In a world where the accumulation of belongings seems to be an ongoing process, decluttering has become more important than ever. A clutter-free living space not only enhances your physical surroundings but also promotes mental clarity and a sense of calm. Whether you’re embarking on a minimalistic journey or simply looking to organize your living space, this guide will provide you with actionable steps for how to declutter every room in your home.
Welcome to the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series! We will be starting decluttering specific tasks. Each day is dedicated to spending only 30 minutes decluttering your specific daily task. We will be working 5 days a week, so you can take 2 days to enjoy time with your loved ones.
Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.
Struggling with the daily housekeeping chores? Check out my ebook on this topic, entitled Make Over Your Homemaking. Use this link to get it at a discounted price.
How to Declutter Every Room: A Comprehensive Guide
1. Assess Your Goals:
Before diving into decluttering, take a moment to define your goals. Do you want to create a minimalist living space, organize for better functionality, or simply get rid of items you no longer need? Having a clear objective will guide your decluttering process and keep you motivated.
2. The Three-Box Method:
Start with three boxes or bags labeled “Keep,” “Donate/Sell,” and “Trash.” As you go through each room, place items into these categories. This method forces you to make decisions about every item, preventing you from postponing decluttering for later.
3. One Room at a Time:
Tackling your entire home in one go can be overwhelming. Instead, focus on one room at a time. Begin with smaller, less emotionally attached areas like bathrooms or laundry rooms, and gradually move on to larger spaces like living rooms and bedrooms.
4. Decluttering Process:
- Sort and Categorize: Pull out everything from drawers, cabinets, and shelves. Group similar items together to see what you have.
- Purge Unnecessary Items: Ask yourself whether each item is genuinely necessary or brings you joy. If not, consider donating, selling, or discarding it.
- Sentimental Items: Sentimental clutter can be tough to handle. Keep items that truly hold deep emotional value and consider digitizing others, like old photos and letters.
- Duplicates: Rid your home of duplicates. You don’t need multiple items serving the same purpose.
5. Organizational Solutions:
Once you’ve decluttered, it’s time to organize what remains:
- Storage Solutions: Invest in storage solutions like shelves, bins, and baskets. These keep items neatly contained and easily accessible.
- Labeling: Labeling containers helps you quickly find what you need and maintain an organized system.
- Frequent Use: Keep items you use most often within easy reach. Seasonal or rarely used items can be stored higher up or in less accessible areas.
6. Digital Decluttering:
Decluttering isn’t limited to physical items. Your digital life also deserves some attention:
- Emails and Files: Organize your digital files into folders and delete emails you no longer need. Unsubscribe from unnecessary mailing lists.
- Apps and Photos: Delete apps you don’t use and organize your photos into albums. Backup important files to the cloud.
7. Maintenance:
Decluttering is an ongoing process. Make it a habit to declutter for a few minutes each day to prevent clutter from accumulating again.
Decluttering every room in your home might seem like a daunting task, but the benefits are immeasurable. An organized and clutter-free living space not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of your home but also promotes a sense of well-being and mental clarity. By following these steps and adopting a mindful approach to your belongings, you’ll be well on your way to creating a space that truly reflects your values and brings you joy.
A few guidelines to keep you on task:
1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.
2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.
3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina.
4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. Recruit help if you are stuck in the decision process.
5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later.
Complete Home Declutter: HOW TO DECLUTTER:
Supplies Needed:
1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)
2. sturdy trash bags
3. marker/pen to label boxes
Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.
Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.
I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.
How to Declutter:
1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag
2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have
3.Get rid of duplicate items, broken items, outgrown clothes and shoes, anything you’ll never use again
4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest
5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option
We are working in the home office this week. Your task today for today, February 7th is to: Declutter any tax records that are older than 7 years. According to the IRS, you should maintain and keep the last seven years of your tax records.
Bonus tip: Scan all your paper files all with your smart phone into my favorite “paperless” phone app – Evernote. Even if you plan to keep some important documents, this a great way to keep those items stored digitally in case of a fire or natural disaster.
Need to deep clean? I have lists for you to guide you along.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.
You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Below is a sample page of what you’ll get in my Housekeeping Schedule for Home printables.
Also, to keep up the general housework, you may need to create a daily housekeeping schedule that suits your specific needs. To do so, I have created a helpful series you can read here.
Need to Declutter Every room? I have declutter checklists for every room and every space in your home to guide you along below.
Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can sign up here.
Struggling to decide if an item is clutter? Use these questions below to help you determine whether to keep or toss any item.
How to Declutter the Guest Room or Your Kid’s Room checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Laundry Room and Patio checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Coat Closet/Hall Closet/Linen Closet checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Home Office checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Attic checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Garage checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Living Room checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Kitchen Checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Entry/Foyer/Mudroom checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Clothing checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Bedroom checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Bathroom checklist can be found here.
Happy Decluttering!
To Subscribe to this Declutter Series, drop me a comment below. Your email will be sent to me but will not be posted publicly. You’ll receive a daily declutter task via email for the daily task we are working on. You can unsubscribe at any time.
New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:
Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can sign up here.
Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.
Step 3: How do you remove clutter?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.
Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.
Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.
Check out the most popular posts on deemiddleton.com:
14 Things That Make Your Home Look Cluttered
How to Create a Daily Housekeeping Schedule
How to Clean House When You Are Completely Overwhelmed By Clutter
What is Preventing You From Getting Organized?
Also, check out a great post on decluttering over here from becomingminimalist.com. Joshua Becker has some great tips on decluttering and minimalism.
For further reading, check out the fly lady here. She has some great cleaning and decluttering ideas plus excellent organization tips to get you started.
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