Does your home feel cluttered? Learn how to declutter now with these 3 simple steps.
Want more help organizing? Check out these posts:
- How to Get Organized When You Feel Overwhelmed
- 7 Things You Need to Get Rid of When Organizing Your Kitchen
- How to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink
Do you ever come home at night and find you can’t focus on a simple daily task or chore because you’re caught up in all the clutter?
Living with clutter is not easy. It causes you to be overwhelmed in your space and unable to focus on your priorities.
You can’t create a home you love when it’s consumed by clutter!
To achieve your goals for your life and home, you’ve got to learn to stay organized. But that’s easier said than done.
Staying organized is something you’ll have to practice over time. The more you practice, the better you will get.
Here are a few steps that you can take to start decluttering and organizing your home today.
1- Eliminate
Before you can start organizing, you need to get rid of the items that you no longer want or need.
Begin by identifying categories or areas of things that need to be organized.
For instance, the kitchen would be one area and your closet another.
Only focus on one category or area at a time.
If you start with clothing, there are a few ways you can start sorting through everything.
The most effective way is by gathering every single piece of clothing and putting it in a central location. Sort the items into similar categories – so shirts in one section, pants in another and so on.
Next, look at every single item individually and decide whether or not you want to keep that item.
Separate what you want to keep in one pile, and what you don’t in another. The clothes you want to get rid of can be donated or sold on ThredUp, and the items you want to keep will go back into a designated home.
Bonus Tip: Wait until you have decluttered categories to start deciding how much you are going to be putting away. You won’t know how much space you need until you figure out how much you’ve gotten rid of. Then, you can make sure you have the proper storage to organize everything perfectly into a new home.
2 – Organize and Store
The next step in the process is to make a to-do list of all the areas that you want to organize. Think of where you plan on storing things.
By making a list of areas, you can then chip away at them one by one and prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed.
For example, if you want to start in the kitchen, make a list of all the areas you’re going to be storing items in. Include things like each cabinet or drawer, or the pantry.
This list will help you visualize how much time the organizing process will take. It will also help you as you plan which organizing bins and containers you’ll need to put items away.
Making lists is a small step that will help you remember all the areas that have been decluttered, and what needs to be put away.
The list will be your guide as you start organizing your home.
Bonus Tip: During this step, you have the advantage of “seeing” your home from a top-level view. You can think about all the items you currently own. You might find something that was missing or that you need. Write these missing items down, so you can get them later and also make room for them while organizing.
3 – Every Item Has a Home
Maintaining your organized home is the last, and I think the most important step in the process.
Within each area, you’ll need to make sure that every item has a home. That way, when an item needs to be put away, it’s easy to determine where it belongs.
This is so important to maintaining a decluttered home and life.
For instance, t-shirts might live in the top drawer of a dresser, and cleaning supplies might live under a sink.
Make sure you identify homes for all the items in each area of your home.
Once you accomplish this, make it a habit to always put things away after you use them.
For example – do you ever find yourself picking something to wear from your clean laundry basket? You always feel like your clothes are cluttered, right?
Try building the habit of putting the laundry away immediately after it’s been washed and dried.
Or maybe you are always losing the TV remote. Try implementing a system like having a home for your TV remote. This Apple TV Remote Mount is the perfect solution. You can hang it up in your living room and easily find your remote in its home spot.
Bonus Tip: When your belongings all have a specific home, you’re able to know where items are at all times. There is no more putting things away in the wrong place. This also stops you from buying something you don’t think you have, only to come home and see you already have it.
I hope these tips help you start decluttering your home today. Once you are organized, you will be able to focus on your big goals for your life and home.
