It usually goes something like this. As you go about your day at home, something at every turn reminds you that you should put “get rid of stuff’ on your to-do list.
Whether it’s the fact that, while your home is neat and tidy, you’re scared to open a closet, or you don’t go into the basement for fear of not being able to find your way out, there are certain undeniable signs that it’s time to ‘thin the herd’ and declutter your home.
But when you actually start choosing what goes and what stays, you end up not really having that much you really want to get rid of.
And then the unending cycle of “need to declutter” and “don’t want to throw anything out” starts all over again.
Clearly something’s not working here and you need to find something that will.
Here’s the answer: get vicious.
We don’t mean to do anything nasty, or damage your house, or hurt anyone. Instead, you need to stop being wishy washy about all the stuff you keep but that you can actually do without.
You need to find a way of easily deciding if something should be kept or not. When you do, you need to stick to it as you go through your entire home.
Afterwards, you’ll be amazed at how much space you recovered, how much airier your home feels and how much less stress you have!
Answer 5 Questions to Declutter your Home
As a guide to determining what to toss out, ask yourself the following questions for anything you can’t decide on. If you get even one “no” answer, pitch it – into the recycling container, of course!
1. Has it been used in the last year?
A year might not seem like a really long time, but it is for most things in your home – at least if they’ve laid about unused for that year. Sure, there’ll be exceptions to this rule, like certain specialty tools you might not use often. But, generally speaking, if it’s cluttering your space and hasn’t been used, it can go.
2. Will it be used next year?
So sometimes things that should be sent packing get past the first question because they happened to get used last year; once; as a door stop. If you’re not going to use something in the next year, even if you want to extend that to calendar 2018, why keep it?
3. Would I Like to Get this Thing as Gift Right Now?
We’ve all experienced gift-opening let down. It usually comes from getting something you already have, or don’t really need, or don’t really like. On the other hand, when you open the ‘perfect’ gift, it’s like the giver was able to really ‘get’ you. If something wouldn’t be a favourite or appreciated gift right now, its time’s up.
4. Are You Going to Fix It?
We keep lots of things that are broken, or disassembled or otherwise need some attention before it can be useful again. If you haven’t fixed it yet, what are the chances that you’ll do so in the foreseeable future? And, even if the answer is ‘yes’, will you actually use the thing after it’s fixed?
5. Will “one day” ever come?
Chances are at least some of the clutter in your home is stuff that you’re keeping because you never know when you’ll need something like that. In the kitchen, maybe fondue sets will become trendy yet again sometime in the future. In the workshop, maybe you’ll need one of those dozen odd-sized pieces wood you have stacked on the corner one day. These are the sorts of things that can survive all the other questions, but not this one. Even if fondue becomes that hottest social trend of 2022, it’s not worth cluttering your home with the set until then.
No matter what tricks or questions you use to help you declutter your home, it’s not easy to part with some of the things in your life. If you have items that you simply can’t part with, but you still want to free-up space in your home, a climate-controlled self-storage unit can give you the best of both worlds.
