There are sooo many benefits to eliminating excess clutter in your home. I’ve written about how eliminating excess clutter can improve your finances, your emotional well-being, your health, your goals, and your overall feeling of peace in your home. You can read the full post here. Today I want to talk to you about how to actually achieve a clutter-free home.
First, when I encourage you to clear the clutter from your home, I am not advocating a house with white walls and empty drawers. Rather, I am advocating living intentionally.
It’s important to be purposeful with the items you bring into your home. You can do this by taking some time, before you make purchases, to determine the value that the items you bring into your home, will add to your life.
Now, unless you are a true minimalist, you probably have clutter in your home. No matter how well most of us might do at regularly purging stuff, clutter can still rapidly accumulate.
Sometimes I am shocked at how often I still find myself getting rid of stuff. I don’t bring a lot of new stuff into my home, and yet I am regularly decluttering.
How To Get Started Decluttering
If you find yourself living in a cluttered environment the idea of clearing it can be overwhelming. So how do you begin to have a clutter-free home? There are five simple steps to get you started with eliminating excess clutter and having a clutter-free home.
- Schedule a specific time for decluttering
- Focus on decluttering one area at a time
- Gather supplies – 4 boxes
- Add a couple of special touches
- Create a maintenance routine
Now let’s look at each of these steps that will have you loving your home in no time!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you purchase something mentioned in this post. See more details here.
1. Schedule a Time For Decluttering
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when it comes to getting started decluttering their home is they fail to set aside a specific time to work on their home. Instead, they try to declutter at some random time when the motivation strikes.
The problem with this is that decluttering takes work. If you only declutter during random times or when motivation strikes, you will never learn the habit of regular decluttering. Without this habit in place, you’ll feel like you’re never getting a handle on your clutter.
If you start a decluttering project and it’s 3 months before you get back to that area, you very well may find that you’ve added all kinds of new clutter before completely clearing the older clutter.
To really live clutter-free, it’s important to develop new habits of living simply and clutter-free. Make a point of ridding all excess clutter on a regular basis. The best way to do this is to schedule a specific day and time for clearing clutter.
If you have a lot of clutter, make clutter clearing times a regular appointment on your calendar. Schedule short periods of time to work on the clutter so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Think 20 to 30-minute sessions, even with only 10 to 15 minutes a few times a week, you’ll be amazed at how many decluttering tasks you can complete.
By scheduling clutter clearing sessions, you’ll ensure you have a specific day and a specific amount of time available to devote to the task.
2. Focus on One Area At a Time
When you are getting started decluttering, I always encourage you to start small. Please, please, please don’t try to declutter your entire house all at once. All that ends up happening is that you’ll overwhelm yourself and then give up.
Even if you do manage to make a dent in the clutter, you are far more likely to end up in the same place again in a fairly short period of time.
Living simply and clutter-free should be a way of life. The best way to make this a new habit is to go slow. Start with one room at a time or a specific space or area in the room. Set a specific amount of time to work on clearing that room or space so that you don’t get overwhelmed.
By starting small, you are far more likely to ensure a permanent clutter-free home.
3. Gather Your Decluttering Supplies
3. Gather Your Decluttering Supplies When you start eliminating excess clutter it is a good idea to have four boxes at hand as you go through the items in your home. You want to label each box and fill it as follows:
Keep-
Label your first box keep. This is where are going to put those items that you know that you want to keep. These should be the things that are either useful or add value to your life, things you genuinely love.
Trash –
The next box should be labeled trash. This box will have those items that you will throw out. This will usually consist of broken or worn-out items. There is no point in donating or passing these items on to someone else, when the box is full take it straight out to the trash!
Donate –
Label your third box donate. Here you will place those things that you no longer need or are duplicates. These are the items you can donate to your local thrift store or charity.
Take this box straight to your car once you are done clearing the space. This way you will be able to drop off the box the next time you are out running errands. DO NOT keep or store this box in your home. You need to deal with this box right away and get it out of your home.
Unsure –
Finally, have a box that is marked unsure. You are likely to come across things that you are not sure whether or not you should keep. The best thing to do with these items is to immediately place them in your box marked unsure.
Also, it’s super important to write the date on the box. When you’re done with your decluttering session take that box and put it away. If after three to four months you do not need any of the items in the box, it is time to donate it.
DO NOT open or go through the box! Just put it into your car and head straight to the donation center.
4. Create Beauty
Once you have your home decluttered and organized, make sure you add some things that are special to you and that give you a feeling of peace and warmth.
I love candles and fresh flowers. I also love having my diffuser going with my favorite essential oils. Another favorite is to add some beautiful music.
The key here is to add things that will make you feel at peace and relaxed as you enjoy your clutter-free environment. These feelings will motivate you and your family to maintain a clutter-free home.
5. Take 10 Minutes 3 Times A Day To Tidy Up
I posted my cleaning routine here. As part of my regular cleaning routine, I try and take 10 minutes three times a day (though often it may only be once or twice a day, do what you can) and just tidy up. Whatever is out of place gets put away.
Ideally, involve the kids in this routine. Have them put away any misplaced items they leave out at least once in the evening. The more clutter you eliminate, the quicker your tidy-up sessions will be.
Before long, you will have eliminated excess clutter and enjoy a clutter-free home filled with peace and warmth.
Want to learn more about clearing the clutter? You may want to check out these great books
Karina says
Such a great post. It’s very much what I needed. I especially like the point to date the “unsure” box.
KristalMarie says
Thank you Karina, I am so glad you found it helpful! Dating the unsure box helps me realize I really don’t need anything in it, which makes getting rid of it a lot eaiser.