Declutter Your Home in Six Steps!

Take the time and effort to declutter your house before it goes on the market and save money!  Culling your belongings now means you’ll pay less to pack up and move later.  Plus, a home without clutter will show much better to potential buyers, so you’ll increase your resale profits too.  So roll up your sleeves and follow these six steps to a clutter-free home.

Six Steps to a Clutter-Free Home

1.  Prepare to Declutter

• Plan your strategy - decide where you’ll start and how long you’ll spend during each session.  It will be easier and less overwhelming if you break the job up into smaller parts.
• Recruit helping hands - others won’t be able to decide what stays and what goes, but friends and family members can help sort items into categories.
• Gather your tools for the job - you’ll need temporary sorting bins, boxes and containers, labels and a marker and trash bags.

2.  Sort and Purge

• Sort like items together before you start purging - sometimes you don’t realize you have duplicate items or out-of-control collections until you see them all together
• Clearly label boxes with the following categories: Keep, Donate, Repair, Store.  Trash will go directly into bags for easy disposal.
• Establish rules before you begin purging - it simplifies the process tremendously if you have guidelines for evaluating your belongings.  If you haven’t used or needed an item (including clothing) for more than a year, it goes in the donate pile.  If anything is torn, worn, missing pieces or broken (and not worth repairing), throw it out.  Only keep items that you love or use regularly.  Don’t spend too long considering any one item, and try not to delay any decisions until later.  If you have sentimental attachment to something that you don’t want out front and visible in your space, consider taking a photo of the item as a reminder and putting it in an album.  Remember, the memory doesn’t go away if you let something go.

3.  Follow Through

• Take out the Trash after each declutter session.
• Send out items that need repair.
• When a donation box is full, carry it to the car for drop-off at Salvation Army or your local thrift shop.
• Never retrieve an item that you’ve already placed in the Donate box or the Trash!

4.  Organize “the Keepers”

• Evaluate the belongings you have kept.  If you don’t have a place to display it or a designated spot to put it away, you’ll need to determine where it goes and how to store it.
• Give the items you’ll need to get to frequently a spot that you can access easily and quickly.
• Consider decorative storage containers like wicker baskets, leather boxes, canvas bins or wire mesh baskets to  organize and corral smaller items.
• Use clear totes and containers to house items that go in longer-term storage so you can see what’s in them without opening the lids.  And be sure to label the outside!
• Off-season clothing and extra bedding can be placed in Space Bags vacuum storage bags.  They essentially vacuum-pack items almost flat.  The bags are airtight and waterproof so you can store items in the basement, attic or garage without worries. 
• Visit some sites that offer organizational products for more creative storage ideas.  The Container Store, Organized A to Z, and All Organized are a few good ones.
• When everything is in its place, pat yourself on the back!

5.  Analyze the Source of Your Clutter

• Now that the hard work is done, take a moment to introspect and evaluate how the clutter got there in the first place.  The last thing you want to do is end up where you were before.
• If your primary issue was that you had too much stuff and not enough storage, then you’ve taken care of it.
• If you’re a collector and some of your collections grew out of control, hopefully you’ve weeded them down to a more reasonable size.  Consider rotating items in your collection seasonally so you can still enjoy your collectibles without having them taking over your space.
• If your problem stems from shopping, you have two options.  You’ll either have to resist the urge to buy or use the “one in - one out” rule…if you buy something new, something you have has to be donated.  Don’t bulk buy or buy items ahead (like gifts) until you’ve moved and you’re settled in your new home.

6.  Establish a Regular Maintenance Routine to Declutter

• Make yourself a list of the “hotspots” in your home that seem to attract clutter.  Then take a tip from the Flylady - Marla Cilley - and do a 15-minute ”Superfling Boogie” once a day to declutter those hotspots with zeal.  Set the timer and enlist the kids to help…they’ll have a ball playing beat the clock.
• When you’re done using something, take the time to put it away in its designated spot, and your home can be ready to show at the drop of a hat.
• Now that you’ve got a system down, keep it going!  If you’re moving into a bigger home, resist the urge to buy more stuff and fill up all the available storage after you move.  With a 15-minute a day regimen, you can keep your new home neat and clutter-free.

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