As the holidays are quickly approaching you may start to feel a little overwhelmed with your long to do list. I’m sure the last thing you want to do is add something painful like decluttering your home. But when I’m feeling stressed it is usually because the walls feel like they are closing in on me. One of the best feelings is to accomplish something that has been hanging over your head. You can also help someone else by donating your gently used items.
We are doing some remodeling in our home and this really forced me to purge my closets and most of the rooms in the house. Here are a few tips I learned along the way. I am in no way an expert, but I’m trying to minimize the “stuff” in our home that we just don’t need. I hope these tips are helpful.
DECLUTTERING For The Holidays
- Even if you paid a lot of money for an item (or have only worn it once), if you’re not getting use out of it….. DONATE! This tends to be the toughest rule for me. I have a hard time getting rid of something expensive or something I wasted my money on. It’s just collecting dust in your closet, but someone else could really use it.
- In your closet, face all the hangers one way. However, as you wear the clothing hang them back facing the opposite way. In 6 months, all the clothes that you haven’t worn will still be facing the original way. These are the clothes that you can give away. (Except maybe for seasonal pieces)
- Get your kids and spouse on board. This doesn’t have to be just your job. Kids tend to know what they play with and what they don’t use anymore. It is great for them to get a feel for helping others from a young age.
- Invest in some sturdy storage boxes. I cleaned out our built in desk and storage cabinet in the kitchen. A lot of it was trash that needed to be thrown away or shredded, but some of it needed to be kept. However, I didn’t need a bunch of warranties and phone case boxes in the desk area. So I bought a couple storage boxes and organized the stuff and stored them in the attic. This way I can get to them easily, but they’re not junking up my kitchen anymore.
- Don’t forget to go through things that could be expired like medicines, food from the pantry etc…. Throwing these items away could give you the room you’ve been looking for in that bathroom closet.
I hope you can use some of these tips to make your home a little less cluttered. I know they helped me, but I’m still a work in progress.
Your truly,
Jenn
