As home builders and remodelers in Salt Lake City, we know first hand how important it is to be organized. These tips for decluttering your home can not only make your home feel fresh and clean, but if implemented you can free up a good portion of your weekend since you won’t have to spend so much time picking up.
Tips for Decluttering Your Home
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Toss it out!
If you aren’t using a particular item in your home, if you haven’t used it in the last six months, it might be time to find another home for it. If you have a pile of magazines you’ve kept because one day you’ll have the time to read all of them, then bite the bullet and recycle them now. If you haven’t looked at them in 6 months you’re wasting energy by dusting them each week and they’re taking up space that could be put to better use. Same goes for clothing that doesn’t fit and shoes that are worn out. Take a good hard look and the items in your home and decide if they can be recycled, donated, or need to be discarded.
Keep it to a Minimum
Don’t clutter up the living room with extra pillows, cat toys or furniture no one uses. Make sure your home has just what it needs so members of the family are comfortable, but never more so people aren’t tripping over things to walk through the home.
Don’t save for someday
If you’re hanging on to old baby furniture or clothing because you think one day your children will want it, you’re fooling yourself. Not only do styles change but most couples want to choose their own baby furniture and clothing. If you’re baby accessories are in good working order then donate them to families in need where they will be sincerely appreciated. Free up your attic or basement of these items and you’ll save yourself all kinds of work later on.
Pick up after yourself
It seems obvious, but many of us don’t pick up the area we’ve been in before we leave. Make your bed when you wake up in the morning, tidy up the bathroom towels before you finish in the bathroom, put dishes in the dishwasher after breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when you remove your shoes put them where they belong. If everyone picks up after themselves there is a lot less work to do around the house.
Don’t make piles of anything
Most people have piles of laundry, mail, magazines, bills and homework/officework lying around the house. Don’t fall into the pile trap. Once something is in a neat pile it tricks your brain into thinking you’re tidy, but the truth is you’ve just created more work as you move around this stuff. If you won’t be using it get rid of it. If it can be filed, then file it away.
Clean out the pantry
Ideally you should clean out the pantry at least twice a year. Go through canned goods and check the expiration date. If you’ve had an item for 6 months or more, and it still isn’t expired then donate it to the local food shelf. Ask yourself if you have any plans to use that can of lima beans and if the answer is no then get rid of them.
For more ways to declutter your home check out The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.