Today I’m introducing my method of decluttering which I use in my own home, and when working with clients. It’s very straightforward, and by the time you’ve decluttered a couple of areas of your home, you probably won’t need to refer back to the method.
Once this way of decluttering is engrained in you, you’ll carry it with you all the time, so that decluttering becomes a part of life, and you’ll be able to keep clutter to a minimum because you’ll be conditioned to making quick decisions on what stays in your home and what you want to move on.
If you really commit to the process, you’ll also find that your buying habits change and you’ll become much better at making considered decisions on what you buy and what you allow into your home in the first place.
There are 3 stages to effectively decluttering your space.
- Have everything in front of you. If you are decluttering a group of items (e.g. shoes) then get all items from wherever they currently are (the hallway, the back door, your wardrobe etc) into one place. If you are decluttering an area of your home, remove EVERYTHING before starting to work through your items.
- Consider each item individually. Anything you decide to keep in your home should be either useful to you (now, or in the not too distant future) or you should love it (ideally both!).
- Put each item into one of three piles:
- Keep
- Recycle/Landfill
- Someone else’s treasure (for the charity shop/friend/neighbour)
Then – you can move on to ORGANISING the things you are keeping.
G x