Photos By: Stock Images

You may have heard of the HGTV series “Love It or List It.” In this show, homeowners have to decide whether they want to stay in the home that an interior designer makes more beautiful and functional or list it with the help of her co-star, who is a real estate agent. Well, in this post, we are going to do something similar. We’re going to help you declutter your home by helping you decide to “keep it or toss it.” This is especially important if you need to sell your house fast this spring. Read on to learn more about major clutter-causing items you should keep or toss. Don’t forget to reflect on the question after each section. 

Expired Food or Toiletries

Canned food and old toiletries are some of the most prominent forms of clutter in the home. It is tempting to ignore items in the cabinets and pantry because they don’t go bad as quickly as most perishable foods. Additionally, old toothpaste tubes, hair spray cans, and other toiletries are something else that is easy to forget to toss out. Perhaps it’s because you’re trying to get the last drop out of them before tossing them away. 

With your old non-perishable goods and left-over cans and bottles, are you going to:

Keep them or toss them?

Unnecessary or Oversized Furniture

Whether you plan to move out of your home this spring or decide to stay, having large furniture pieces may rob you of the space you need. So instead of keeping large couches, California king-sized beds, huge recliners, or big tables, consider getting rid of them. Instead, replace them with something that will allow your space to be much more functional.  

When it comes to your unbelievably large furniture pieces, are you going to:

Keep them or toss them?

Excess Clothing

Let’s face it. Many of the clothes you have in your wardrobe are probably not coming back into style any time soon, if ever. So instead of waiting for platform shoes and bell-bottoms to become the norm again, it may be a good idea to toss them and any other clothing that is no longer trendy. Remember that you don’t have to throw these items in the trash. Local thrift stores are filled with people looking for great deals on some of the brand items you are willing to toss out. Alternatively, if you want to make a few bucks on your old clothes, consider teaming up with a local consignment shop. You can also sell your gently used items on an internet marketplace like e-Bay or Facebook. 

So with your excess clothes, are you going to:

Keep them or toss them?

Clutter in Your Yard

Old dog bowls, garden hoses, loose firewood, and children’s toys can make your yard look unkempt. This is not good when your goal is to sell your house. Your outdoors is one of the most visible parts of your home. So keeping chaotic clutter strewn throughout the yard may turn off potential buyers. If you decide to remain in your home, it can ruin your curb appeal and start to invite unwanted pests. 

If you have clutter in your yard, are you going to:

Keep it or toss it?

Hopefully, after reading about these items, you’ve decided to toss most of them. After all, getting rid of these items will help declutter your home. However, there will be some precious items that you won’t be able to get rid of, such as photos, items given to you by someone special, and your favorite monogrammed robes. Your realtor may encourage you to keep these personal items out of sight if you’re planning to move. So for those things you can’t let go of, at least store them somewhere in your home or purchase storage space until you sell your home. 

Photos By: Stock Images

You must ask yourself if it is time to find a more permanent solution. One way to do that is by storing some items in a self-storage unit. The first month free storage options give you a chance to try out the solution. Here are four reasons why clearing clutter and using self-storage units can help:

It can help you save time and money

When you have to search through cluttered rooms for things, it takes up valuable time. And if you cannot find what you need, you may end up buying a replacement – which costs money. If your home is disorganized, it also makes it difficult to keep track of what you have, so you may end up buying duplicates of items you already own.

Duplicate items can be useful should one piece of equipment go wrong, and we quickly need a replacement. We could, in this instance, store that second item in a self-storage unit. We often upgrade when the older version is perfectly adequate to achieve the basic functions of what we need.

In the case of furniture and having more chairs than we can sit down on, we might think about keeping these for children for when they move into a new home and up sticks from the family nest. It saves buying new when we need not have sold the old.

It can help reduce stress and anxiety

Living in a cluttered home can be stressful and overwhelming. Having too much stuff can make it difficult to relax and enjoy your space. It can also be dangerous if items are blocking exits or if there is a lot of dust and clutter to contend with.

Items in the way represent a trip hazard, just as they would at work. It can make cleaning so much easier without them in the way.

It is peace of mind to not have so many objects around us and good for mental health when we adopt the thinking of minimalism.

It can help you stay organized

A cluttered home is an unorganized home. When everything has its place, it is easy to find what you need and put things away when you are done using them. This can help save you frustration as much as it will save you time. This ties in with the above two headings in that sense.

Living a clutter-free life is to live a more pleasant life and keep us more focussed on what is important to live our everyday lives.

Unfortunately, life seems to be about gathering objects. We either learn how to organize them better or keep a close eye on reducing the number we have around our immediate living space. This is where self-storage units prove invaluable. They allow us to arrange our home how we want to and to be able to swap items around or keep them until we can make a more permanent decision about them.

It can give you a sense of control

Clearing clutter can help you take back control of your space. When your home is organized and free of clutter, you will feel calmer and more in control.

Having control is about taking the time to decide whether we need so many of one type of item. One minute we might, the next we might not. This is fine if it is about entertaining guests when we might require more furniture to provide comfort to the occasion, but not so useful when only one object at a time is all that is needed 24/7.

We, therefore, must think carefully about the items we keep and why we are keeping them. It pays not to rush into the decision and end up spending money replacing an item that has gone wrong when we could have had that replacement in storage.

If you are ready to declutter your home for good, consider using a self-storage unit to store some of your excess belongings. It can be a helpful way to achieve your goal of having a clutter-free home.

Keeping organized can be a nightmare but if you do a little bit every day you will get on top of it from then onwards you just need to set aside a little bit of time every so often to maintain the hard work that you initially put in. Knowing where to start is part of the battle. However, if you break larger jobs, and larger areas down into smaller more manageable tasks then you will make the process a lot easier on yourself, and a lot more enjoyable.

Tips That Will Help You Organize Your Space

Make Things You Use Easily Accessible

Organizing and doing so effectively is all about ensuring that you know what you have and that you have access to what you have when you need it. Accessibility is an issue that you need to deal with head-on straight away. If things are not easily accessible then you will simply not use them, and they would be better off being donated to charity or sold. Things that are not accessible to be used will just end up being moved from place to place, and, as such will end up being classed as clutter. 

Utilize Storage Solutions

There are lots of solutions that you can introduce into any space to ensure you get the most out of any area, no matter how small or awkward it is. There are lots of helpful guides online and lots of top tips as to how to store totes on garage ceiling which are helpful and will ensure you get the right products to maximize the amount you can store even in your garage. When you utilize storage solutions you ensure that you don’t waste any valuable space. It is important to remember that items that have been specifically created to be used as storage will always be more useful than items you have just picked up to use as storage.

Utilize Wall Space

More often than not and storage you have on your walls is not fit for purpose. You need to ensure that you utilize any available wall space you have and this includes having hanging brackets and racks that can be folded to conceal the contents. Shelves are OK but if you are not utilizing all of the shelves then they are a waste of space. So look at your walls and think about what you need to store on them. For example yard brushes, paint rollers, paintbrushes and gardening tools. Slim items are ideal to put on walls as they can be hung and in the process, you will not lose valuable space.

Never Underestimate The Importance Of Decluttering

Part of successful organizing is about keeping only what you need and decluttering regularly. Clutter quickly builds up and if you don’t get hold of the situation then it will take hold of you. So, it is important to remember that decluttering and organizing go hand in hand. Declutter as you go, and try to have a good decluttering session at least once a month. Remember that if you haven’t used it and you don’t know what or when you will use it, then it is probably best to get rid of it – whatever it is!

Remember To Label Everything

The importance of labelling cannot be stressed enough. You may think you will remember what is in the 12 identical boxes just from looking at them but you won’t, and most importantly you will waste time and effort going through everything you have just to find the one thing you are looking for. So, save time, stress and hassle and label everything you are putting away. Keep an itinerary or checklist as you are going along and include this in each box that you fill. It may be trivial to do at first but you will appreciate your lists and labeling when you come to find that one little socket that is hidden within a box that 

Keep Items Off The Floor

This is very important as things that are on the floor are more likely to get damaged quickly. Never store loose items on the floor as this is simply asking for trouble. If you have to use the floor for storage then make sure everything is adequately boxed up and protected and do not stack things on top of other things that are on the floor. Items that are on the floor are trip hazards, and if you have stacked lots of items on top of each other from the floor up, it is more that you have to move when you want to access anything that is kept behind the tower of boxes you have built up.

Keep It Functional

Functional spaces are a must. Filling every space within an area is not going to work in the short term, or long term. Your space needs to be functional and usable. Before you even begin organizing any room you need to think about how you will use the room and what function or purpose it will serve. When you know how space will be used then you can plan your storage and organizational items around the furniture or items included within your space. When spaces are functional and organized they are easier to maintain so ensure that every space within your home has a function or use. If rooms have no clear purpose or use then they will become dumping grounds very quickly which is what you want to avoid as rooms that are used as dumping grounds can get neglected, and eventually lead to bigger problems such as bug infestations or fire hazards.

Essentially to get to grips with organizing you need to take a practical and methodical approach to everything you are doing. It can be overwhelming trying to organize every item you have at once, so think of organizing as an ongoing job and process, this way you will enjoy the process and not end up dreading it.

Photos By: Pixabay

Now here’s the thing – all of us have the tendency to make a mess in our houses from time to time. Sometimes, it can happen due to the fact that you are stressed out and just don’t have the energy required for you to declutter your home, or you are just a bit less organized.

But that being said – there is a thin line between a mess and such a big amount of things that you can’t even organize it, and hence, you can’t always be sure that it’s really the time to act on it. That is why, in this article, we are going to talk about different things that might be a sign that it’s time for you to declutter your home.

Do You Feel Like You are Constantly Cleaning?

If the answer to this question is yes, maybe it’s time to declutter. The thing is, if you have a lot of things – maybe even too many different things just lying around your home, all of that clutter is surely going to take a lot of time to maintain. In some cases, tending for all those things might even seem like a never-ending task. Don’t worry though, there are a lot of decluttering tips out there that are going to make cleaning a whole lot easier. That being said, if you’re ready to devote your time to more enjoyable tasks, it’s time to let go of all the unnecessary clutter.

Does Organizing Seem Almost Impossible at Times?

Now, if you happen to have a lot of clutter around your home, organizing it can oftentimes make you feel like you’re making headway toward simplifying your home, but it just so happens that all you’re actually really doing is moving stuff around. That being said – if you happen to constantly find your clutter dispersed throughout your home no matter how many times you designate a space for it, maybe it’s time to declutter your home for good, it will help you a great deal with organizing your stuff for real.

Do You Happen to Somehow Lose Even the Most Used Items?

This is something that is really easy to pick up on – if you don’t have a reason to declutter, you probably wouldn’t find yourself over and over trying to find, for instance, your favorite shirt. So, if you notice that you are spending way too much time just trying to find something that you actually use a lot, the probability is high that you already have too many unnecessary things to begin with.

Feeling Anxiety When You’re at Home is a Big Tell

It oftentimes happens that people that actually really like organized spaces and general order, for one reason or another, live in a cluttered home. That can oftentimes lead to a mismatch when it comes to the place that you live in and your general preferences, which further causes anxiety – and you might not really even be able to pinpoint where it’s coming from in the first place. That being said, if you happen to feel anxious while you are in your home, it’s time to think about why it is so. Clutter might not be your answer, but if it is – there’s an easy solution, and it’s decluttering. 

In the end, all of us function differently, living different daily routines and that is entirely fine. But decluttering is really not just about having a neat home, it’s also about clearing up your mind and using the whole process to your advantage in order to both feel better about your environment, as well as about yourself.

All Photos By: Unsplash

Everyone needs a place to rest, to recuperate, to rejuvenate and the recover at the end of a long day. A place to rest your feet, connect with your loved ones and to cook a wholesome meal. A place to call home.  But what if that place is a vortex of chaos, a malaise of mess, a cacophony of clutter? Living in a messy, untidy environment is proven to cause us stress on an unconscious level – which can then spill out into everyday life. In this useful article, we’re going to explore seven simple ways to make your home feel less cluttered.

Invest in a Shoe Cabinet

A shoe cabinet can be a great way to reduce that cluttered feeling. Shoes strewn everywhere, either in the front hall or off to the side of a room can make a place feel messy. A shoe cabinet, strategically placed near your entranceway, means that everyone in the house has a place to put their shoes. A bonus tip – if you introduce a no-shoe policy for your home, meaning that everyone who comes or visits has to pop their shoes in the cabinet before coming any further, you’ll notice a reduction in the amount of dirt and debris that will accumulate on your floor.

Keep Benches Tidy

Bench spaces can be a magnet for clutter. Books, keys, wallets, watches and other small items love to gravitate to benches. Keep your counters free of clutter, and your home will maintain a tidy vibe.

Have a Place for Everything

One reason many homes get so cluttered is through a lack of storage and having places for things to go. If your shoes go in the cabinet, your keys go in a drawer, your coat gets hung up, your newspapers go in a rack, your books on a shelf and everything else has a place to fit you’ll notice less clutter. This may mean investing in some more storage solutions, but it is well worth it.

Be Brutal

Another way to reduce clutter is to simply remove any items you no longer need or want. Be brutal here. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t used or worn it in the last twelve months – out it goes. You can donate items to charities rather than simply throwing them out, so things don’t go to waste.

Store it Elsewhere

If you find you are unable to get rid of something that is causing your home to feel cluttered, for sentimental or other reasons, why not rent a storage unit and keep it there? You can always retrieve it when you have space or move somewhere more prominent.

Sell Off Items

You could be converting your old clutter into cold, hard cash. Get on Gumtree, Facebook marketplace and eBay and sell off your unwanted junk. You’d be surprised at how much extra pocket money you could make this way.

One In One Out

Instigate a one in, one out rule for your home. If you bring home something new, something old goes. Apply this rule to everyone in the house.

A Decluttered Conclusion

A shoe cabinet will help to reduce clutter in your house, as will keeping your benchtops free of random items. Make sure that there is a proper place for every item you have, and when it comes to getting rid of things, you need to be brutal. For things you can’t let go of – consider storing them elsewhere. Sell off your excess junk to make some money, and instigate a one in, one out rule. Good luck!