Decluttering Your Home

What’s this for? Where does that go? Does this still work? These are questions most of us are likely to ask ourselves about various things that have come to our attention during these unprecedented times of social distancing. 

‘Things’ that have no place, and are left gathering dust, waiting for their ‘just in case’ moment to shine.

Over the past number of weeks, your home has become more than a home. It’s your workplace, school, a place to relax, and sleep, just in time to do it all over again.

In a time surrounded by external anxiety and uncertainty, we need to make sure our home environment is in order.

This article highlights some tips on how to get started with some quick wins, and just take it from there!   

Embarking on a home-declutter challenge can be daunting. It can be like opening a can of worms, one job leading directly in to another. So, begin with easy items in plain sight. What do you see right now that doesn’t have a ‘home’ in your home? Newspapers? Magazines? Flyers? Ask yourself, why are you keeping them?

If there is a great recipe or article inside a paper or magazine that you want to keep, clip it out, you don’t need to keep the whole thing. You could even consider starting your own recipe book in a folder. For the articles that you have kept aside, make a realistic strategy or timeline so that you get around to reading the material.

Top tip: Next time you pass a hardware store, invest your pocket change in a ‘no junk mail’ sign for your letter box. Its 2020 - we have apps these days that you can get the best offers for anything around!

Next item on the agenda: the Bermuda Triangle that is your kitchen utensil drawer! We all find ourselves rattling around our utensil drawers, trying to locate what can only be the one missing utensil. Setting a 30-day challenge can be a good way of realising what you use and what you don’t use. Place all kitchen utensils in tray or spare drawer, only replacing back into their rightful home when used during this time. After 30 days you will see what you use and what you don’t, and what random duplicates you own that will free up some much-needed space! 

And finally: Those wires. How do we always end up with more chargers and wires than devices themselves? Probably from a digital camera that hasn’t seen the light of day since the dawn of the smart phone. Find a basket, place all wires neatly inside, and put the basket away in a safe place. In time, you can come back to the basket and dispose of those that you haven’t needed,

Take on one job at a time, and come back to them regularly. Decluttering really does free up the mind as well as the home. Now, when combined with places of work, school, leisure, doing little and often can help take a load off your mind with instant satisfaction of a job well done. If you are ready for the next stage, House and Home have some super ideas to help improve your living space.

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