Decluttering your home can feel like a daunting task when you look at tackling the full home at once. Taking a step back and planning each room over a period of several weeks will help to take away the feeling of urgency and help you get excited about claiming your space back. A great tip for decluttering your home that we’ve began working with at home is using a calendar – for example:
- Day 1 Declutter 2 kitchen drawers
- Day 2 Declutter main floor closet
- Day 3 Declutter 2 drawers in the dining room
- Day 4 Tackle main floor junk drawer/bin
- Day 5 Declutter one bathroom
…and so on. There are some great templates available if you are looking for some inspiration – here is one that we have personally had success with. In addition to planning what to declutter and when, we’d like to share some great tips on how to declutter different areas of your house too. A clean home means a clear mind and there is no better time then the present to get on board with optimizing your space!
How to Declutter Your Kitchen
Kitchen gadgets are popular gifts for engagements, weddings, host gifts and any occasion that warrants a visit to someone’s home and the sharing of a meal. However over time, we tend to collect things that are only used for special occasions – if at all, yet are taking up valuable real estate in our kitchen cupboards. Taking inventory of what items you use most often, and keeping those in the easiest to reach spaces is the best way to create an efficient cooking environment.
Next to your most used items, consider the items you tend to reach for when you have guests over, or a special celebration. Those items should be kept in the harder to reach cupboards or cabinets, but still on premise. Then comes the items that you will only use for a specific recipe or at a particular time of year.
These items are the perfect candidates to be packed carefully in small boxes as to not make them too heavy and stacked carefully in storage. Wrapping each item in packing paper or an old t-shirt is a perfect way to prevent breakage. Take care to label each box of its contents – this will make retrieval of these items when you do need to access them that much easier.
Anything that you will no longer use can be taken to a second hand store – one person’s trash is another persons treasure!
How to Declutter Your Bathrooms
Do you have a couple of empty bottles of hair spray hanging around under your sink? Or perhaps a collection of old towels you no longer like to use? Cleaning up your bathroom can make the space more open and the process of grooming much more efficient.
Start with a large garbage bag to discard any old grooming products. Check expiry labels on any creams or medication and discard of anything past its prime. Old towels and wash cloths make great packing material, and can also be useful to clean your home with. Take a look around your shower or bath tub, and get rid of any old bottles or tubes of products you are no longer using.
Declutter Your Living Room / Family Room
Decluttering a living room or family room can often carry some sentimental attachment with it. Perhaps you still have your 18 year old child’s newborn photos up on the wall, or a memory from your first trip overseas. These are items that you don’t want to part with – however you may not want to display them anymore. Creating memory boxes and filling them with items from the same period of time can be a great way to be able to later look back, while refreshing the current look of your home.
A seasonal look for your room may be something your striving for, yet you don’t have the space to house the decor. Creating seasonal bins or boxes can allow you to easily switch things in and out creating a unique look for each season without the clutter all year round.
How to Declutter Your Closets
A recommendation shared with us years ago was the hanger trick – at the beginning of each year, start with all of your hangers facing with the hook out. Each time you wear a piece of clothing, turn the hook to face in. Whatever hasn’t been worn by the end of that year should be reviewed and either donated or stored for a special occasion (limited to suits, ballgowns, special occasion outfits).
If you are in more of a time crunch, a fashion show with your friend or spouse is a great way to see what you have and make room for new fashion.
How to Declutter Your Home Office
Are you storing old files at home that you do not need to reference regularly? A great start to decluttering your office is ensuring your important files have been created online and stored to the cloud. Your system can be a simple picture or scan, filed away for reference if and when you need it. How about an abundance of office supplies you are not making use of?
Taking inventory of what you have in your office and what you need to do your job is a great first step in decluttering. Once you know what you need to keep on site, reviewing what you need to store and what can be donated, shredded or thrown away will help you achieve a nice clean space.
How to Declutter Your Bedrooms
We like to suggest beginning with the bed, as this is generally the central piece of furniture in a bedroom. Take a look at your sheets, and get rid of any you no longer use. Moving onto the additional furniture – begin with what’s on the surface. Then move on to each drawer, one at a time. Review the items and create three piles – to keep, to donate, to discard. Things like single socks, undergarments with holes or stains, pajamas you haven’t worn in years – this is a great time to discard the noise.
You may find other more sentimental items like old picture frames or albums that would be great candidates for memory boxes. Perhaps you have a collection of valuable items that you’d like to keep in a safer place – take the opportunity to label and store things clearly so they are easy to find when you want them. Decluttering your bedroom is a great opportunity to renew your space.
Conclusion
There is nothing better than decluttering your home and having it feel clean and calm. Vault Self Storage can take the hassle out of storing your less used items. Contact us today!
