The basement is full, the loft is busting at the seams, and the garage hasn’t been able to fit a car in a long time; if that’s the situation at your place, now is the time to declutter the whole house!
You don’t always have to be messy to accumulate too much stuff in your house. It happens automatically over time. Old jackets are stashed away in the attic, excess machinery is thrown in the basement, and not to mention the colored Christmas balls that sre still hanging! People rarely think that all this mess is a problem. As long as it’s not standing in the middle of the living room, it’s invisible. However, that’s not how it should be if you want a safe and healthy living space. Here are some things you should know about decluttering and some tips to help you out!
What is Decluttering?
There is clearing, cleaning, and tidying up. Everyone should clean and tidy up regularly, but decluttering is more of a once or twice a year activity where we get rid of things in particular rooms or categories that are no longer necessary. It is a more complex task where you need to clear the whole apartment or house, including the basement, attic, garage, and garden of old stuffs. Such tasks are mainly done in situations such as when moving to a smaller flat or waiting for a deceased relative’s house to be cleaned.
How Fast Can You Declutter Your Home?
The time needed for decluttering largely depends on the size of the house, the number of items in it, and whether you will do it yourself or hire a company. A professional cleaning company will take no more than a day to clean it for a medium-sized house. However, if you do it on your own, you will perhaps need a bit more time. On the other hand, a house with a basement, garage, and garden will take between two and three days for a company to declutter. If you plan to do it yourself, consider scheduling a week-long holiday with hard-working helpers.
Decluttering Tips
Keep things tidy: it is easier for a person who regularly cleans to declutter some rooms once a year than those who rarely clean. It then becomes a more tiring and challenging task, so don’t let it become a big mess in the first place!
Planning: Create an inventory and figure out which things can be discarded and donated items. You may also find it helpful to hire a van and take out bulky waste if necessary.
Don’t spend more than 5 minutes per item: A simple tip that works well when organizing things is to avoid spending more than five minutes deciding on one item. If you do, you can often fall down the dark rabbit hole of nostalgia or distraction and get stuck. You will then lose the motivation to clean up, and then a few hours go by, and nothing has been done.
Protect valuables: The best way to do this is to conduct an entire inventory of your home and protect items that are emotionally valuable to you and that you truly want to keep. Removing these items will make it easier to identify what can be easily discarded.
Why Tidying Up is Useful?
Of course, it’s not always a nice feeling to tidy up a deceased grandmother’s flat. After all, not only is there a lot of work to be done, but you may also have to say goodbye to familiar furniture and deal with a lot of memories in the quickest time.
However, it is beneficial to declutter from time to time. Those who get rid of old things create a new structure in the home and have a much greater appreciation for the things that can stay in the home. It is also proven that unnecessary things make us unhappy. You are paying for cleaning products, organizing supplies (bins, baskets, etc. ). Remember that your time has value. Every minute you spend tidying up unnecessary stuff is the money going down the drain! Besides, clutter also has a monetary cost, whether you like it or not.
What are the best decluttering tips you know? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
