Savvy Tips That Will Help You Combat Clutter
It's easy to let your home become overrun with clutter. All it takes is to bring in more items that you get rid of and you’ll end up with far more than you ever need or can use. The good news is you can keep on top of clutter in your home by following the savvy tips below. Just read on to find out what they are.
Start slow
One of the best tips for combating clutter in the home is to start slowly. This is because decluttering can often feel very overwhelming, so much so that it puts people off doing it altogether. Instead when you start slowing by just decluttering a single drawer or cupboard at a time, you can get a real sense of achievement once it's done, and that can help spur you on decluttering more at a later date.
Begin by selling
One of the best tips for combating clutter in the home is to take a three-step approach that includes selling items, donating items, and then trashing the rest.
It's advisable to start with the selling phase because this often provides the most motivation (cash). Also, it's not generally worth your time to try and sell every little item you no longer use, so you can just focus on the most significant things that can bring in the most money. Good places to sell items include eBay, Facebook, and your local classifieds.
Donate what you can
When dealing with clutter in your home the next step, after selling, is to donate items that are still in good condition that you no longer use. Usually, you will be able to donate clothing, dishware, working electronics, and home decoration to Goodwill and thrift stores. Other charities such as ones that work with the homeless may also accept blankets and clothing so they can be given out to those in need.
Hire a dumpster
The last of the three decluttering stages is to throw away the items that cannot be sold or donated. The only problem with doing this is that you can be seriously limited by the amount of waste that can fit in your bins at any one time. The good news is that if you find a provider like Zenith Dumpsters that will allow you to lease a dumpster you can get rid of all your clutter that needs to be trashed in one go. This means you won’t have to clutter up your home until the next pickup with items that should be trashed.
One-in and one-out policy
Another great tip that will help you combat clutter in your home is to operate a one-in and one-out policy. This means whenever you bring a new item into your home, you have to sell, donate, or trash an old one that you no longer use. In this way, you can keep the equilibrium without getting overrun with clutter.
Use before and after photos to see your progress
Finally, you can help keep yourself motivated by taking before and after photos of the areas that you are decluttering. This will help you get around the issue that many people face when decluttering - that they get used to their new clutter-free home very quickly, and easily forget what it looked like when it was overrun with stuff.
Photo credit: @pexels: RDNE Stock Project @rodnae.prod