Is your house a mess? Do you have a lot of clutter? We’re here to help you get your house in order, once and for all. Check out our tips, ideas and printable charts for decluttering your home. Let’s get started.
Setting a Deadline to Declutter Your Home
Giving your house a good cleaning normally happens around these times:
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- Family events: Memorial Day and Labor Day picnics, Birthday Parties
One of best ways to get your house in order is to host a party or a holiday gathering. Don’t run screaming just yet. If your house is a mess, you’ll need some motivation to clean it up. By hosting an event, you’ll have a date to work toward, and lots of motivation to pull things together.
Finding Your Motivation to Start Decluttering
It’s easy to procrastinate, especially when it comes to decluttering your home. Try some of these tips to help you get going:
- Watch a tv show while sorting items
- Turn on some music while you work
- Set a time limit: declutter for one hour. (Once you start, you may want to work a little longer.)
- Tell a family member your plans for the day. You’ll be more likely to follow through, since they expect to see your progress.
- Reward yourself with a cup of coffee or small treat once you’re finished.
Determining Where to Start
Sometimes, just the process of working through your spring or fall cleaning checklists is enough. Other times, it is a particular area, like your kitchen, that needs attention. Still not sure where to start? For more ideas, check out our special article: House a Mess? Where to Start
Identifying the Problem Areas with our Printable Worksheet
You’ll want to identify the problem areas, and work on a solution. What are the top three areas that would make a huge impact if the clutter was removed?
- Is it a particular space that continues to amass trinkets and a hodgepodge of items
- Is there a particular room in your home?
- What area troubles you the most?
Click on the link below to print our Decluttering Worksheet. Then write down your trouble spots, along with a few possible solutions.
- Do you have too much paper on the kitchen counter? Maybe the solution is to set up a mail basket or system for receipts.
- Do your children have too many toys? Maybe it’s time to donate some, or set up a rotating toy system. (Check us out on Pinterest for more details.)
Dealing With the Clutter
Whether it’s a kitchen counter or a living room filled with clutter, follow these basic steps for decluttering: Step 1: Grab a trash bag. Step 2: Identify items that belong in another room. Group like items together:
- Kid’s Room
- Bedroom
- Entrance
- Desk
Be sure to toss items you don’t need anymore. If someone else could use them, start a bag for donations. We’ve even included printable signs for you to use when decluttering: Donate, Put Away, Trash, Shred. Click on the link below to print. Then cut on the dotted lines to make your signs.
Step 3: Put the items away in the correct rooms. Toss the trash, and make a trip to your local donation center.
Organizing the Remaining Items
Once you’ve identified the problem areas, you’ll want to develop solutions. Here are some articles we’ve written on organizing particular areas of your home:
Too much mail? Tips for staying on top of your mail
How to Organize and Store Your Receipts
How to Organize “Hand Me Down” Clothes
How to Organize the Shoes in Your Entryway
Be sure to check our “Toolbox” at the top of the page. We have lots of articles, checklists, and ideas for organizing and maintaining your home.
Knowing the Tips for Success
There are just a few keys to successfully decluttering your home:
- Clear a little bit of clutter everyday. The clutter didn’t happen overnight. It won’t go away overnight.
- Donate, donate, donate. You can also have a tag sale, but if it never comes to fruition, all you have done is made a pile of clutter someplace else in your house.
- Try to make one organizational improvement every day, no matter how large or small. One day, you might build a shoe rack. Another day, you might set up a basket to hold all of your remote controls. Once these systems are in place, they will keep the clutter under control.
Involving Family Members
Be sure to involve the people who are most impacted. Can you guess when I run into the most trouble? When I reorganize and move something, only to hear a question such as “Where are my socks?” or “Where did you put my garlic and pepper crackers?” Do you see what I mean? You can’t work independently on these projects. It’s important to ask family members their opinion. Or at the very least, give them a tour of the newly organized areas. Labeling is also a huge help. Here are a few success stories:
Issue 1: My husband was always asking for a new bar of soap.
Solution: While Spring Cleaning the bathroom, I added a clean, plastic bin labeled: soap, razors, and toothbrushes.
Success Story: He was looking for a bar of soap. He went right to the top shelf and helped himself!
Simple Tips for Cleaning and Organizing Your Bathroom
Issue 2: My husband was always digging through the refrigerator looking for his chicken sausages.
Solution: I bought a small white bin at Walmart. I put all of his packages of chicken sausages in the bin, and back in the refrigerator.
Success Story: He was looking for the chicken sausages, and was tickled pink to have his own bin.
Issue 3: My son could never find the books he wanted to read.
Solution: We worked together to sort his books by topic.
Success Story: He was looking for a book, and found it easily with the new system.
Read more about how we did organized his books: Organizing children’s books
Added benefits: The leftover chicken sausages and the books tend to be put back in the right spot. 🙂
Here are some additional articles you may find helpful:
How to Keep Track of Your Charitable Contributions
Getting Organized with a Label Maker