De-clutter And Organize Your Home
Let’s face it; your home did not get disorganized in one day so it is not going to only take one day to de-clutter your home. You might want to try setting aside a certain amount of time each day to tackle this problem. Start by getting three boxes; one labeled “give away”, “throw away” and one labeled “put away”. Line the “throw away” box with a garbage bag for an easier way to throw out your trash.
Start with one room of your home at a time. Remember that the goal is organization so do your cleaning in an organized way. Start at the entrance of the room and work your way clockwise around the room. Do not skip anything. It can be hard trying to determine what things are important to keep and which ones are ready to go in the throw away or give away boxes. You should ask yourself several different questions when considering what to do with a particular item. Start off by asking yourself how you feel about the item. Do you love it? Does it have sentimental value? Does the item make you feel sad or guilty? It might not be a good enough reason to keep something around that is cluttering up your home just because someone gave it to you and you fell guilt about getting rid of it. Something else to ask yourself about an item is if you have used it in the past year. Is it broken or not in good condition? Do you have another one that might be better? These are all good reasons you might want to get rid of a particular item. Once your “give away” box is full, take it to your local thrift store or donation center. You might also want to consider if you “give away” items might earn you a little cash by putting them on eBay or craigslist.
You might not have realized how many things are out of place in your home until your have looked at you “put ways” box after you have started to de-clutter a room. Once this box is full stop your de-cluttering and put these items away. Do not put the box in a closet, down the basement or in an attic with the best intentions of getting to it later. You know that you will never get around to doing it until it is time to de-clutter you basement, closet or attic.
When working around the room you are de-cluttering, don’t skip things like shelves, draws or furniture. This is the perfect time to start to organize the room as well. For instance, if one of the pieces of furniture is a desk, look through and organize the draws. Make sure you have a proper place for things like pens, envelopes, stamps, and bills. This might also be the place where you keep important financial papers. Go through these papers as well. Get rid of anything that is older then a year and create an alternative spot in the home you can keep important finical information for several years.
De-cluttering your home is not as overwhelming as it seems. You just have to remember to take your time and be diligent in getting back to it every day until it is done. Keep a rag with you also to clean as you go. When you are all done with your de-cluttering, you can go through the room again to place your special items decoratively and make each room of your home just the way you would like it.
