When the urge to declutter hits, you find yourself ready to go full-force and clear out the whole house…. Well, this is how it is with me anyway. I always see to hit a roadblock right away trying to come up with a plan. If this happens to you when the urge to declutter hits, we are here to help. We came up with a quick guide to declutter your home quickly.
With our quick 6 steps to decluttering, you will find that you won’t have a reason to complain about not having the time to do it. These simple quick steps will help every time the urge to declutter hits you.
Declutter the kitchen one cabinet & drawer at a time!
This is always my first place to start. Our family has downsized to just 3 of us at home now. We DO NOT need all those cups and glasses in the cabinet. And what about the plastic dishes “just in case” someone needs to take home leftovers? Throw them out! Go through your serving dishes. Are you using all of those regularly? Can some of them be stored somewhere else or maybe pass some to your grown children if they could use a few? Find a resale group in your area or just donate to a thrift store.
Do you really need all the toys in the closet or bookcase?
Most of our children have or had baskets or bins to keep toys in. So, take a couple of minutes a day to empty ONE basket/bin at a time, then store, donate, or toss any no longer used, outgrown, or broken items. Don’t forget about your game cabinet if you have one. We have one that is filled with games and puzzles. We try to go through this at least once a year. If there are some we never pulled out for the past year, then out it goes.
Clean off the desk or your home’s “headquarters’.
Walk around the house and pick up all the paper piles & mail that is laying around and sort it all real quick –keep/file, toss, and pass on to who it belongs to. Then put everything you are keeping in its rightful place.
Take Inventory of the Pantry
The end of summer is a great time for us to go through our pantry and check dates on all that is in it and clear out anything that expired. If you find items you didn’t end up needing, pass them on to someone else before they expire. This would be a great time to grab our FREE Home Inventory Kit and fill in what you have on hand and know what is needed for the coming months.
Declutter Clothing – One Family Member at a Time.
The end of any season is a great time to sort through and declutter the closets and dressers. Take inventory of what still fits and what has seen its last days. Sort out seasonal items and store these until the next time around. Space-storage bags are great for this. Saves your clothing and saves your space. The result is that you decluttered your closets and dresser for every family member.
Declutter the bathroom cabinet or Shelves.
We always seem to start on the medicine items first, then the first-aid items, and then personal beauty and care items. You know how it happens, you see a new product and want to try it. Then you decide it is not for you. You can’t bring yourself to throw it away, so you store it in the cabinet or place it on the back of the shelf. Well…. A year later it is still there and it’s time to throw it away. Go through one bathroom a day if needed. Grab some baskets or bins to hold the items that always seem to fall over or get lost in the back. This is also another great place to use our FREE Home Inventory Kit to take note of what you have and what you need. When you have a few items that need to be within easy reach, we use baskets to hide/organize these items on a shelf.
If you keep these tips handy and make yourself a rotating schedule, you could keep your home decluttered all year round. If you have more tips to add to ours, just leave it in a comment for others to find.
