Back when you moved into your home, everything had a place. It was so lovely to come home after a long day and enjoy the peace of an organized home. But, after some time, things can start to get unorganized. You have difficulty finding specific items, and your pantry, closets, and storage spaces are impossible to navigate. You can’t find anything! What happened?
Even if it may seem overwhelming, you can get your house back in order. It happens to the best of us! If you take it one step at a time, you can have your serenity-filled home back in no time.
During the pandemic, you may have found your home filled with people when the family usually went to school and worked for a large chunk of the day. This lifestyle change contributed to a lot of messes and a need for more room in your home. You can maximize the space in your home by decluttering and organizing.
The first question to ask yourself is, where do I start with decluttering my house?
Step-By-Step Guide to Decluttering Your Home
Now is a better time than ever to declutter your house. You can get all of the shelves and countertops organized and dusted before putting up holiday décor. The holidays are a great time of year to focus on the joy of the season rather than busy work.
Push through these next couple of weeks with these decluttering tips so that your home can be ready to host holiday parties and let the decorations take center stage. Search this list of ideas to find your answer to where do I start with decluttering my house:
Room by Room
Sometimes the answer to where do I start with decluttering my house doesn’t matter. What’s most important is to start decluttering. Just dive in. Go through room by room, and look at it as if you’re an outsider seeing your house for the first time. What needs to go? What needs to be put in a drawer? What makes you happy to see out on display?
- Living Room: Use baskets to store items like blankets and pillows that you like to have on-hand but not out on display at all times. If you have things building up on a coffee table or end table, clear them out into a drawer where they can be located but do not have to be dusted around.
- Bathrooms: Label the drawers in your bathroom. Use bins to use out on the counter when you’re getting ready in the morning, and slide away into the cabinet after you’re done. Empty, wiped counters are vital to a peaceful, clean bathroom.
- Bedroom Closet: Get rid of any clothes that do not fit or haven’t worn in months. Store away decorations, costumes, and sentimental items into clearly marked bins. If you have limited space, pack away winter clothes during the winter, and swap them out with summer clothes when the seasons change.
- Storage Closet: The key to an organized storage closet is clear labels. You may even use a color-coded system with colored lids or plastic bins. Avoid throwing loose items into storage. When it comes to sports equipment that is too large for boxes, section them off into a corner of the closet where they won’t get in the way.
- Laundry Room: Create individual laundry bins for each person’s clean clothes in the home. When the clothes are put away, the container is returned to the laundry room empty. Install a butcher board on top of your washer and dryer to have a place for folding clothes as they come out of the dryer. Use shelves and baskets to allow spots for cleaning products and spray bottles.
- Pantry: Go through your pantry and throw out all of the expired food. Use labels to identify which shelves will hold which items. Keep the kids’ snacks on lower shelves where they are accessible to the children. Bread and foods that expire quickly should be kept at eye level, so they are not forgotten.
- Kitchen: Declutter your kitchen by using a catch-all bin on a side counter. If you are going to use it, you must commit to putting away all of the items once a week. You don’t have to think of it as another decluttering project – just place the papers in files, artwork on the fridge, and bills in the shredder at the end of every week.
When you set up an organizing system for each room, you can keep up the system in your day-to-day use of the rooms. Then you don’t have to start all over again with organizing your home in 3-months from now. These tips are the answer to where do I start with decluttering my house.
Sorting Bin
Choose a box and dump a whole junk drawer or section of your messy closet into the box. Then sit in front of the TV with your favorite show and sort the box. What will you keep in the drawer, what needs to be put elsewhere, and what goes in the trash? Once your TV show is over, run the remains of your sorting to their proper places.
12-12-12
When you ask, where do I start with decluttering my house, have you heard of the 12-12-12 rule? Find 12 things to donate, 12 things to throw away, and 12 things to put in the right place. Do this once per week, and your home will be clutter-free.
Marie Kondo method
Marie Kondo swept the nation with a new organizing method. Keep only what sparks joy. If something doesn’t excite you or make you happy, get rid of it. For example, are you keeping an old ottoman because your neighbor gave it to you for free? Donate it to someone who will appreciate it more. Then, when you are finished decluttering, you will have a home filled with joy.
Before and After Inspiration
Some people need some motivation during the decluttering process. Start by taking a before picture of your overflowing closet. Then, once you’ve gone through each item and gotten rid of all of the things you don’t need, take an after picture. You will gain satisfaction in seeing the results of your work and feel determined to move on to the next project.
Small Task Checklist
If you find accomplishment in checking off boxes on a to-do list, start decluttering by making a list of each drawer and cabinet in your home. Divide them into small 5-minute projects. For example, make a list of the silverware drawer, pots and pans cabinet, medicine cabinet, the top shelf of the closet, drawer in the laundry room, under the bed, drawers #1, 2, 3 in the bathroom. When you go down the list one by one, checking off a box each day, you will see the progression happening and feel excited about your accomplishments.
5 Minutes at a Time
Find little pockets of time throughout your day to declutter your home. If you have finished your workout and have time to cool down, use that time to sort through the clothes in your closet. Set a 5-minute timer and walk away right when the timer goes off. Start where you left off the next time you have 5-minutes, maybe before picking up the kids from school or before you have to leave for a party.
Choose one of these creative ways, and you will have your answer to where do I start with decluttering my house. Everyone has different busy schedules, so it’s most important to find the best method for you and go with it!
Ask Junk-A-Haulics for Help Decluttering Your Home in New Jersey
You don’t have to wonder, where do I start with decluttering my house? Instead, you can call on Junk-A-Haulics to do it for you. Let our team haul away all of your donations and trash, and you’ll be left only with the items that you find useful. So declutter your home today with Junk-A-Haulics.