How to Declutter your home

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By goldiec
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (8 Ratings)

I believe decluttering at home is so important. If everything has it's place then there won't be a problem finding the items when you need them. Mornings will go so much smoother whether you are getting ready for work or your children are getting ready for school. I feel a clean and neat house is a healty house. It shows everyone that enters your home that you care about your home and your posessions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

You will need a garbage bag for things that you want to discard. A big bag for items that go to charity and a box for things you'd like to sell in a garage sale or maybe ebay.

Step 1

The first thing to do is to get your mind set for the task at hand. Sometimes going through your things can be a bit too much. If you just don't feel you can tackle it alone then the best thing to do is ask a family member or a friend to help you go through things and decide what to do. Sometimes another person can rationalize things better than we can because we are wrapped up in memories along with having a hard time making decisions about our belongings. I think if things are totally out of control at your house the best thing to do is start small. Maybe a closet or even a couple drawers until you feel you can tackle a whole room.
Step 2

Along with your family member or friend start dividing your items into three sections. This may be hard for you but once you pick up an item make a decision right then and put it into the Charity, garbage or garage sale section. Above all do not go back and rethink anything. Leave it in the pile you put it in. This is very important. If it's warm outside you can put things on your picnic table and maybe a couple card tables. If you have a whole house of clutter then don't stress yourself. Just do what you can and when you get tired stop and rest. Decluttering can be quite exhausting and the best thing to do is pace yourself. At the end of the day either take the items for charity to the charity center of your choice or have them come and pick them up. There are several charities that help a lot of people. My favorite is Goodwill but there are so many that are good. There's the Salvation Army and I believe each town will have special Olympics boxes also. I know my town has several and I have donated to their organization too. The next thing you should do is bag up the garbage and put it on the tree lawn for pick-up. Anything you have for a garage sale should be put in a box and the price marked on it so that when you are finished you can have a large garage sale and have extra money for whatever it is that you may want or just to save for a rainy day.
Step 3

At the end of the day after you have worked hard and deserve a much needed rest the first thing you should do is pat yourself on the back for a job well-done. Decluttering is not easy but I promise you if you make it through the first day and see progress taking place it will give you a boost and your house will feel fresher and cleaner and you will feel better about yourself. Maybe your house will only need one day to rid the clutter or maybe it will need several days but once you start and you have your mind set it will give you a new outlook on life. One thought I had was if you have a garage sale and make some really good money maybe you will decide to have a maid service come in and clean the house for you. Your clutter will be gone and your house will be clean. At this point you should feel Life is Good. God Bless you!

Comments

missnye said

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on 11/23/2009 excellent info. now to just do it!

gcthomahowto said

on 11/2/2009 Wonderful article. You really know what you are talking about. De-cluttering is very difficult especially when you come from generations of pack-rats. I'm still working on the process, but each day is a new chance to get rid of and organize more. Thanks so much. 5* and recommend.