Tips to Unclutter Your Home

Indoor Do-It-Yourself projects are popular at the end of the year, and the beginning of the New Year and DIY stores are abuzz with people engrossed in novel ideas for home improvements.  If space, or lack of it, is your concern, but expanding your property is not an option, then here are a few tips that might help you out. 

Running out of Storage Space?

1.  We store way more items than we really need.  If you are stockpiling items that you haven’t used in a while, then it is time to say goodbye.  I know many people who keep items “just in case”, but if you have not used something in the last 6 months, then it is highly unlikely it will be used ever again.  This is especially true for clothing with ever changing fashions and popular “in” colors.  It might be a good idea to donate your unused items to a local cause, or even if the quality is good enough, post them on eBay for some extra spending money.

2.  Go Digital.  Books, movies, music can all be purchased online and delivered right on to your laptop, handheld or any device you choose.  The beauty of this is that your whole collection can be carried  around without breaking your back.  Even your bills can be viewed and paid online, reducing the amount of paper you have to file, and the documents you want to store can be filed on a flash-drive.

3  Use cupboard Space Wisely.  How many kitchen appliances do you need to display.  Donate or throw out small gadgets that you don’t use, store the ones you do use in the remaining cupboard space, only taking them out to use them.  In the kitchen, the biggest offender to the eye is unwashed dishes!

4.  Check out your bathroom cabinets, do you really need to store all these medications?  You probably don’t need to be reminded of storing medications past their expiry date, and you don’t want them getting into the wrong hands either – children are inquisitive creatures, and some pills do look like candy.  Better off not storing them at all, unless it is absolutely necessary for your health.

5.  There are many useful storage remedies on the market that don’t cost a lot, from fabric shelves that hang in the wardrobe, to colorful plastic drawers (great for storing small toys), to shoe racks and fancy shelves, for the items that just cannot be thrown away.  Everything should have its place, for me, it’s because I know where to find the things I need – quick!

If you have children, de-cluttering can become problematic, but not impossible, especially if it’s incorporated into the “spring clean”.  Tackle one room at a time and it will become quickly apparent just how much storage space you can find.