece of furniture. You can also enhance your space with fashionable and elegant wallpaper. With removable and repositionable designs, you’ll be able to easily apply wallpaper to your walls. 

Creative Storage

Of course, if you cannot cram anything else onto your bookcase, you need to create more storage. For instance, you might add tastefully classic trunks at the foot of the bed, statement-piece storage ottomans that can hide blankets or other trinkets, or storage cubes beneath the mattress itself. Just try to ensure that whatever you add contributes to the aesthetic of your house and provides extra practicality.

Add Shelving

There are only so many pieces you can add to a home before you need to individually tailor storage for each room. As HomeEdit points out, that may mean adding shelves to go vertical and using empty wall space, or even adding racks to the back of cupboard doors. Every home, and every room, is different, and transforming each space will be unique.

Organize

The last step is to make sure your home does not become a mess again. This requires being deliberate when putting stuff away every day and knowing exactly where everything should go. When items have a dedicated home, it’s easier to put them there, rather than setting them down and figuring out where they go later.

Decluttering can seem like a lot to handle, but, if you break things down into steps, you can manage it easily. Remember to clean between stages, and to add storage where possible. Soon enough, you’ll be living in a clutter- and stress-free home.