The Best Tips For Decluttering Intimidating Spaces

Today I’m sharing my best tips and tricks for decluttering intimidating spaces so you can take back your home!

When you have an excess amount of clutter in your home, all spaces can feel overwhelming. However, there are certain spaces where decluttering can feel downright intimidating. These are usually larger spaces that have a lot of hidden clutter. Spaces like garages, or attics, and basements. Storage units and even closets also fall into this category. These spaces can be intimidating to declutter because of the sheer volume of stuff they contain.

It’s so easy to allow clutter to accumulate in these areas because we don’t look at them every day. Even though we don’t see the clutter the same way we do a cluttered counter-top, holding on to items we don’t use still creates unnecessary stress in our life. 

We need to learn how to declutter these intimidating spaces and reclaim peace in our homes.  

Why Decluttering Intimidating Spaces is Important

You may be wondering if the stuff is hidden behind closet doors or out of the way in the garage, attic, basement, or a storage unit, what’s the big deal about decluttering. After all, out of sight and out of mind. Decluttering these intimidating spaces just does not seem like a high priority.

Well, we know these spaces can easily become dumping grounds for all the stuff we don’t want to deal with! If you’re honest you probably can’t even name more than a couple of the items you have jammed into these spaces. 

The truth is, even hidden clutter weighs on you. Why? Because these spaces are filled with procrastination in your home and unmade decisions. Those are some of the biggest stress factors there are. It’s all there, lurking in the depths of your home contributing to your mental clutter and weighing you down. 

Decluttering these intimidating spaces will help clear the mental clutter and the weight of holding onto all that unnecessary stuff!

Just think of how nice it will feel when you know exactly what you have, and what you have are the things you love, use, and need. Not only that, but you’ll know exactly where it is! This is what loving your home is all about!

In the end, you’ll reclaim your home and trade the clutter for peaceful simplicity.

How to Plan for Decluttering Intimitading Spaces 

Now that you understand the importance of decluttering even the hidden clutter in your home, it’s time to tackle those intimidating spaces. Whether you will be decluttering a garage, storage unit, attic, or basement the following will ensure your success!

Create a Decluttering Plan

When tackling large spaces, especially ones that are filled with a lot of stuff, it will be so much easier if you create a plan of attack before you even start the actual decluttering process.

In fact, having a plan is key to eliminating overwhelm whenever you’re tackling a big space that’s filled with clutter. A pre-set plan of attack will not only help prevent feeling overwhelmed but will also help to keep you motivated throughout the project.

When creating your plan, go into the space you will be decluttering and take a few minutes to look at the space and think about how you want it to look. If you are decluttering a storage unit, your vision may simply be to empty it.

For garages, attics or basements or even overstuffed closets think through how you would like that space to function. How do you want to use that space? If it’s a garage do you want to park your cars in there, what about the basement or attic how would you like to use that space. Think through what actually belongs in that space that would allow you to use it the way you envision.

Once you’ve visualized how the space will look uncluttered, and figured out what you want its essential function to be,  grab a piece of paper and write it all down. 

Next, you will want to start planning the practical aspects of decluttering. Here are a few things to consider as you make your plan:

• When will you declutter (we will discuss this further in a minute)
• What you’ll do with the stuff you’re getting rid of? 
  • Will you donate them?
  • Where will you donate them?
  • Will you give items to friends and family?
  • Will you bring them to the donation center or will you arrange for the donation center to pick-up.
  • When will you expect family or friends to come and get the items? 
• What will you do with the items you want to keep?
• What will you do with the trash, will you need to rent a large trash bin, or set up a bulky pickup with your trash service? 

A Word on Donating vs Selling Items When Decluttering

As you are making your plan on whether to donate or sell the items you are decluttering it’s important to note a few considerations. 

If you’re not in desperate need of the money or the item is not highly valuable, you should always seek to donate. Whether it be to a local charity or friends and family what you will gain in avoiding the burden of the time and effort to sell your items is much higher than the few extra dollars you will make.

Realize now that it will be tempting to want to sell a lot of the items you are decluttering. After all, you will see the money you spent on those items start adding up. However, decluttering intimidating spaces already takes a lot of time and effort, and selling items, whether at a garage sale or posting them online, takes even more time and effort. I promise you, the time and effort you will save are far more valuable than the money you will make. 

Plus, if the items do not sell, you are back to square one with each of those items. Instead, focus on creating a space that you will love or give you greater peace. Choosing to donate instead of selling the items will also help you to be more intentional with your shopping going forward. 

Schedule a Decluttering Weekend

Because decluttering intimidating spaces means decluttering large spaces with a lot of stuff, they take extra time and effort. This also means they are best done in one sitting, rather than in 10 or even 30-minute increments. Those short increments work fine for decluttering small spaces in your home. But when looking to take a large overstuffed closet or your garage or another storage area you want to set aside the extra time to tackle the job.

By scheduling a weekend for your decluttering, you can clear your schedule and not feel like you don’t have time to declutter. This will also give you time to make all the arrangements you set forth in your plan, such as ordering a donation pick-up. You’ll be able to get your boxes and trash bags ready and plan a trip to a charity to drop off donated items.

Even if you can’t get the entire area decluttered during the weekend, I guarantee that you will make substantial progress.

Gather Your Decluttering Supplies

When you’re decluttering intimidating spaces, it’s important to have your supplies on hand and ready to go.

For example, if you need to rent a larger trash receptacle or arrange for a bulky pick-up with your trash service, do that now. You will also want to make sure to have a few trash bags on hand. 

Empty cardboard boxes are great for sorting your items and for holding the items you’re getting rid of. Having a couple of markers on hand to label your items is also very helpful.

Finally, make sure you have comfortable clothing and shoes. I have found having water bottles handy and my favorite Spotify playlist going puts me in the work frame of mind.

Divide and Conquer When Decluttering Intimitading Spaces

Now it’s time to get to work, your scheduled weekend has arrived. The best way to tackle decluttering those large or difficult spaces is simply to divide and conquer! This means we’re going to break down that large intimidating space into smaller workable areas! To get started…

Remove The Easiest Things First

When you enter the space, begin by scanning the entire area and grabbing all of the trash or other items you can get rid of quickly and easily. These are the things that do not require making any hard decisions. Pick items that are broken, not worth passing on, or that you have no emotional attachment to.

At this point, you are just grabbing the things that are out in plain view. Do not open any boxes or go through hidden items right now.  You’re looking for quick and easy decisions!

This will help get you started, give you a quick win and stop any feeling of overwhelm from not knowing where to start!

Discard Large Items Next

Now you are going to scan the room a second time and focus on the large items that take up lots of physical space. These are things like furniture, large appliances or tools, sports equipment, or anything that does not store neatly in a box. 

Removing these large items at the beginning accomplishes two things. First, it allows you to see quick progress in decluttering the space so that it no longer feels intimidating. Having these quick wins helps push us through decluttering the whole space.

The second thing is that it gives you the needed room to start sorting through and making decisions on the smaller items that will require a little more processing and decision-making.

Tackle One Area At a Time

Once you get the large items and trash out, you will have a realistic picture of how much clutter you really have and you’ll be able to tackle those areas much easier. 

At this stage, you are not going to look at the whole project at once. Instead, you are going to focus on one area and one area only. This can be one particular box, one shelf, or even one corner of the room. The point is to start with one small area.

You will not move on to another spot until you have completed the area you are working on. Just declutter one area at a time. This means going through every single item and sorting it into one of three piles – Keep, Donate, Trash. If you have decided to sell some things you may have a fourth pile of items to place for sale.  

Making the Decluttering Decisions

As you’re deciding which pile to sort things into, I want you to ask yourself just one question and only one question: “Is this item worth the time and space it takes up in my home and life?”

Do not keep items that you think you may use someday. If you haven’t used it in the past year, it’s time to let it go and pass it on to someone who will use it. After all, wouldn’t you rather have the space those items are taking up…right now? There is no valid reason to keep an item you never use and just sit it in a box somewhere. 

Your goal, when decluttering intimidating spaces is to put as many things as possible into the donation or trash pile. If an item has sat untouched for years in the back of your closet or buried in your garage, it is highly unlikely that you will use it any time in the near future.  

Another important factor to consider is whether or not the stuff you are going through fits in with your current lifestyle. You do not want to keep a bunch of stuff from past seasons of life, old hobbies you no longer engage in, or a previous lifestyle.

For example, if you use to work in the corporate world and now you work from home, there is no reason to keep old suits and work clothing you no longer wear. If your kids are now teens or young adults, do not hold onto their youth sporting equipment. 

On a final note, I often advocate for using a “maybe box” when decluttering your home. This is where you put all of the items you’re not sure of whether you should keep or donate. I always advise writing a date on the box. If you have not needed anything in that box after six months, just donate the entire box. 

However, when it comes to decluttering intimidating spaces, the truth is those spaces are already filled with “maybe” items that you struggled to make a decision on. Now is the time to decide what to do with all that stuff cluttering up your home and life!

Quite frankly, it’s time to be ruthless!

Ask for Help When Decluttering

Generally speaking, decluttering your home is not something that requires a lot of help. Most of the time you can do it yourself. However, when it comes to decluttering intimidating spaces, do not be shy about asking for help!

There’s a reason we think of that garage, storage unit, or even overstuffed closet as intimidating. Those spaces are usually filled with years of accumulation and require some really difficult decision-making. Having family or friends helping you out or even holding you accountable is a game-changer.

The old adage, many hands make light work is so true when it comes to decluttering hard to declutter areas. Having help keeps you motivated and speeds up the process! Plus, having help allows you to have some fun while tackling all that clutter at the same time.

Organize Your Space As the Last Step

Once you have finished decluttering those intimidating spaces it’s time to think about organizing that space. You now know exactly what you need to organize and you’ll be able to make the space useful.

Make a home for each item you’re keeping. Make sure to label things and organize them in a way that’s easily accessible so that the space is useable. This will make it easy to find what you are looking for and you’ll know exactly what you have. Most importantly, you’ll be much less likely to turn that space back into a dumping ground for clutter. 

With an organized system in place, it will be much easier to know what items you no longer use. When you see things you haven’t used since you last decluttered, you’ll be able to quickly pass those items on to others. 

While decluttering intimidating spaces can be a lot of work, the end result will make it worth the effort. You will be left with a space you love, and one that functions well for you and your family. Best of all you will have removed the stress and burden of all that clutter!