For many of us, it is a daunting task and I thought I would share some simple tips to help you to get started.
There is a common malady known as clutter-blindness! If you live too long with clutter, you actually stop seeing it. Have you ever looked at photos and wished the pile of magazines or some other item wasn’t included in the picture?
Let’s look at no-stress de-clutter ideas.
Step one: Choose one room, don’t move a thing. Now go camera happy, snapping away at every part of the room including the floor!Look at your photos carefully and decide what has to be removed.
Step two: Put all items in a sack or cardboard box so that you can show the family and decide a course of action to ensure that everyone clears up after themselves.
Out of place items should be put back in their proper places or discarded.
Step three: Your sack or box is needed for the next room. Do not start new boxes!
Step four: Take another set of photos and display them on a felt or cork board.
Maybe “before’ and ‘after’ shots?
Step five: Mark your calendar with the day you will do your second choice of room, then the 3rd, 4th, 5th etc; so that you have them all diarised one at a time.
Step six: It is important that you create a ‘paper-work’ box. There are some lovely wicker lid-less boxes around.Everyday we are all bombarded with mail, junk mail, pamphlets etc; etc; and we dump them here there and everywhere until we have ‘time’. It is easier and less clutter-some to have a set calendar day each week to sort the ‘must do’ from the ‘just bin it’ if everyone puts them in one box.
There are some special points to mention when it comes to the kitchen as your photos may show fairly cluttered work tops and as we don’t all have huge kitchen space, you may need to re-arrange your cupboards to accept some of your electrical products. If the item is not used almost daily, like kettles, toasters, coffee machines, try hard to arrange your cupboards to accommodate the others. This will be hard to do ‘until’ you recognise how much we store in our cupboards which may only be used once per year, or never. Just think about it, you might find a solution!
Bedrooms:
The scariest of all! This involves your wardrobe contents! Oh my goodness! These tips are tried and true and something you probably already know but never did anything about it… Just try it if you can be realistic!
So, my final tips are:
One: If you haven’t worn it, used it, looked at it in the last year, get rid of it …..NOW!
Two: Things are just that, THINGS.
Three: Only put back the best of what you own, or save a very few things you just can’t part with…… the reason has to be extreme, no excuses.!
I hope you have found this useful. I would love to have your comments if you found this useful, or your own ideas on a SIMPLE start to de-cluttering.
