When it comes to decluttering your entire home, it can be difficult to know where to begin, but you have to start somewhere. It’s the only way you can finally stop living among piles of unused possessions. To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of practical tips that will bring order into your home.
#1 Start With a Messy Slate
To have a clean home, you first have to make a mess. It sounds counter-intuitive, but trust us, it works. Take everything out — and by everything, we mean everything. Empty your cupboards, lay your clothes out on your bed, and so on. When you’re finished, your home should look like the “before” picture from Clean House.
Seeing the clutter can be overwhelming but it will show you what you have. Making a mess lets you assess how much storage you will need.
#2 Organize One Room at a Time
Home organization can be a stressful activity. If you do not want your home to be in complete disarray, try starting small. Tackle one room at a time to make it feel less daunting.
Do a walk-through of your home to identify the rooms that you frequently use. Tackling them first will give you a sense of fulfillment as well as the confidence to tackle the other rooms on your list. To ensure that you commit to the task, consider creating a schedule. For instance, you could organize your home office on Saturday, your kitchen on Tuesday, and your bedroom on Thursday.
#3 Take Inventory
Taking inventory or “editing” is a process where you determine which items to keep, throw away, or donate. As a rule of thumb, if you have not used the item recently, you should get rid of it. For example, if you haven’t worn a shirt in over a year, you might consider donating it to a local charity. After taking inventory, you should be left with what is absolutely necessary.
Here are some useful tips to follow:
- Donate clothes that you’ve outgrown.
- Donate clothes that you haven’t worn in a year.
- Throw away kitchen and bathroom products that have expired.
- Throw away items that are falling apart.
The editing process can be tedious especially if you’re going it alone. In this case, you may want to hire a professional cleaning and organizing service for an extra pair of hands.
#4 Group Similar Items
After editing, it’s time to separate your belongings into groups. Keep in mind that this step does not involve putting things away — it merely requires you to create a pile for every group of items. If you’re tackling your kitchen, put all of your canned goods together in one pile, and all of your spices in another pile.
This method makes it easier to determine the ideal organization system for your space. For instance, if you have a lot of canned goods, you may want to invest in bigger storage baskets or bins for them. On the other hand, if you have only two to three spices, there’s no need to buy a spice rack.
#5 Put Things Where You Use Them
Storing things in rooms where they’re not meant to be used only increases the likelihood of them not getting put away. For instance, if you keep your books in the office but your reading nook is elsewhere, it’s likely that you won’t return the book to where it belongs. Eventually, your home will become a cluttered mess.
Plus, storing items where you use them makes sense. It would be more practical to keep, say, your cutlery in the kitchen instead of in the pantry. Having items within reach can make your life more convenient.
#6 Archive Rarely-Used Items
There are items that you don’t use regularly. These items should be thrown away or stored out of sight. Archiving seasonal items such as holiday decor, camping gear, and the like allows you to free up space for the items that you need year-round. If there are items that you rarely use but still need, store them away in your garage or storage shed.
If your home has limited space, you might want to hire a professional holiday decorating service. This way, you won’t have to store bulky trees, lights, etc. when it’s time to take down the holiday decor. A professional decorator will take care of storage for you.
#7 Label Your Items
Labeling encourages you to put items back where they belong. For instance, sticking labels to your drawers such as, “socks”, “leggings”, and “underwear” can enforce the habit of putting your freshly-washed laundry in the proper places. They make your home organization system more sustainable.
Unless you’re taking labeling very seriously, you don’t need to buy an expensive label maker. All you need is a permanent marker and stickers or strips of paper.
#8 Organize Your Bookshelf
Organizing your bookshelf is optional but it does make your home look neater. Some people like color-coding their bookshelf, while others like arranging their books by height. How you organize your bookshelf is entirely up to you, however, the point is to create a system that is not only efficient but also aesthetically pleasing.
Here are some ways you can organize your book collection:
- Separate paperbacks from hardcovers
- Organize books according to genre
- Organize books alphabetically
- Group books that you haven’t read
- Group books that you would recommend to a friend
- Display signed copies and special editions
#9 Have a “Recycling Bin”
Tuck away a “recycling bin” in the corner of the garage, storage room, or in other areas that are hidden from sight. The bin should be a large container that’s spacious enough to hold clothes, shoes and other belongings that you or your family members may no longer want. Because you’ve created a designated place for unwanted items, this encourages the entire household to develop the habit of keeping only what they need. As a result, you’ll have more storage space in your home.
Once the recycling bin is full, drop it off at your local charity. It’s a great way to keep your home tidy while helping others at the same time.
Wrapping Up
No one wants to live in an unorganized home. By following these simple steps, you can turn your home into one that exudes calmness instead of chaos. Start by tackling one room at a time, so that you can get the hang of things and develop a system of your own.
At Luxury Property Care, we’ll help you get rid of your clutter. Through our professional home organizing and cleaning services, you can benefit from having a freshly organized space. Your dedicated property manager will supervise the entire process to ensure that your belongings are handled with the utmost care.
Want to learn more? Call us at (561) 944 – 2992 or fill out our contact form online.
