Cleaning Out Your Clutter With Simple Tips

Cleaning up clutter takes time. Many people find that sorting, simplifying, and organizing everything they own is extremely enjoyable. Others, however, find the entire process tedious and unpleasant in general.

You certainly want to keep your house tidy and reduce the quantity of worthless items you own (or perhaps you don’t care, but you share a home with someone who does). You don’t necessary want to spend an entire weekend organizing your pantry or sorting your clothes into piles, though.

Fortunately, you don’t actually need to follow a rigorous technique to clean your clutter, despite what numerous books and blogs claim. The ten quick and simple decluttering suggestions below can be used whenever you choose and in any order.

Even just a few of these fast fixes will improve the appearance of your living space and give you a head start on long-term clutter reduction.

Worst spot first: cleaning clutter

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Even a little, disorganized area, like a kitchen counter, can make a much bigger space appear and feel disorganized when it is visible to the public. It has a significant impact on the appearance and ambiance of the room and, consequently, sets the tone for your entire day, which is why everyone advises making your bed as soon as you get up every morning.

Throw away any rubbish first, focusing on this one area. Any items that “live” elsewhere should then be brought back to their original location. Clean up what’s left, finally. Consider the idea that some of the items on the counter might not actually be necessary if it still appears cluttered.

Sweep garbage bag

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Just as it sounds, go about your room or home with a sizable garbage bag (or box, whatever works) in hand and put anything you come across into it. You don’t need to worry with sorting this now unless it makes your life simpler to do so later when it can be divided into garbage, recycling, and donations.

Junk might include things you simply don’t need in your life, such as old towels that you’d be embarrassed to let anybody else use, as well as blatant trash, such as expired supplies. Get rid of anything you have been saving “for later” but aren’t actively using, as well as anything you just don’t like any longer.

Don’t give any of this a lot of thought. Put your faith in the fact that a portion of your brain has been so occupied by this clutter for such a long time that you are already aware of what needs to go.

Scanning the unwanted stuff: cleaning clutter

Imagine you have to pack everything up because you’re moving in a few weeks as you look at your closet—and anywhere else you keep apparel and accessories. You don’t want to move many boxes full of items you never wear because it’s a new beginning.

This need not be a protracted process of trying everything on or contemplating outfit combinations. Simply scan your belongings, being very honest, and remove anything that:

doesn’t fit your lifestyle or your body
is broken and unable to be repaired (or you just won’t have it fixed)
Your dislike
Despite liking, you never wear

Arrange your home: cleaning clutter

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If you knew someone you wanted to impress was coming over in an hour, what would you change about your house? Alternatively, what if a TV crew showed up to interview you for the evening news?

You wouldn’t do anything radical like wash the windows, but you would move right away to clear the clutter by wiping down surfaces and putting everything back where it belongs.

A fast clean-up like this one is a fantastic method to find things that don’t have a home. If you find one, it’s a hint that you should either get rid of it safely if you don’t need it or, if it’s something important like your car keys, that you should immediately designate a proper location for it.

Organizing with similar items

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You know how some grocery stores have all the chips in one aisle, making it simple to choose the sort you prefer, but other grocery stores have the chips at the ends of five different aisles, making it necessary for you to walk around the store looking at each one in turn?

This option is also available to you at home, and the former makes things much simpler.

Walk through each room and gather these items together if you have small piles of coins or pens that you find after emptying your pockets on every surface. You now keep all of your pennies in a jar in the kitchen, and all of your pens are kept in a drawer in your desk, so you can always find one when you need it.

Simplifying your home: cleaning clutter

In a congested space, removing just one large item—such as a chair nobody uses or a dingy treadmill nobody uses—can make a significant difference.

This kind of dead weight will take up a surprising lot of room, and getting rid of it will usually make you think more in minimalistic terms, which will help you make better informed decisions about decluttering in the future.

Let go the unwanted stuff

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Whether or not it was done on purpose, most people have a few duplicate objects lying around. And only one of these things is often used on a regular basis. It’s simple to get rid of extra items in your home by getting rid of the duplicate that gets less use.

This doesn’t imply that you have to use up all of your toothpaste or limit yourself to just one pair of black socks. Or perhaps you have two cooking tools that perform quite comparable tasks, but you always choose the lighter one to wear.

If you consider how appreciative someone who lacks warm garments would be to have the light grey sweater you’re keeping because you might want to wear it again someday, you may find it easier to part with these semi-useful duplicates.