Decluttering to Take Back Your Home

Lifestyle & Home, Organization

How to get the clutter under control in your home for a stress-free environment. These methods will help you start getting it tamed today!

Clutter is horrible for our health both physically and mentally so if you find your home a bit more cluttered than you’d like, keep reading for ways to get to where you want to be. As a former packrat, I’ve had to find ways to go from being unable to finding a spot in the basement for one more box to having less than 2 pallets of storage stuff in the basement and being able to keep my living space clean and tidy even with a toddler.

Clutter: It Happens When We’re Not Looking

It’s so easy these days to add more stuff to our lives. Amazon, I’m looking at you! With a click, that burrito blanket that sounds like a great idea at 3 in the morning when you’re fighting insomnia is in your virtual cart and another click brings it to your door in a day or two. Don’t get me started on what happens when you have a new baby in the house, aren’t sleeping, and are scrolling through your phone in the middle of the night while feeding a hungry infant. Ladies, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Organizing vs. Decluttering

Before we go any further, let me define these quickly. Organizing is taking what you have and finding an orderly way to store it so that you can more easily find and access the things you need. Decluttering is getting rid of stuff so you have less to manage overall. For a tidy and stress-free home, you need to combine both of these. By starting with decluttering, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what and how you need to organize the things you are keeping.

Steps to Taming Your Clutter

First, stop buying more stuff. If you need it, great, get it, but be very intentional about what you need and what you just want in a moment of weakness (or insomnia, sleep deprivation, stress…). The way I do this is when I go to buy something, I ask myself do I love it, do I need it, and do I have a place to put it. If the answer is no to any of those, it doesn’t come into my house. That’s not to say I’m a minimalist or have next to nothing. I just make sure the purchase is worth it and won’t add to my stress levels.

Second, figure out what you want your home to feel like. Some people want to go minimalist where you have nothing but furniture and lights while others just want their home to feel inviting and lived in without having to deal with stacks of stuff everywhere. Personally, I’m somewhat in between. While I love the clean look so there is less to keep orderly, I have a lot of art that I love to display and a toddler. Anyone with a toddler knows that there is no place for minimalism.

Third, find a method that works best for you. Below, I’ll go over different methods for going through and decluttering your home. It may take trying a few things before you find what works best for you but once you do, it’s a lot easier to keep up with this to keep your home clutter-free.

KonMari Method aka the Marie Kondo Method

Marie Kondo is a legend when it comes to decluttering and there is a reason for that. Her methods work for many people and help them reclaim their home and peace of mind. It’s based on a simple set of rules which makes it easy to follow and the reason behind them is only keeping things which spark joy. It also used categories which are simple to remember and use in any home.

There are 6 rules to the KonMari method and they are:

Commit Yourself to Tidy Up
Imagine Your Ideal Lifestyle
Finish Discarding First
Tidy by Category, Not Location
Follow the Right Order
Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy

The 5 categories are:

Clothes
Books
Papers
Komono: Miscellaneous Items
Sentimental Items

By following her system, you are not only able to declutter but also organize along the way. If you want to see this in action, check out the Netflix series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. You’ll see amazing transformations and how this can work for people of all ages (yes, even your toddler!). Her books are also great references for people who learn better through reading or want a more detailed look at her method.

20-20 Rule

This is an even simpler method and great for people who tend to keep things because they may need them “someday.” I know I’m guilty of this especially when it comes to my workshop area (yes, I know that I probably won’t need that extra part but you never know!).

The 20-20 rule is if you can replace an item in 20 minutes or for $20 or less, let it go. This is why it works wonders for all those “what-if” items that you think you may need “someday.” If that someday doesn’t get there, you’ve just been storing the item for no reason. In my case, it’s helped me get rid of the extra pet stuff I’ve been hanging onto for years (with years of rescue, you accumulate a LOT of extra stuff).

20-Minute Method

If you’re short on time or feel overwhelmed with the thought of decluttering, the 20-minute method may work best for you and can be combined with the above methods. Essentially you set a timer for 20 minutes and focus on one space to declutter. By doing this daily, you will slowly work through your home until it’s all done. Because of the short time period, it’s also less draining and easier to work into your routine.

One Room Method

The one room method is just what it sounds like. You tackle and declutter one room at a time. I recommend also organizing that room after decluttering it to make sure it stays that way going forward. As you go through each room, if you need to move something to an already decluttered space, you’ll know right where to put it and not sabotage the work you have already accomplished.

This is my personal favorite because when I first started decluttering my home, it gave me a room to remind me of what it could look like. I started in the family room because it’s where we have the most open space to start with. For a little background, I’m a recovering packrat, my husband is a confirmed packrat, and I have a toddler in the house. At the same time, I like clean, uncluttered spaces to spend my time in because for me, a cluttered room noticeably adds to my stress levels and makes it hard for me to get anything done. Once the family room was clean, I moved to the kitchen, the family room, and then the bedrooms. Every so often, life gets hectic and I need to go back and touch up a space (if you have a kitchen table you haven’t seen in months and it’s been even longer since you ate at it, you’ll understand where I’m coming from) but by doing a room at a time, it’s relatively easy now.

Conclusion:

Decluttering can seem overwhelming at first but when you find a method that works well for you, it becomes much easier to do and keep up with. Once done, as long as you are intentional with your shopping and have a place for everything, your home will be a peaceful haven instead of a cluttered mess.

Have you tried any of the methods above? Which are your favorites? Do you have a method that works better for you that isn’t mentioned above? Please share your story or suggestions below in the comments.