4 Simple Steps to Declutter Your Home
In order to organize your home, it is imperative to first declutter. If you simply don't know where to begin, here is a great starting point! I will not deny that decluttering and parting with belongings is difficult; however, the impact it will have on you is well worth the effort! The following quote by William Morris has guided my decluttering ventures, and I hope will help you as well!
"Have nothing in your home that you know not to be useful or believe to be beautiful."
I've done a fair bit of reading on the topic, and would highly recommend reading "the Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. If you have a hard time parting with belongings, Marie discusses a strategy that makes it very doable, and a I recommend giving her two books a read.
If you don't feel like you will have an issue with decluttering, let's get going. To make this as smooth as possible, I recommend the following steps:
1 Move systematically from room to room. This keeps you organized, and keeps you focused.
2 Set a reasonable time frame for yourself, as trying to do a whole house at once can be quite daunting and time consuming.
3 Make a list. I find lists very helpful, and feel very satisfied when I can cross things off after completing them.
4 For each room, create piles or boxes and label them Donate, Toss, Sell, and Fix. Consider utilizing the following services if they're available to you:
1 Donate: Goodwill, Find Stores, local charities, or Value Village
2 Toss: If your toss pile is quite large, consider renting a Waste Management system, such as Bagster
3 Sell: Kijiji, posh mark, facebook marketplace or Let Go. Some communities have Facebook pages to sell items as well!
4 Fix: complete a quick google search for local tailors for clothing, and furniture repair companies
5 If items aren't in the most logical space, move them into the room in which they belong to tackle once you reach those rooms.
6 For each item that you go through, as yourself the tough questions and sort them into their appropriate piles or boxes. These 4 steps will be referenced throughout this article.
1 Do I like it?
2 Have I used it recently?
3 Does it serve its purpose? Is there another item that serves the same purpose that I prefer?
4 Is it broken or in need of repair?
And lastly, put on some music to make this process more enjoyable.
Let's get started, moving space to space.
Living Room
Photo from downshiftology.com by Lisa Bryan
• Start large scale and take a look at your furniture, following the four steps listed above.
• Go through your books and textbooks. Donate any books you don't plan to read again. For textbooks, it can be worthwhile to sell them if the information isn't outdated. After graduating nursing, I managed to sell most of my textbooks soon after being done, and for those I couldn't sell, I donated to the hospital library. I realized any information that I need is available either online or in the library.
• Movies/ TV series: Do you have a VHS player for your VHS movies? It may be time to part with those. Alternatively, you can find companies that can transfer VHS onto CDs so that you can still watch them. I'd recommend this especially for any family movies. To decrease clutter, I've started purchasing movies on iTunes or using one of the many streaming services so that I no longer need to keep the hard copy.
• Music: Are you holding onto cassettes? Do you still listen to your CDs, or do you prefer to listen to music on Spotify or apple music? This can significantly decrease your clutter if you part with CDs!
• Throw blankets and pillows: consider your uses for these items, and the colour theme you are aiming for.
• Art and nicknacks: Have you grown tired of the artwork you have in your space? Is your space cluttered with objects that you no longer want displayed?
• Electronics and cables: Ensure all electronics that you plan to keep have the appropriate charging cables/ connecting cables with them. Discard any that are not needed.
Kitchen/ Dining Room
Evars & Anderson interior Design
• Start by going through your dishes/ cutlery/ drinkware. If you enjoy hosting larger groups of people, take that into account as you go through your kitchen as you'll likely need more cutlery/ dishes for those occasions. If you are low on space, I'd recommend storing extra dishes/ cutlery in baskets tucked out of the way. Same goes for seasonal dishes (ie. Christmas plates, napkins etc) so that they don't create clutter in your cupboards. Donate any dishes/ cutlery you don't want any more - generally as family members have moved out on their own, I've been able to offload dishes and replace them. Any dishes or cups/ mugs that are chipped or broken should be discarded not only for appearances, but also for safety.
• Serveware. If you haven't used it at your recent dinner parties and it's collecting dust, time to let it go. If it has sentimental value or is a family heirloom, it can be stored out of the way so that it isn't taking up valuable kitchen space.
• Bakeware. This obviously depends on whether or not you bake a fair bit. For the most part, 1-2 muffin tins, a couple of baking sheets, and a couple of "cake pans" or deeper baking sheets will suffice. If you have a knack for baking, go through all of your baking instruments and discard any that you haven't and will not use, any that are in poor shape, and anything you have unnecessary duplicates of.
• Pots and pans. Think about how many you actually use. Some say that you probably don't need more pots and pans than you have burners. Personally, I have a few extra as I don't want to have to be washing them while's I'm cooking. Generally having 1 of each size of pot/ pan is more than enough. Any that have food burnt to them and are beyond cleaaning should really be discarded. Any lids that don't fit should also be donated if they're in good shape but have lost their mate.
• Small appliances. First off, if you have double of anything, that is likely not necessary, and you can probably part with it. Same goes for anything that is broken beyond repair. Make sure that each appliance is stored with all of their associated parts so they can be easily accessed later.
• Table Linens. If you haven linens that seasonal specific, consider tucking them out of the way so that they aren't taking up needed space if that is an issue. I keep my fall table linens with my halloween/ fall decor in a box tucked out of the way, and my winter table linens in a box with my Christmas decorations. Donate any linens that you are no longer attached to or prefer to use and have replaced. Discard and linens that are torn and not worth repairing.
Bedroom and Closet
Juniperhome.com
Your bedroom should primarily be for sleeping, so creating a clean and decluttered space is ideal to promote a good night's rest. Move anything not necessary out of this space.
1 Go through bed linens and blankets.
2 Move electronics out of your bedroom for a better nights sleep.
3 Keep clothes in the closet or in your dresser - not on "the chair"
Time to go through your closet. It's time to be brutally honest with yourself. Follow the four steps for all items in your closet.
1 Clothes: if it doesn't fit, it goes. Either donate or sell. If it's torn, fix it or toss it. If you haven't worn it recently, it goes. If you have special occasion dresses/ workwear, consider donating to charities such as Cinderella's closet (for prom dresses) or Suit Yourself/ Dress for Success for workwear.
2 Same goes for shoes. How many of us ladies have heels that look fabulous but we can only sit in them? Time to bite the bullet and let these go.
3 Purses and bags: if they're no longer in good shape or you don't use them, put them in the toss or donate pile. Mend any broken straps or zippers on bags you will still use.
4 Accessories/ Jewelry/ belts: If they've been sitting in a drawer, unused for longer than 6 months, you likely will not miss it. If you have sentimental jewelry, but don't wear it at this point in time, consider keeping them tucked away in special jewelry bags or have a jewelry box to store these pieces.
Home Office
Time to go through your documents - I know I don't get around to it as often as I should. Here's the breakdown of how long to keep specific documents. I had to do a bit of research for this to ensure the information is accurate, my information comes from Creditcards.com
1 Sort through pens, pencils, highlighters and discard any that don't work. You can donate ones that work and aren't used.
2 Go through user manuals and toss any that you no longer have the item for. Additionally, you can save all necessary manuals on manuallib.com. Clutter problem solved!
3 Go through your important documents, shred those that you no longer need to save:
• Creditcards.comTax Returns/ Supporting Documents: up to 7 years
• Investment Records: keep monthly statements for up to a year. Keep the annual reports for the lifetime of the investment, and 7 years following
• Retirement Plan Statements: keep quarterly statements for up to a year and, if they match your annual report, you can toss them annually.
• Real estate/ home improvement records: Until you sell your home, plus 7 years
• Credit Card Statements: one month, toss once checked for accuracy
• Pay Stubs: One year
• Bank statements: Keep monthly statements for one year, keep annual statements (related to your tax return) for 7 years
• Utility and Phone Bills: One year
• Receipts: Keep for one month until verified with your credit card/ bank statement for accuracy. Save receipts for items such as expensive jewelry, furniture, and electronics. I recommend keeping them with the item if possible.
Bathroom
Myremodel.org
1 Medications: check expiry dates, and bring any expired or prescriptions that you no longer use to the pharmacy to have them properly disposed of.
2 Toiletries: If you have any sitting around that haven't been opened, some of these items can be donated to women's shelters.
3 Make-up: Makeup has an expiry date. Mascara and eyeliner is typically only good for up to 4 months, liquid foundation and lipstick is good for up to a year, and powders (face powder, blush, eye shadow etc) is good for up to 2 years.
4 Towels: I personally prefer to have matching towel sets, but that of course isn't a necessity. Realistically, you don't need tonnes of towels - For 2 people, I have 2 sets of 4 bath towels, 6 hand towels, and 6 wash cloths, and that is way more than we actually need. However, it's nice to have extra for house guests.
Garage
Country living
1 Tools. Sort your tools into type and keep the best quality if you have several of the same, unless of course you need several. Tools in good condition can be donated, and those in poor condition will need to be disposed of to the dump.
2 Larger tools (drills, electric saws and such) will need to be properly disposed of at an eco station if broken or sold if they aren’t used.
3 Paint: Go through the cans that you have, and properly dispose of any that you will not need.
I hope this has inspired you to get decluttering!