Welcome to the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, where I guide you step by step in How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home. We will be starting in the laundry room and patio this month. 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 teaching you how to declutter every room in your home. You can grab 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. Better yet, get it FREE when you subscribe.
Maybe your house is clean but cluttered. If so, you need to know a few declutter motivation tips before you start using the Step By Step Decluttering plan I use. Does a Cluttered House Cause Stress? You bet! Let’s look at a reputable, mental health site to answer that question. They have given us 8 ways mess leads to stress. According to Psychology Today:
Clutter can play a significant role in how we feel about our homes, our workplaces, and ourselves. Can a Messy House Affect Your Mood? You bet! How Does Clutter Affect Your Life? Messy homes and work spaces leave us feeling anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed. Yet, rarely is clutter recognized as a significant source of stress in our lives. (source)
Why does mess lead to so much stress? (source)Getting rid of all of that stress can be one of the best declutter motivation tips for How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home
- Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren’t necessary or important. (source)
- Clutter distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on. (source)
- Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally.(source)
- Clutter constantly signals to our brains that our work is never done.(source)
- Clutter makes us anxious because we’re never sure what it’s going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile. (source)
- Clutter creates feelings of guilt (“I should be more organized”) and embarrassment, especially when others unexpectedly drop by our homes or work spaces. (source)
- Clutter inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow most people to think, brainstorm, and problem solve.(source)
- Clutter frustrates us by preventing us from locating what we need quickly (e.g. files and paperwork lost in the “pile” or keys swallowed up by the clutter). (source)
Overwhelmed by a Messy House? It can really affect you negatively. How Do You Deal With a Cluttered Mess? One way is to have a plan, set aside a specific time, and learn the Step By Step Decluttering plan we’ll use for How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home. What Cleaning Should Be Done Daily? I have a room by room specific Printable House Cleaning Checklist linked below.
How I Get Help With Decluttering My House: For a clean, simplistic look, one of the best Deep Cleaning Home Tips is to declutter a room before cleaning and then use an Easy House Cleaning Schedule to maintain it. Declutter Checklists can help.
How Does Clutter Affect Your Life? As you can already see, there are at least 8 ways we become negatively affected by clutter. Also, I though it might be thought provoking to look at some statistics on clutter.
- US consumers buy 40% of the world’s toys, but bear only 3% of the world’s children.
- Most people wear 20% of their clothing 80% of the time. (source )
- 9.4% of U.S. households rent a storage unit. (source)
- People do not look at 80% of the papers and information they keep.(source)
- The average American house is double the size it was in the 1950s–and getting bigger. (source.)
- The U.S. Department of Energy reports that one-quarter of people with two-car garages have so much stuff in there that they can’t park a car. (https://www.becomingminimalist.com/the-statistics-of-clutter/)
- According to the National Soap and Detergent Association, getting rid of clutter would eliminate 40 percent of housework in the average home.(https://www.becomingminimalist.com/the-statistics-of-clutter/) Wouldn’t eliminating a lot of housework provide some declutter motivation?
Today, we’ll lay out the solutions to get you some Help for Cluttered Homes using my tips on How To Tackle Clutter. Plus, we’ll look at a few ways to answer the question:What Cleaning Should Be Done Daily? A Printable House Cleaning Checklist will help you keep your home clean and maintained. I’ll even give you my Deep Clean Checklist and House Cleaning Tips to help you get started.
Maybe you are thinking: My House Is So Cluttered, I Don’t Know Where to Start. How can I recognize clutter? Let’s address those questions. I have a visual below using some questions to help. Also, check out these 5 Important Guidelines I use to to keep me focused and motivated as I begin the process of getting my home decluttered.
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.
More Steps to Declutter and Organize Your Home and Easy Decluttering Techniques can be found below. Knowing How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering can certainly speed the process. Maybe you are wondering: Should I Clean or Declutter First? My opinion is to declutter, first.
What is the Proper Way to Clean Your House? I always declutter a room first. Why? Often, a clean room doesn’t look clean if it’s filled with clutter. Let’s look at a few questions, below, to help you better understand what to keep or toss as you begin Clearing Out Clutter.
When overwhelmed by a Messy House, you need to know how How To Clean a Dirty House in the easiest way possible. How Do you Make an Easy House Cleaning Schedule? What Cleaning Should Be Done Daily? My recommendation is once weekly on the areas I’ll outline in my House Cleaning Planner. Can a Messy House Affect Your Mood and Cause Stress? It certainly does when you can’t find anything.
How Do You begin Clearing Out Clutter? We’re going to work on creating a schedule and a “home” for everything, so you always know where to find your things. This is one important solution I provide to readers looking for specific Step By Step Decluttering ideas. Much of the clutter we create is because we have simply laid something down and not given it a proper home. If you do this repeatedly, your home will become a clutter magnet. Even worse, you won’t be able to find anything.
Easy Decluttering Techniques: What is the Proper Way to Clean Your House? I suggest decluttering before cleaning. What Should I Declutter First? One of the simplest declutter motivation tips is to start small, such as one shelf or one drawer.
How Do You Deal With all the Junk in Your House and start Clearing Out Clutter? Start with these tasks below.
How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home:
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
How about some declutter motivation tips to get you moving?
Declutter Motivation Tips: I like to put on some upbeat music. You’ll also want to dress for cleaning. Don’t wear your nice clothes and shoes. Instead, grab some clothes you can bend and move in, and wear comfortable tennis shoes. How To Clean a Dirty House using an Easy House Cleaning Schedule can be done in simple weekly steps I’ll outline below. How Does Clutter Affect Your Life? A Messy House Affect Your Mood and Cause Stress. One way it causes stress is that it creates the feeling that your work is never done. To fix that, let’s start with a small project. Again, start with an easy project, so you can see instant progress. One shelf or one drawer is a good place to start.
How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home using my DIY Declutter List: 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.
What Do You Throw Away When Decluttering? How Do You Know If Your House Is Cluttered? An honest outsider can help you see what you have become accustomed to. How Does Clutter Affect Your Life? Finding Help With Decluttering My House is easier if you admit you need help, first. Invite an honest friend or family member to help you answer that question. Perhaps you are dealing with years of accumulated clutter. You may even be a hoarder.
Can a Messy House Affect Your Mood and Cause Stress? It certainly does cause undue stress when the mess is a large one. It can be very overwhelming. Often, we get stuck because we don’t know where to start or How To Dejunk Your House. The Steps to Declutter and Organize Your Home can be easy if we take it in small steps. I want to show you how to take a baby step approach to decluttering. I want to help you make it easier. If you lack time, I have a blog post providing a quick solution for Help for Cluttered Homes on the One Day Declutter process I use. You’ll find the link to that post at the end of this article.
If You feel Overwhelmed by a Messy House, I want to help try to ease the overwhelm. How Do You Declutter Without Being Overwhelmed? With my DIY Hacks to Declutter, we’re going to do it slowly and thoroughly in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. How Do You Get Rid of Clutter In Your Home? 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.
Another one of my best declutter motivation tips is to go ahead and schedule a donation pick-up from a local charity. 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.
Bonus: Here is a video with ideas for some tips I have found for how to declutter every room in your home. For me, I can’t think clearly when surrounded by clutter and messes. Maybe this describes you, too. Check out this great video I found that will show you how to organize your home using simple steps.
If You’re Looking for an Easy Decluttering Plan… – Maybe you just need a simple, step- by- step process like this and my DIY Declutter List for each room.
What Should I Declutter First? How To Motivate Yourself to Declutter Your Home: We’ve already stated that a small area is a good place to start. It can be done quickly and gives you instant gratification. Think of one small area in your home that you use daily that could use a makeover.
How To Motivate Yourself and How To Dejunk Your House: Start small. Instantly, I think of my top bathroom drawer and my kitchen silverware drawer. Another idea would be to declutter one shelf. In my own kitchen, the shelf that needs the most attention right now is one of my pantry shelves.Overwhelmed by a Messy House?A Cluttered House Can Cause Stress. It is stressful for me to lose time searching for things because I don’t have a clear idea of where these items belong. Bonus tip: It helps to remove everything from that shelf or drawer as you get started. Then, you can see what is actually in there and only put back the items you use.
5 Steps for How To Begin Clearing Out Clutter
How to Declutter Every Room In Your Home with my Easy Step By Step Decluttering Plan:
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
Struggling to decide if an item is clutter? Use these questions below to help you determine whether to keep or toss any item.
We are currently working to declutter the Laundry Room & Patio this month. Your task today for today, October 1st is to: Declutter anything bleached by the sun on your porch and patio.
Here are some great Laundry Room Organization Tips from flowwall.com:
1. Jars
Besides socks, a lot goes missing in the laundry room, from change and cash forgotten in pockets to spare buttons. So use glass jars to organize all these miscellaneous items. Mark one jar for change, one for paper money and a third for spare buttons or any other knickknacks you might find. Placing the jars on your laundry room shelves will give the room a nice and neat look. Plus, it’s an easy way to identify any items you or your family thought they lost in the wash. It’s also one of the easiest and cheapest ways to add a little order to space.(source)
2. Storage
Don’t let your laundry pile up on you. Move clean clothes back to their proper shelves and closets and throw out stray socks or clothing you don’t wear anymore but might store in the laundry.(source)
After that’s finished, maximize your space by adding shelving units or laundry room cabinets. Install shelves above your washer and dryer, as well as cabinets off to the side to store everything from spare bed linens and towels to detergent and fabric softener. Storing items vertically will give you more floor room to move around as well as plenty of room for a hamper and ironing board. You can also declutter every bedroom in the house by adding hampers underneath the cabinetry in your laundry room. Everyone’s clothes can now be stored out of sight instead of on the floor.(source)
3. Know where it goes
Group like items on the same shelves or in the same drawers, or consider labeling them for yourself or guests for fast and easy access. Meanwhile, set aside a little space devoted to ironing and hang-drying clothes. If you have dress shirts and blouses or items of clothing that can’t go in the dryer, you’ll need a hanging rack and ironing board to keep your garments clean and wrinkle-free. Folding drying racks and wall hangers can help you dry your finer fabric attire and keep it out of way of the washer and dryer units.(source)
4. Throw it out
The easiest thing you can do to declutter your laundry room, though, is to know what to throw out and what to keep. Empty detergent bottles can sometimes be left and forgotten on a shelf and clothes can sit hanging on the back of the laundry room door or in the dryer even after they’re dry. So make sure to keep a trash can in the room handy to help you get rid of lint, old containers, used dryer sheets, and old socks and underwear.(source)
Here are Some Great Tips for Decluttering your Patio/Yard Space from fence authority.com:
1. COMMIT YOURSELF TO TIDYING UP ALL AT ONCE
Is your garage, shed, garden, deck, or yard too overwhelming to even think about dealing with? You might assume that tackling it a little at a time is the right course of action. According to Marie Kondo, it’s really not. Set aside enough time to just get it done. The danger of doing a little at a time is never finishing.(source)
2. IMAGINE YOUR IDEAL LIFESTYLE TO PREVENT RELAPSE
Before you even start, write a paragraph about your ideal outdoor lifestyle. You may have a goal of growing fresh, organic vegetables for you family in that overgrown weed patch next to the deck. Maybe you want to spend time outside, grilling for your friends and watching the sunset from your backyard. It could be as simple as wanting to fit your car in the garage this winter to avoid having to brush off the snow after a storm, or as complex as wanting to redesign your backyard by adding a pool and a multi-tier deck. The common denominator? Having a clean, organized space.
Home improvement shows, magazines, and even blogs can have you believe that you need to invest a lot of money into your yard to make it functional. Usually, all you need is a more organized space to get your outdoor areas to better fit your needs. (Well, except for an olympic-sized pool. Those do cost quite a bit of money.) An organized, decluttered space allows you to do things like build a pathway from your deck to your garage, or add an outdoor heater to enjoy your patio space well into the fall.(source)
3. HOLD AN ITEM WITH BOTH HANDS AND ASK YOURSELF, “DOES THIS SPARK JOY?”
Perhaps the best known and most controversial part of the Konmari method is only keeping items that bring you joy. You probably don’t want to uproot all of your plants, put them in a pile, and then only keep the ones that spark “joy” when you look at or touch them, but who is to say you can’t pile together all your gardening or home improvement tools, or pool toys, or grilling implements and do that?
When combing through items to keep and discard, start with the obvious throw-aways. Anything that fills you with dread, is broken, or is more trouble to keep than it’s worth should be discarded, recycled, or given to someone else who will make use of it. A big element of the Konmari method is to not feel bad about getting rid of these things. Each item has taught you a lesson. Maybe that lesson is that you should always check your tool box before buying one more wrench, or that lime green pots don’t look great against the backdrop of your house.
Next, decide what you definitely DO want to keep. This is sometimes easier than deciding what to get rid of, but accomplishes the same thing. Man-made objects in your yard, like large pots or statues, can create a great focal point, but too many make your yard look cluttered. Decide what looks best in your space and what your favorite items are, then let the rest go.(source)
4. ORGANIZE BY CATEGORY, NOT BY SPACE
As discussed in the first point, tackling the entire garage at once should be your goal – insert “yard,” “deck,” or “shed” in place of “garage” as needed. In addition to that, though, you need to recognize if you have… shall we say… collections that are popping up in multiple areas. It won’t do you much good, decluttering-wise, to spend time concentrating on your herb pots that have been stored in the garage only to find larger pots in your shed at a later time and have to repeat the process.
Go in a reasonable order. This might mean tackling the problem that has been most vexing first, such as your inability to find where you’ve put your tools whenever you need a hammer or a screwdriver. It could mean simply taking what’s first – perhaps the patio furniture that’s blocking your path to everything else in the garage – and dealing with it before moving on.
Also, finish discarding what you’ve already decluttered. Neat is not simply an absence of clutter. Neat means organized and serene. Neat means you’ve bagged and separated what you’re getting rid of and actually get rid of it! Piles of bags labeled to go to recycling, the trash, or your sister’s house that are stacked to the garage ceiling is just another form of clutter.(source)
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 printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.
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 How To Declutter Every Room 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 find that here.
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.
The Year Long Thorough Declutter Series is designed to help you know how to declutter every room in your home, including the unseen spaces, such as the attic and the closets. It includes daily tasks, so you can track your progress. It also includes detailed lists to declutter each room and each space within your home.
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. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.
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? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…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 kitchen decluttering ideas plus excellent organization tips to get you started.
I hope you have benefitted from my post on How To Declutter Every Room In Your Home. Leave a comment below to subscribe to my daily declutter task email series.
To subscribe, just leave a comment below to receive your daily declutter task. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Happy Decluttering!
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.
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