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Get Rid of the Overwhelm
Have you ever looked around in your home and marveled at the number of things that were out of place? If so, did you feel overwhelmed and kind of hopeless, with no real idea of what to do or even, where to start? Wouldn’t it be lovely to have everything decluttered and organized?
Piles of Stuff Need Taming
Have you ever walked through your house, looking specifically for piles of stuff? Do you have “stuff”, whether papers or kids’ toys or excess clothing, that has no place to be put away? Or is it possible that the place that the things should be in is too inconvenient to reach? Maybe those things are very difficult to put away.
Up until recently, I’ve always found it easy to pick up stuff, place it into a laundry basket, then put it away, because everything had a place to go.
Everything Needs Its Own Place
Unfortunately, after my marriage ended, three out of the four family members — my daughters and I — moved from a 2400 square foot home with lots of storage space to a one thousand square foot home with almost none. Cleaning is a challenge because not everything has a home now. I’ve learned that it’s necessary to declutter my home on a regular basis. Let me share a few decluttering tips.
First, I’ve found there are only two possible solutions to clutter: make a home for things or get rid of the items that have no place.
How to Start to Declutter
To start to declutter and catch up on a really messy home, it’s best to start with a plan. Make note of where your piles have occurred and what they consist of. For example, one pile may be by the front door and it consists of shoes, boots, and sandals. Another might be on the kitchen counter, and it’s made up of hundreds of pieces of old mail that need to be opened and sorted. Yet another may be on your closet floor and it might contain a mixture of dirty clothing that needs laundering and clean clothing that needs repairs, as well as clothing that no longer fits you well.
Sort and Stash
Once you have an inventory of your clutter, grab plastic bins or boxes, whatever you have, and place everything in a container. The only exceptions are things that cannot be used, because they’re the wrong size or something like that. Place such things either in a donation box or the trash. Put all like items that are left together in one container, then label the container with what it contains.
Now you can move all the containers to a storage area or out-of-the-way spot in your home, while you clean your home without clutter getting in the way. It’s easier this way, isn’t it?
Figure Out Your Storage Needs
Now you will need to figure out what kind of storage you need in order to keep things under control and where to place it, so that your clutter can be quickly and easily put away. For example, you might want a shoe storage bench next to the front door, where people can remove their shoes and place them on a shelf.
You can label a couple of laundry baskets in your closet and use them to hold dirty laundry in one and mending in the other. This should keep the clothing under control.
Setting up easy clutter keepers will make housecleaning much, much simpler. It will also make it easier to find things when you need them.