Clutter cuts a lot from the comfort of your life. You have more stuff to clean, more stuff to organize, and your home will automatically look smaller and messier. By decluttering, you will improve the living quality of your home and open up the space. Here are some tips for you to keep in mind.
Categorize the Clutter
- When you’re decluttering your home, you will need a way to organize the stuff. If you don’t, it will find its way right back into your home. Get 5 boxes, and label them as:
- Recyclable items
- The rubbish that you want to throw away but cannot be recycled
- Donations
- Items in need of repairing
- Items to be put away
- If the items that you touched cannot be placed in any of those categories, then they deserve a place in your home.
Use Wall Space
Our home often looks cluttered simply because we do not have any storage areas for our items. To solve this problem, you should utilize your wall space, which very often goes unused.
For instance, you may install some cabinets in your bathroom, or perhaps even some drawers on the wall under the stairs. The recommended choice is to use the cabinets, as shelves can still look cluttered.
Clear Your Tables
How many times have you dumped items such as your mail, your keys, or your wallet on the table right next to your coat hanger? This will make your home look cluttered from the very beginning. You should invest in under-bench storage, hooks, or trays that can store your items so that they are not placed all over the house.
“Generally, when things get strewn all over, it's because they don't have a clear or intuitive place to go,” says professional organizer and interior designer, Shira Gill.
Organize Your Pantry
If a door is closed, it doesn’t mean that it needs to be a total mess in there. Clean out your pantry, take out the items you no longer need or use (or potentially expired ones), and clean the shelves.
Group the items into categories, and use lidded containers. If you have any items that you use daily, you should put them at arm’s length. You’ll see that soon enough, it will seem like your pantry is suddenly breathing.
Create a Capsule Wardrobe
Capsule wardrobes are a great way to declutter while ensuring that you have something to wear for every occasion. The clothes in a capsule wardrobe are considered timeless pieces, which can be mixed and matched with everything that you own.
“I would interpret a capsule wardrobe as any set of items you wear a whole lot. Jeans, knitwear, a blouse, a jacket, a skirt or dress, that can be relied upon, mixed and matched, dressed up or down and enhanced by more creative and individual additions,” says wardrobe consultant, Dr. Anne Hamlyn.
Create Zones
If you continuously seem like you are losing track of items in your home, you might want to consider using zones. You can easily make a mess in your home when you don’t know where to look for something. So, to avoid this, you should make sure all things are in a place you can easily access.
“Formal shoes can be stored on high shelves stacked in clear shoe boxes. Flip-flops, sandals, and sneakers work well in a round basket on the floor for easy access,” Gill once more mentions.
Donate the Clothes You No Longer Use
Clothes often make the most out of your clutter – and they are also the items you have difficulties parting with. You always think “what if I’ll need this in the future?” The chances are that if you haven’t worn them in a year or two, they won’t be worn again anytime soon. It’s best to get rid of them so that you can open up your space.