Learn About 4 Easy Ways to Keep Your Home Clutter Free and The Benefits It Provides

Whether you live in an apartment or a home, over time, you’re bound to build up clutter. From stacks of old clothes, utensils, and unorganized cabinets to excess decorations, you can find clutter in every corner of your home. While some of these items are valuable, it’s important to separate them from those that are unneeded. Living in a cluttered home can also lead to stress and other negative effects on your mental health. In this article, we’ll explore the best easy-to-follow strategies to get rid of clutter and keep your home tidy at all times.

Home Decluttering Tips

1. Set a Cleaning Schedule

The best way to keep your home clutter free is to clean up each day. Understandably, this can be hard as after a long day of work, cleaning up is the last thing you would want to do. Hence, the best method is to create a cleaning schedule and tackle one room at a time. If the whole house is in a mess, your strategy will be to start with the messiest room and go from there.

Small areas such as bathrooms and guest rooms can be de-cluttered in a few hours. However, give yourself ample time for larger spaces such as the living room and kitchen. While you’re at it, take the time to go through storage spaces such as the attic and garage as well. Oftentimes, these spaces are packed with unneeded items which can be disposed of to make the space usable for future storage needs.

2. Start a Sorting System

Clutter can be divided into three main categories:

• Usable Items: These can be new utensils, appliances, clothes, etc., which can be put to use but currently are simply taking up space around the home. If possible, let these items be where they are or store them in a box until you’ve disposed of unwanted items.

• Storable Items: Seasonal items such as space heaters, weighted blankets, inflatable garden pools, etc., should be sorted from the other items and stored safely in your attic or garage. Avoid storing them in your bedroom or living room, as they’ll simply collect dust and take up space.

• Unwanted Items: Old clothes, utensils, appliances, and unwanted decorations are the prime contributors to this category. Depending on their condition, consider discarding or donating them to free up space for the storage of seasonal items. If you have a host of unwanted items in good condition, consider selling them in a yard sale rather than dumping them in the trash.

Once a sorting system has been created, try to follow it as diligently as possible. For instance, if winter has ended, promptly store the blankets in the garage cabinet. Similarly, as soon as an item is deemed unwanted, discard it appropriately rather than keeping it in the house. 

Additionally, while sorting items, put on some music or your favorite podcast in the background to keep yourself entertained.

3. Make It a Family Activity 

Single-handedly decluttering a home will be a tedious and tiring activity. Hence, enlist the help of everyone in the household to keep the space clean. For instance, label three boxes based on the above-mentioned categories and instruct everyone to sort items from their rooms into the boxes.

It is often the case that individuals get attached to items and prefer not to discard them even if they’re damaged. In such cases, it’s best to assign someone else to declutter the space as they won’t have any emotional connection with items and can objectively sort them based on necessity and condition.

4. Don’t Ignore the Home Office 

If you’re working from home, it’s safe to assume that you spend most of your time in the home office. Clutter gets collected faster in an office compared to other parts of the home. This can include paperwork, mail, unused equipment, unconnected wires, and more. 

As reported by Thrive Global, working in a cluttered workspace can lead to reduced efficiency and higher stress levels. If you’re facing a space crunch, invest in vertical storage solutions such as shelves and cabinets. These will allow you to organize items neatly in a small space. 

Additionally, scan all documents and move your work to the cloud. Rather than having heaps of paper scattered across the office, all of it will be safely stored online and be accessible from your phone or laptop anytime, anywhere.

Benefits of a Clean Home 

Reading through these points, you may feel that decluttering is a lot of work. But, if you put in the effort, you’ll seek the following rewards:

• Increased Productivity at Work: Working in a clean office will help you to be more productive than before. Additionally, business owners will be able to use the space to meet with clients and grow their businesses. 

• Reduced Risk of Allergies: Large items scattered across the rooms can make it hard to clean the space thoroughly. In the long run, this can lead to the collection of dust and mold and invite insects into the home, which results in an increased risk of allergies or other diseases. Post-decluttering, you won’t need to worry about any of these risks and ensure your family is healthy.

• Happier Moods: As reported by Verywell Mind, maintaining a clean home leads to happier moods. This is because activities, such as making the bed, vacuuming, washing dishes, etc., promote mindfulness. The result is a clutter-free home which acts as a reward and promotes happier moods. 

Keeping your home clutter free serves as a great self-care activity. Additionally, decluttering is bound to make your space look bigger, cleaner, and usable for family activities, whether it be movie night, a get-together, or more. Cleaning an office can be challenging as important documents can be scattered across piles of clutter. Hence, first upload them to the cloud and then begin your cleaning process. While at the start, decluttering can seem tedious, but once it becomes a regular activity, it’ll serve as an integral part of your daily routine.

Image Source: Pexels