Spring Cleaning & Decluttering Your Home

Many people begin to feel overwhelmed when thinking about the process of decluttering their homes.  It’s common for people who know they need to tackle the task to ask the question, “where in the world do I begin?” The good news is that there are many simple ways to get started. Here are a few.

• The four box method is one that is often used by organization experts. Focus on a specific area in the home. Bring four boxes: trash, give-away, keep, relocate.  Consider each item in the area individually and place it in the correct box. This can take time, and some areas will take more than others.  But the technique should stay the same.
• Looking for a quick start. Try the 12-12-12 strategy. In this simple task you find 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate and 12 items to relocate to their proper place. This can often turn into a competition and kids don’t have to be too old to get involved!
• Try the hanger challenge to declutter your closet. In order to identify which items to part ways with simply hang all your clothes with the hangers in the reverse direction. After you have worn an item simply return it to your closet in the proper direction. After six months discard all items that are still hanging in the reverse section.
• Fill a bag. Have a large area that needs decluttering? Grab a large trash bag and see how quickly you can fill it up.   This can be trash or items to donate. You’d be surprised at how much difference one bag of stuff eliminated from a space can make.
• If you don’t have a lot of time to commit to the process of decluttering use the timer method.   Set a timer for 15 minutes and to work on hot spots where clutter tends to gather.   Follow through and get each item to it’s final destination whether that be trash/recycle, donate, or it’s proper location.

The most important thing to remember when decluttering is that getting started is the hardest part, so find a method that works for you and dive in!   The end of the year is a perfect time to tackle this project for anyone thinking of selling their home in the near future or anyone looking for a fresh start to 2015!!