Declutter your home

Home Organisation Tips

‘Tidy house, tidy mind’… it’s a common saying, but there are actually many more advantages to organising your home than simply clarity. In fact, by taking just a few moments each day to declutter and get rid of unnecessary or unwanted items, you could help to save yourself and your family money by gaining a better understanding about what your home needs and, more importantly, what it doesn’t need to help it keep looking great.

Here are 4 home organisation tips that can help you to declutter:

1. Identify clutter ‘hot spots’

Many people will have ‘hot spots’ of clutter throughout the home; certain areas of the house that seem to accumulate more clutter than others. Think about why these areas attract clutter, and try to find simple, low cost solutions to keep things looking a little tidier, such as baskets, drawers, hooks, or even buckets to keep everything organised. If you’re not quite ready to throw things out, keeping them tidy and out of the way really is the next best thing.

2. Use the ‘3 box’ system

One of the most frustrating problems when it comes to decluttering is that you can sometimes end up with a bigger mess than when you started. To prevent this happening, use the ‘3 box’ system. You’ll need 3 large boxes labelled ‘Keep’, ‘Toss’, and ‘Store’. This system helps to keep you organised while you declutter your home, and encourages you to make decisions for each item. You can sort the ‘Toss’ box into ‘Bin’ and ‘Sell’ piles at a later date.

3. Store horizontally, not vertically

You’ll be surprised at just how much more organised your home looks when you clear your horizontal surfaces, so it’s important to try and keep tables, countertops, and other work surfaces as tidy as possible. A good way to declutter these surfaces is to store vertically, rather than horizontally, and make use of ‘dead’ wall space. Wall-mounted baskets, spice holders, and kitchen roll holders can all help you to easily declutter your kitchen, for example.

4. Track your usage

If you can’t decide whether to get rid of an item or not, here’s a handy hint, track how often you use it over 6 months, and see if it’s really worth keeping. For items such as DVDs and books, for example, turn them around on the shelf, only turning them back when they’ve been used. Revisit your decluttering efforts after 6 months and consider getting rid of all the items you haven’t used in this time. This method works well for sorting out clothing, too.

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