Whether you decide to go ahead with decluttering to make your personal space seem bigger, or just to reorganize your house, it is a daunting task regardless.
It can be quite stressful and can make you feel a lot more disorganized than you already were before if done wrong.
However, that would not be a problem if you would follow this simple guide to decluttering your house.
Are there any perquisites?
Yes actually, but they aren’t entirely necessary since you can get a job just as well done without applying them.
It is suggested that you keep 4 containers with yourself when you start decluttering any room and label them as,
- Put-away: This container would be used to put away items to their designated spots if they have escaped to a room they don’t belong to. For instance, coffee mugs. Let’s be honest, they’re everywhere in the house, the living room, the bedroom sometimes even in the bathroom.
The second use of this basket would be to collect items you only use seasonally. You can store them in the basket and later on store them away until they will be of use again.
All such things would go inside the put-away basket. - Fix/Mend: This box is meant to hold anything that needs some kind of fixing before it can be placed back in its designated spot. It could be anything ranging from unwashed clothes to shoes you have to get mended.
- Trash: This basket would hold any items that either no longer work or are of no use to you anymore.
- Donate: This basket is similar to the trash basket however it would contain items that you no longer need, but are still fully functional.
Now, it is important to set yourself in the mood for it. If there is an artist you’re obsessed with, play their songs, or if you’re a murder-mystery podcast enthusiast, then listen to that. It is important not to treat this chore as a chore since then it can easily become overwhelming.
Lastly, throwing away anything can be especially tiring since it usually requires immense thinking. However, acknowledge that if you “need” something you would know it right away, if you’re confused, then you probably don’t need it.
Another way of dealing with this is to ask yourself if the product makes your life easier or not. If it does then it will always have a spot reserved on the countertop, however, if it doesn’t then it’s better to put it in the donate basket.
The one last thing you need to keep in mind before you start is to finish one space at a time. It is important not to overwhelm yourself since that can result in getting a shoddy job done.
1. The Washroom
Washrooms are a good point to start since they’re the innermost area of the house.
Start with the drawers and take out all your makeup products, face washes, etc. Place everything that is either empty or expired into the trash basket. Now place everything you use regularly where they are easily accessible (preferably at your eye level).
Throw away any bars of soap that have been reduced down to an unusable level in the trash basket.
Lastly, put any unwashed towels, clothes, or anything that doesn’t belong in the washroom into the fix/mend basket and you’re done.
2. The Closet
Closets act as the most daunting and tiring spots to declutter. It often requires a whole lot of time and energy which is why it is preferable to allocate it to an entirely separate day.
The easiest way to get started with the closet is to declutter by type. That means starting with, for example, the shoes, followed by boots, then formal shirts, etc.
Deciding what to throw away with pants/shirts becomes a lot easier once u place all of them together. That way, you can single out the jeans/pants that look better vs. feel better and separate them. What is left are pieces of clothing you don’t want.
Moving forward, if there is anything you don’t necessarily wear anymore but for example, it holds sentimental value, then you should find some other place than your closet to store it. Such pieces of clothing occupy unnecessary space in the closet which can be better utilized.
By the time you’re going to be done with all of your clothes, you’ll be left with several piles of clothes:
- The first one would contain clothes you don’t need anymore and are supposed to be donated
- The second one would be anything that needs to be altered or repaired by a tailor
- The third one would contain the dirty laundry which needs to be washed
3. The Bedroom
Before you start with the bedroom, it is preferable to divide it into sections. That way you can feel a lot more efficient by clearing out one spot before moving ahead to the next.
The best way to start would be to make the bed since an unmade bed and its unkempt sheets can look especially demotivating. Making the bed can already make your room look a lot more organized. Now move on towards the nightstands and empty all of its drawers. Anything that doesn’t belong there should be placed in the put-away bin, whereas any old receipts and such should be put in the trash basket.
Do the same with your dresser while placing everything you need every day on your eye level, and placing anything that you don’t need as often a little farther and deeper inside the drawers. Hairdryers and hair straighteners should also be placed in the put-away basket and placed either within the closet or the washroom.
4. The Kitchen
The kitchen is an entirely different story because of the number of things that are placed within each cabinet and drawer, not to mention the countless other things placed on the countertops as well. It should be tackled using the same strategy as the bedroom, by dividing it into different sections.
Starting with the storage cabinet where your pots and pans are kept is a good place to start since they are the easiest to weed out unnecessary items from.
After you’re done move ahead to your cutting board collection, from there jump ahead to the glassware, etc. Decide whether or not by deciding whether it’s important and how often is it used. For example, you might have a cast iron pan but you might rarely ever use it or you might have a lot of cast iron pans. Anything unnecessary but fully functional should be placed into the donate box.
Once you’re done with everything in the kitchen, move ahead towards the fridge and freezer. Check anything that has been expired or anything you don’t feel like eating anymore. Throw away any expired food while placing everything else back in a tidy manner.
5. The Living Room
The living room Is offered an immense amount of attention by everyone throughout the day since it is the spot where everyone tends to hang out. This becomes the major reason why it becomes so immensely tough to keep it tidy all the time. Added to that, a living room doesn’t offer a lot of storage spaces either, making it tougher to clear out the clutter.
You can start by addressing the obvious state of messiness in the house and set anything out of its place back to its designated spot. After you’re done with that, collect any items that don’t have a designated spot for them, such as remote controls. These items tend to get misplaced often so creating a separate space for them can help out a lot. Other things such as books, magazines, etc, should have an allocated spot, otherwise, they would contribute to the clutter even after everything is organized.
Finally, your house is organized and decluttered resulting in a much more free and cleaner space. It may have taken a whole lot of time and effort, but you can tell that it was all worth it. However, it is suggested that you declutter your house every one to two weeks to prevent it from becoming such a time-consuming and tiring task.
