How To Declutter Your Home In Under An Hour – Step By Step Guide
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UGH. You know that feeling when you look around the house and there’s just…stuff…everywhere?! Keeping clutter around makes it harder to feel comfortable in your home, and it’s a total drag on your energy and happiness. But actually starting to declutter can be overwhelming. Where do I put all this stuff?
Decluttering your home can be both rewarding and liberating. It can help you take some of the weight off your shoulders, and it can make you feel more organized and in control. If you’re ready to get started, this guide will walk you through every step of the process.
What Are The Benefits of Decluttering Your Home?
There are many benefits to decluttering your home, both practical and emotional. Decluttering can free up valuable space and help you to declutter your mind, creating a more organized and efficient lifestyle. Additionally, decluttering your home can improve your mental health by reducing stress levels. Finally, decluttering your home can also improve your relationship with belongings as it can create a sense of order and organization in your life.
How to Declutter Your Home In An Hour
There are many ways to declutter your home in an hour or less. One way is to organize your possessions into three categories: Keep, Give Away, and Throw Away.
I bought these packing bags for a recent move. They work great for placing things in while decluttering. Label each bag with Keep, Give Away, and Throw Away.
While you’re working throughout the house, place clutter inside the designated bag. Don’t overthink about where each item belongs, just go with your initial gut reaction. Once full, put the Give Away and Throw Away into the car. I feel like it takes me forever to actually make it to the local donation center, so if I haven’t needed anything from those bags in that time, it was probably a good idea to get rid of it!
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Start With One Room
It’s easier to keep the momentum going if you start small. I pick the smallest, easiest room to begin decluttering. Once that room is done, I move on to the next smallest, and so on.
I find that being able to complete rooms makes it easier to keep moving while seeing progress. While in each room, start with the items that take up the most space and work your way down. This will help you get rid of items that you don’t use or need right away.
Put all of your Keep items in it’s labeled bag, or in one place so you can easily find them when you need them. This could be a cabinet near the door, a drawer in a bedroom closet, or on a shelf in the living room.
If there’s something you haven’t used in awhile but aren’t sure if you want to keep, put it in a Give Away pile instead of Throw Away. You can give it away to charity or keep it for when you have more space available.
For papers that need to be filed, I find that to be one of the most time-consuming tasks. Having a designated spot for those items that you’ll return to later helps. The key is to return to it fairly soon, before it becomes a giant doom pile of paperwork!
Clear off Surfaces to Swiftly Declutter
There are a few easy ways to declutter your home and make it feel more spacious and organized. One of the best ways to declutter your home is by clearing off surfaces. This will quickly and easily de-clutter your space, making the biggest impact.
In each room, start with the most cluttered surface. That’s usually dressers, tables, and countertops. Take the biggest items and put them in their home or in one of the labeled bags. Work your way to the smaller stuff. If something already has a designated home, put it there so you don’t have to come back to it. If it doesn’t? Into one of the bags it goes!
Do a quick sweep of the surface with a damp rag and move on to the next spot!
How to Prevent Clutter
The easiest way to deal with clutter is to There is no one definitive way to prevent clutter, but there are some tips that can help. One key way to avoid accumulating too much clutter is to be aware of your own tendencies and make a conscious effort to get rid of items when they no longer serve a purpose.
Another key strategy is to establish specific places for belongings, so that everything has a designated place and you can more easily find what you need.
One thing that’s helped me is to limit myself to one brand of an item. Instead of buying 4 different types of spray cleaners, for example, I stick with one I know I like. That way I don’t have multiple bottles of cleaners around taking up space.
Finally, keep in mind that clutter can often be symptomatic of underlying problems such as stress or anxiety, so if you find yourself struggling with excessive clutter, taking active steps to reduce stress can help.
