True confession time- I am in desperate need of a major organization overhaul. People visit my home and think I am a semi-clean freak. Clutter is off the counters, nothing is piled on the tables, dishes are washed. But what they don’t know is my “dirty” secret. My closets are stuffed with things we’ve collected over the years. As time passed in our marriage, I inherited stuff from my grandmother and from my parents. Not sure what to do with it, I stuffed things into the closet. And I literally mean stuffed. It’s time to finally become organized. I’m s-l-o-w-l-y working through my house and decluttering. I’ve decided to share some of the tricks and tips I’m learning on how to start to declutter your entire house (and organize) in hopes that it will help others like me.
How To Start To Declutter Your Entire House:
1. Realize that it will take a long time. As I noted earlier, this isn’t for people with a few pieces of paper and a couple of extra things lying around. This is a combination of items from 25 years of marriage and four households. I decided, with my busy schedule I’d plan a decluttering period of one year. That gives plenty of time to clean out every drawer, closet, nook and cranny, shed and garage without being rushed. I don’t expect it to take that long, but I can always add in my parents house (which needs decluttering too.)
2. Don’t take on an overwhelming amount at a time. I only have snatches of time, an hour at the most, before I have to stop and do something else. I break it down into “clean one dresser drawer” or “clean out the medicine cabinet.” I’m able to finish the project without stopping and feel a sense of accomplishment. If you are like my ADD self, seeing an entire overstuffed closet is overwhelming. I take one look and thing, “I can’t do all that! Ack!” And shut the door. Instead do one shelf or set the timer and do x amount of minutes. You still have more done than before you started!
3. Before you begin collect three (or four) trash bags. Use one for items to donate, one for trash and one to take things back to where they are supposed to go. Use the 4th trash bag for items you want to sell.
4. Empty everything from the area you are cleaning. Seriously, this makes it so much easier to get rid of it if it is already out of the drawer. It saves you from thinking, “Yeah, this thing in the drawer? I should do something about it.” But totally not doing anything about it and leaving it in the drawer.
5. Evaluate each item as you go. As yourself, “Have I used this/worn this/played with this in the last year?” If the answer is no, it can probably go. Some items might have a sentimental value and you want to keep them. I have a baby blanket my mom made for one of my kids shortly before she died. Am I using it? No. Am I keeping it? Yes.
6. Purchase/Find organization items to help you organize the stuff you have. I received several organization items for my kitchen from Hayneedle, which I will show in detail in another post, that saved me space and made it easier for me to find my kitchen supplies.
7. Give yourself “organization challenges.” I’m doing the “30 day organization challenge” where I get rid of one item a day for 30 days, but there are plenty of others available.
This is the first in a series of organization and decluttering posts, which will be written as I declutter and organize. 😉 What are your biggest challenges for organization and decluttering? What has helped you?
Can you come over and do this for me? Oh wait, I guess I am supposed to do it myself, right? Lol this is definitely helpful. Now if it could just give me a kick in the butt to get moving I would be great!
THis is a great article. I totally need these declutter tips in my life now!
Shoot, I’ve had to declutter recently. It was easier than I thought, actually!
Trash bags! YES! I always have a few sitting with me because if I’ve not used it and it just sits there, it’s out of there!
Great Tips! We need to do some decluttering and total relate with those containers and lids!
Great post, my house is a disaster. I really need to join the 30 day challenge and start getting rid of things we do not need.
That 30 day challenge sounds great. Definitely bound to see results with that one!
Thanks for the tips. Now if I could just implement them. Decluttering is so much work!
Great tips! I’m so annoyed with my house right now I could use all the organization tips I can get. I don’t know how we get so many things, I need to purge and organize!
Such great tips! I always get so overwhelmed when it comes to household tasks like this.
Wonderful Tips! As a designer I see people get stuck with not knowing what to do, and only did themselves deeper and deeper into clutter
My niece needed somewhere to store her furniture for a few months. It was such a great motivator to clean out my garage. But now I need to keep going on the whole house.
What a great tips, Decluttering was one of my favorite but for now I don’t have a time.
I love to de-clutter, and it definitely takes time. This is a great way to do it, slow and steady. I love to donate my old things, and others also great to sell at a garage sale.
Thanks for all of these great ideas and tips. I have a birthday party coming soon and my house is a cluttered mess.
Every once in awhile I get really aggravated and annoyed with all the crap around my house that just seems to accumulate and I start tossing stuff. My husband gets SO mad at me because I literally just throw stuff out instead of saving it all like he does.
My house is currently the definition of cluttered! I always have to set goals for myself to get anything done when it comes to this kind of thing.
Good tips, we recently decluttered our garage and we’re tackling our office next. We move every couple of years and I’m still surprised by the amount of stuff we accumulate. I plan to use some of your tips during our next declutter session and I look forward to seeing how your decluttering comes along.
i need to do this! breaking it up would be a great idea. i have so much junk that i do not use, it would be great to do some fall cleaning and donate some of the items i did not use anymore.
Good advice! I’ll have to break it all up into little tasks. I don’t want to be overwhelmed!
It is definitely a good time to declutter. I definitely can afford to get rid of some junk taking up space in my house.
I think the stuff in my son’s rooms have feet. Every time I declutter their room, it seems like the same items keep crawling back. Haha. Seriously, I think your tips are great. I love the idea of 4 trash bags. I am going to do that this weekend.
These are all really great tips. I definitely have to clean soon so I’ll have to reference this!
Thanks for the great tips. I need to seriously get my home office organized. It has gotten way out of control.
I find an odd sense of serenity in organizing and decluttering, so projects like this never bother me. We are preparing for a big home renovation, which includes emptying cabinets and drawers, so we plan to declutter during that time.
Can you come to my house and do this? Haha, what great ideas. I have to work on finding a way to get the new home organized and keep it that way. Will use some of these tips for sure!
Those are great tips for organizing. I have been decluttering alot lately.
I am ready to have someone come in and do it for me. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes. But this is a great way to get started!
These are awesome tips for decluttering. Whenever I declutter my garage or storage room, I always start with one side and work on that side until it is done before moving on to another side.
These are some great tips and it really is a great idea to pull things out before trying to declutter.
I can 100% relate to this post! Such a good post in time for seasonal cleaning 🙂
Great tips! I total relate with all of the plastic containers and lids! They take over a cabinet so quickly! Getting started is the hardest thing and this list is definitely going to help me! Thanks!
These are super tips! I also dump everything out into a pile and start organizing that way. You are so right. If it’s out of its nook, you’ll definitely rethink if you want to put it back in.
I think I am a decluttering pro! Our house is not that big and it does not take much to make the house a mess. Usually I will clean it out really good once a year sometimes twice. But I keep it picked up and clean throughout the year.
Decluttering is one of my fave things to do. It’s actually so satisfying to be able to clean out a closet and throw away stuff I no longer need.
These are great tips! Even though I know not to try to do too much at a time, I usually end up doing it anyway. Then I get overwhelmed and just quit! I’ll try to just take a little bit at a time.
We need to do some decluttering and better organize our home and this has a ton of great ideas. Thanks for sharing all of the tips!
Isn’t it amazing how much stuff we accumulate as years go on?! These are great tips to get started when it seems overwhelming.
Great tips! We are packing to move and I am really just going through the house going…why do we still have all of this stuff? I definitely plan to implement some of your tips in the new house!
This is a great informative post. I recently moved from a house to an apartment. My new place is smaller. I ended up getting rid of over 75% of my stuff. It feels great! But, as you said, it takes time. It took me over six months to downsize. Mainly because you go through that phase of, OMG, what am I doing? I can’t get rid of that!!! Thanks for sharing!
This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to rid their home of excess stuff. It can be extremely difficult to figure out where to start!
The main areas of my home are decluttered, but my closets need lots of help. I usually try to declutter everything in one day. I need to take my time and do it correctly. Thanks for the tips!