Whether you’ve got a garage full of junk, a spare room that’s become a storage space, or your home is looking a little too pack rat-ish these days, decluttering can be a big and daunting task. We accumulate all sorts of stuff over the course of our lives, and some of it can be really hard to part with. If you’re staring down a decluttering task and feeling less-than-zen about it, we’re here to help. It’s time to do a little meditation (and perhaps loosen up with some CBD from CBDfx) and get to work! Here’s how.
Step #1 for Decluttering Your Home: Divide and Conquer
Depending on your situation, decluttering and cleaning your home can be a lofty task, and not one that can be done overnight. Perhaps one of the largest stressors about anxiety is that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. If you’ve got a large space to tackle, it’s best to divide it into phases. Otherwise, you’ll be living in pure mayhem until the task is done.The first step to decluttering your home is identifying where you’d like to start. If you’re feeling confident, it can be a good idea to start with the largest room first, to get the big stuff over with. If you’re feeling a bit iffy about the whole project, you may want to start with a small or out-of-the way area, and slowly ramp up to the biggest and most daunting rooms. Once you’ve chosen which space to conquer first, it’s time to move on to step number two!
Step #2 for Decluttering Your Home: Keep, Donate, or Trash?
Step number two is where decluttering can get a bit messy. This is the infamous piles step that you’ve likely seen on home renovation shows. Go through each item in the room and ask yourself, do I want to keep this, sell or donate this, or throw it away? Let’s take a deep dive into each of those:- Items to keep: this includes anything you use regularly or on special occasions, such as holiday decor. This also includes mementos and keepsakes, like family heirlooms, photo albums, and more. A good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t used something in the past year, it’s probably not worth keeping.
- Items to sell or donate: If an item you no longer want is in good shape, it’s worth selling or donating. Sales can be done on sites like Craigslist, or on apps like Facebook Marketplace or the LetGo app. It’s simple to snap a few photos, upload a description, and set an asking price.
- Items for trash or recycling: For the junk that truly is junk, it’s time to either recycle it or throw it away. If you’ve got more discard than your household trash cans can handle, you can look into renting a dumpster for a short-term rental. Remember to always recycle if you can! Again, some items like electronics may have particular disposal rules, so check those before throwing away!
Step #3 for Decluttering Your Home: Assess Your Storage Solutions
Many times, clutter can accumulate due to lack of functional storage solutions. In order to maintain a clean home, it’s important to address those shortcomings, so you don’t end up in the same place a year from now. There are so many ingenious storage solutions on the market, from fully customizable full-wall shelving units to under-the-bed storage, overhead storage, and more. Take a look at your space to determine what type of storage will work best for you. It may be worth converting your spare bedroom into a storage room or installing a storage solution in your garage to house all of your belongings.Once you’ve installed your storage solutions, it’s time to put your things away! Remember to make your everyday items the easiest to access and to stow once-a-year needs away for safekeeping.
