10 Ways to De-Clutter Your Home
Follow these simple solutions for bringing order to your home.
Tip 1: Purge Perennially
To really stay on top of the organizing game, constantly get rid of your unwanteds.
If you haven't used it or seen it in a year, give it away.
Tip 3: Group Like Items
Storing similar objects in the same place eliminates the thinking part of tidying up. There's no more hunting for the perfect spot to put something—or racking your brain for where you stashed it the last time.
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How do you keep your home clutter-free?
Tip 1: Purge Perennially
To really stay on top of the organizing game, constantly get rid of your unwanteds.
- In the living room and other high-traffic spaces, it's what you see first that counts. "Make sure the room's focal point, whether it's the fireplace mantel, a console or a coffee table, is the least cluttered area," says Jennifer Ford Berry, author of Organize Now! 12 Month Home & Activity Planner (Betterway Home). Keep surfaces pared down by limiting what you display to only a few items.
- Make laundry day a time to discard stretched-out T-shirts, mismatched socks and threadbare linens.
- Take stock of utensils and other kitchen paraphernalia each time you unload the dishwasher, Berry says. If you find you have multiples—more than two can openers or potato mashers, say—keep one on hand, store the duplicate and donate the rest.
- Toss clothes you no longer want or that don't fit into a bin in the corner of your closet. "Do this on a regular basis," says organizing expert and founder of simplify101.com Aby Garvey. "When it's full, take the container to Goodwill."
If you haven't used it or seen it in a year, give it away.
Tip 3: Group Like Items
Storing similar objects in the same place eliminates the thinking part of tidying up. There's no more hunting for the perfect spot to put something—or racking your brain for where you stashed it the last time.
- Arrange garments in your closet by type, fabric weight and color—you'll save time getting dressed in the morning and have a more accurate idea of what you need (and what you don't) the next time you're out shopping.
- It's easy to lose track of what you don't use often. "Pick one central location for things like batteries, lightbulbs and candles," Garvey says. The same rule applies to cables, cords and attachments for your family's various electronic devices.
- In the bathroom, divide products into categories—cosmetics, hairstyling tools, nail care and hygiene—so that you can easily grab the item you need.
- Arrange your favorite things—a small cluster of vases or a short stack of art books—by kind or color.
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How do you keep your home clutter-free?
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Comments
Hoarding syndrome is a serious public health hazard. It may pose risk of fire, falls, infestation, and bacterial growth. Hoarding can reduce activities of daily living, adherence to treatment, and quality of life. Hoarding involves cleaning a building or residence that a reasonable person would find uninhabitable and the subsequent removal of trash and debris from a hoarding site. Homes inhabited by hoarders can be dangerous, unhealthy, or both.
Bio Cleanse Pty Ltd, offers one-on-one personal assistance to organise and sift through items, removing unwanted items and saving others. - 5/16/2013 3:13:07 AM
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- 8/24/2012 6:44:47 AM
I have learned NOT to buy the books on decluttering, but to borrow from the library or a friend until I make sure it is something I can really use. Why add more clutter?
I also have been copy\pasting suggestions that resonate with me from posts like this into a Word file, I can search my hard drive for files containing the word 'clutter' and voila'! I have my notes with hyperlinks...WAY less frustrating.
I like the reminder to photograph something that is purely sentimental, that you never use...yet you want to be able to see them occasionally for a smile or memory. - 4/26/2012 3:21:03 PM
My place is about 50% clutter. I do better weeding out clothes. I shop at thrift stores and when I bring home a new top or whatever, I put an old one in a bag to donate. But my medicine and supplements are out in view; my crochet patterns, yarn (mostly sorted by color in a special bookcase) and hooks; books, CDs, DVDs. My fireplace mantel is covered completely with candle holders, pics, beloved stuff. I know there is a lot I could eliminate, but I get overwhelmed.
I get bogged down by pain when I sort, and I don't drive, so except for the occasional bag of clothes I can take on the bus, I have no way right now of transporting donations. Flylady is a great resouce, but I couldn't stand her approach. The best hint I got from her is that I can spend 15 minutes at a time doing anything, so when the pain permits, I do 15 minutes sorting papers and disposing of one bag at a time. - 4/25/2012 7:04:28 PM
Place all the things that you feel are clutter in a box that's easily accessible. Date the box. Show the box, its contents, and its location to your sig other. Tell your loved one that anything remaining in the box after one year (or 6 months, if you can't wait) gets tossed. No exceptions.
Then follow through on the "toss" date. Don't involve them in regard to throwing it out/donating, they will probably freak out and want to keep it all. Once it's gone, I can guarantee they won't even notice it is gone. Or if they do, they will shrug and say oh well.
Out of sight, out of mind for most borderline hoarders .... - 4/25/2012 4:06:30 PM
I know all of this stuff and still....
I think I'm lazy in the ways of housekeeping! - 4/24/2012 1:30:37 PM
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