If you have ever walked into your home and immediately felt stressed by the lack of space and the number of miscellaneous items strewn about, then you are most likely in need of a decluttering intervention. We never think it will happen, but it sneaks up over a series of impulse purchases, gifts, souvenirs, and hand-me-downs.
Before you run and hide behind your curtains in shame, acknowledge the opportunity to redefine your space. It may seem like an overwhelming task depending on the magnitude of the clutter, but if you break it down into baby steps, you’ll be living in a tranquil and inviting home in no time.
Benefits
Before we get into the ins and outs of decluttering your space, we first need to dive into the benefits of this process. A little bit of messiness and disarray can seem fairly harmless. After all, we are not expected to live in a Pinterest-worthy home 24/7. Clutter, however, goes beyond just a few things out of place.
When we detach ourselves from the items in our lives that no longer serve us, we are prioritizing our peace of mind and building a beautiful home in the process. Decluttering challenges us to not only clean out the junk from our living space but also to incorporate the same concept in other areas of our lives. It all starts in the home.
Stop it Before it Starts
The best wait to organize and declutter is to learn to say no. Sometimes we get into a habit of accepting hand-me-downs from friends and family when they are doing their own decluttering or impulse buying random items at checkout. Before we know it, we are buried under the stuff we’ll never use.
Stop the clutter before it even starts. Purchase the items you truly need or that bring value to your life. It is better to be surrounded by things that make your life easier to avoid getting suffocated by them.
Don’t Hate, Donate
Now that you’ve stopped the habit of adding clutter to your life, it is time to tackle the mess you already have. The easiest method to downsize is identifying the items that no longer serve you and throwing them into a donation box.
Not only will this reduce the amount of stuff in your home, but you will be working toward a more sustainable lifestyle as well. Donating items like an old tapestry from collage, or teddy bears from childhood will allow another person to find the treasure in your trash and lower the footprint required for manufacturing and transporting new merchandise.
Storage is Your Friend
So you’ve gotten rid of all the items you no longer need, but there are still a lot of materials taking up space in your home. In more compact locations especially, this can make the area appear cluttered and untidy.
In these instances, taking advantage of ample storage will be the best method to tackle this issue. Think outside the box and utilize the surface area in closets, on doors, and under desks and beds. Vertical space is often overlooked when deciding where to store extra items.
Invest in decor items that can double as storage as well, like baskets and racks, but be careful not to go overboard with the purchases, or you will just be adding fuel to the fire.
Needs Over Wants
Once you have finally finished the hard work of decluttering your space, the last thing you want is to find yourself in the same situation a month later. The whole process of removing unnecessary items from your home should have taught you the difference between the items you need versus the items you impulsively wanted.
Use that knowledge going forward with any purchases. Before buying any new product, take a moment to ask yourself if you would use the item frequently, does it add value to your life, or does it spark joy. Building the habit of vetting each purchase will help you avoid clutter in the future.
Junk Drawer
You can be diligent and only buy or accept products that are meaningful, but unfortunately, sometimes clutter is inevitable. Miscellaneous items seem to appear out of nowhere, so in such cases, at least have a designated spot to throw all of the random stuff.
A junk drawer is a perfect way to stay organized and keep the clutter out of sight and out of mind – even if the contents are probably a little chaotic. A little chaos never hurt anybody, but just keep it contained.
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