No peace in your mind? Constantly stressing or feeling like you’ve lost balance in life? We sometimes get stuck in the past and also with our stuff. Once in a while it is good to rid ourselves of old, broken or unnecessary items. Every time you throw some unnecessary stuff out of your life, your head becomes a little lighter, airier and calmer. After all, a tidy house makes for a tidy head. But where should you start cleaning up? Below we provide some tips for decluttering your home.
#1. Make small steps
Start with items that you can get rid of right away and don’t have to worry about. By de-cluttering these types of objects, you will have immediate positive results. It is no longer in the way and there will be no regrets afterwards. Then, on the same day or another day, you can look at what items you really need right now. Something not used for a year? Chances are you won’t miss it when it’s gone either.
#2. Work from one space to another
Work from space to space. For example, start with the kitchen cabinets or the closet and work from one room to the next. That way you don’t have an entire day’s work to do right away, but you can be satisfied with the steps you’ve made at the end of the day.
#3. See if the items deserve a second life
Tired of some stuff? That’s not crazy at all. Over the years, our tastes do change and we get bored of certain furniture or items of clothing, for example. That doesn’t mean someone else won’t like them too. You may be able to get rid of something with family or friends, or you may still be able to sell it on the marketplace or at the thrift store. That way you can make someone else happy and get rid of it.
If items are really broken or worn out, it’s best to get rid of them. For example, throw everything in a big pile in the garden or in the shed or barn and have it all collected at the same time by the Waste Collection Service. We can often be there within 24 hours, so your junk won’t be in plain sight for days.
#4. Buy multifunctional devices
Kitchen appliances take up a lot of space in your kitchen cabinets. You may be able to replace several devices with one electronic device. For example, consider a food processor. This is obviously a large device for your closet, but it does replace four different devices in one fell swoop. Also, a robot vacuum cleaner, for example, takes up much less space than a normal vacuum cleaner and also takes a lot of work off your hands!
#5. Make use of storage bins
Not only do they look better in your closets, but it also makes for an uncluttered and structured home. Once you have your pantry organized by storage bins, you are guaranteed to be a lot calmer in your mind.
Storage bins can also be used behind your partitions in the attic or bedroom. Also, put on each box what it contains. This way you can easily keep an overview. This way you will soon have all the Christmas decorations in one bin with next to it the winter clothes in another bin. Once the time comes again to get it out of the attic, you will immediately have all your stuff easily at hand again.
#6. Go Digital Unstuffing Too
Not only in your home you can tidy things up a bit. After all, most people also spend several hours a day on their phones or laptops, and we sometimes make a mess of things there, too. For example, on a rainy day, go work on the folder structure of your files on the laptop or see how many apps you have unnecessarily on your phone. The fewer emails or notifications you get in a day, the more calm you will have in your head.
You can also clean up old photos once in a while. Delete those screenshots and failed photos and save only the ones you would like to see again at a later time.
If you want to go a step further, once in a while save all your photos to a folder on a USB or in the Cloud and then delete all the photos on your phone. For your feeling, you will then start with a fresh start, but all the memories you can always look back on.
#7. Pass a cloth through it
Cleaning the drawers in the cabinets is no one’s hobby. When everything is out of the closet or space anyway. Then dust it off right away too. Get a nice soapy water through it and guaranteed that fresh smell of detergent will do your head good too. Two birds with one stone!
#8. Unwind at your own pace
De-cluttering doesn’t have to happen in a day. Rather take a little longer to declutter a particular space, than rush through all your rooms. If you take a little longer in certain areas to organize all your belongings, you will be rid of them again for a long time. In addition, it provides the most satisfaction and peace of mind when you are sure that everything has been properly sifted through.
#9. Have all your waste collected
Now that you have collected a whole mountain of old stuff that you want to get rid of, there are bound to be some items that don’t fit (anymore) in the gray container. Think old furniture, old electronics, an old mattress, or bulky waste. If you are going to rent a dumpster you are going to spend a whole lot of money and sometimes we don’t have that much sense or time left to drive to the landfill. Then have your waste collected by the Waste Collection Service and you will be rid of your waste in no time. Nothing will stop you from relaxing your home.