Is your home overflowing with clutter? Are there clothes in the closet that haven’t been brought out in a decade? Perhaps it’s time for a de-clutter. A miserable task for many, de-cluttering can actually be therapeutic as well as good for your home. There are so many ways to de-clutter that there are no excuses for you not to do it, so read the tips below and start your big cleanse now!
Start with the big items
The big items are the easiest to spot, but not necessarily the easiest to get rid of. With large items like furniture, you should assess whether or not you can sell them first. If not, you may want to consider upcycling furniture and give it a new purpose in your home. Some items may need a bit of a clean or some minor repairs before you try selling them on, and if you don’t have any luck selling to friends or neighbors, you might want to try putting them on Craigslist or eBay and sell to those in your local area. Anything that is damaged beyond repair should be taken to a recycling center or somewhere where it can be disposed of properly.
Ask yourself if you still need things
It’s always difficult to decide what needs to go and what can stay – and one of the best ways to ensure that the things you’re keeping are things that you still use and still have a use for around the house. Anything that is sat in a drawer and hasn’t been taken out in years is probably no longer useful, and you won’t miss it when it’s gone. The same goes for clothing – if it hasn’t been worn in over a year, think about getting rid of it. DVDs and CDs are another things you might want to get rid of and switch to subscription services instead where you can get instant access to your library and have additional space for other things on your shelves instead.
Divide things into ‘donate,’ ‘sell’ and ‘trash.’
When you come across items that you know you no longer want but aren’t sure what to do with, they should go into three separate piles. This is a great way to get rid of unwanted clothes as it will help you separate the barely used items/high-quality items that you can make some money off of, the items that you’d like to donate to goodwill or to clothing recycling centers or those that aren’t worth trying to save that can simply be thrown out. If you still aren’t 100% sure what should be staying and what should be going, try reading an article on what to donate versus what to sell that will help you get the information you need to make good decisions.
Get an objective opinion
Sometimes it can be difficult to work out what’s worth keeping, and what needs to go. This is where friends and family are really useful. Someone who lives elsewhere who might be seeing these items for the first time will be able to give you an honest opinion on whether you should keep an item. You can ask them to ask you questions about what it’s used for when was the last time you used it, and so on, that will help you make some better decisions about the things to keep. Pick someone who’s opinion you can trust, as well as someone who won’t judge you for having too much clutter around!
Giving items to goodwill
Goodwill is always grateful to receive new items, but only if they’re in good condition and useful for people. Some of your clothes, particularly coats and warm clothing that is still wearable will be happily received. Don’t give them anything that needs fixing or is stained. Some goodwill stores and charities will arrange pick ups to save you a trip, or you can always save them some work and go down there yourself. Any textiles you find that aren’t suitable for goodwill can always be recycled. H&M and other retailers offer recycling programs which will make use of all sorts of clothing, even if it’s no longer suitable to wear.
Selling items online
If you want to make a bit of cash from your decluttering, then selling online is a great idea. You could easily make some money back from your clothes, especially more formal or designer ones, and use them to put towards some new items or for a vacation or home project you’ve had your eye on. To sell items successfully online, you’re going to need a good camera and be good with words to make the most persuasive listings possible. Bear in mind that you’ll need to pay commission on the items you sell, but as eBay, Depop and other stores regularly host ‘no seller’s fees’ days, you may wish to stock up and sell in one chunk. If your aim is to simply clear clutter rather than making a huge profit, $0.99 sales are a popular way to hook in potential buyers (just make sure they pay the shipping costs). You may find that you have a knack for selling online that could be something you continue to do long after your decluttering!
Host a yard sale
A yard or garage sale is a great idea to shift a lot of your clutter easily. You’ll be surprised at the random things that people will pick up when they’re just passing by on the off-chance! Prepare properly by labeling your products in advance so that people can see exactly what they’re expected to pay. A label gun from americanpricemark.com is a handy tool to have around that will help you get prepared quickly and easily for your sale. It’s inevitable that people will try to barter on prices, and that’s normal, but make sure you get a fair price for your items. You might want to rope in some friends and family to help you with this too.
Buy new storage furniture
Even after a hefty de-cluttering, you may find that there are still items that you need to keep but take up space or are unsightly around your home. The best way to deal with this is to buy new storage furniture, or adopt storage solution hacks around your home – Pinterest has some great boards for this. You can turn some of the most unlikely things into storage, including a coffee table, your couch, window seat and more. Ottomans and footstools often come with built-in storage that makes it easy to hide away bits in your living room, while blanket boxes will hide many things out of site in your bedroom. Any large or bulky items will be better off going into storage, a cost that may be worth it to keep your home clutter-free.
Give yourself an attitude makeover
The last thing you’ll want to do after getting rid of all the clutter is to do the same thing all over again – buying items you don’t need or duplicating things and then being left with too much stuff again in a few months or a year. When you go to a store to buy something, you should consider whether you really need it, and whether or not there is a place for you in your home. It’s handy to make a list on your phone of things that you know you definitely need so that when you are out shopping, you stick to those rather than buying random items that may never get used.
One in, one out
Another way to change your clutter habits is to adopt a ‘one in, one out’ policy in your home. For every new item of clothing, DVD, book or whatever you bring into your home, something else has to go. This will stop your wardrobe from overflowing, keep shelves neat and tidy and means you won’t stockpile things that will likely remain unused once you have new items. It sounds like a bit of a harsh policy, but it’ll save you having to have huge clearouts every now and then.
Enjoy your de-cluttered home!
De-cluttering can be a long and painful process, but the rewards are certainly worth it. Think how lovely it will be to come home to a nice, tidy, clutter-free home that you can just relax in? Spaces that are void of clutter look more presentable, and you’ll feel more inclined to have people over and entertain without all of that mess hanging around. Take photos when you’ve finished (or even take ‘before’ photos) that will help to remind you of what a clutter-free home looks like, in case you fall back into old habits.
It’s a tough process, but de-cluttering will be good for your home, and you too! Now that you’ve got some space to work with, why not consider a new interior design project? Now that you have a blank canvas, you can start creating something wonderful and any funds earned from your de-cluttering could help!
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