By Rita Wilkins
The Downsizing Designer
Do you feel that you are losing the battle with clutter in your home?
Does it feel like it’s never-ending, one step forward, two steps back?
Are you literally at your wit’s end, not knowing where to begin decluttering or how to get started?
I’m glad you’re reading this blog because I’m going to introduce you to something I just created and released:
It will show you:
- Where to begin so you feel instant relief in an area of your home that bothers you the most.
- How to get started so you can experience the impact of less clutter and what that feels like.
Once you take these 2 steps, you’ll gain momentum and want to move into the next area that also bothers you.
Let’s get started:
1. Think of the one area in your home that bothers you the most.
- It could be your home office because you can’t find anything when you need it and you can’t concentrate because it’s so cluttered.
- It could be your kitchen cabinets because you can never find the correct lids to those plastic containers or you have so many mugs that you don’t have room for your dishes.
- And it could be your bedroom closet because you can’t find clothes that fit or look good because it’s filled with things you never wear.
- Or it could be your car, your hobby room, your medicine cabinet, or your pantry.
Write down the one area that bothers you the most and why it bothers you.
2. Visualize what that area will look like once you have decluttered.
- How will it make you feel? How it will it make your life simpler, easier
For example:
- After decluttering your home office, it’s so organized that you love working there. It’s peaceful and productive because you disposed of so many unnecessary items.
- After decluttering your kitchen, you reduced the number of items in your cabinets significantly so now you can find anything you want more readily and you’ve disposed of anything that was chipped or broken.
- After decluttering your closet everything fits, it looks good on you and you’ve kept only those things that you love. You donated or just post of trash.
Some people recommend that you start decluttering process in the easiest area of your home. I disagree. I recommend that you start with the area that bothers you the most because you’ll feel relieved and empowered to go on to the next area that also bothers you.
You are driven to declutter that area because it causes you the most angst and overwhelm. Once you experience what less clutter feels like and how it impacts your life, you’ll be much more motivated to keep going and expand the decluttering process.
Getting started:
Once you’ve selected the area that bothers you the most, take before pictures of that area.
Example: Your Master Bedroom Closet
- Remove everything from the closet.
- Try each item on.
- Create three separate piles:
Remove: If they don’t fit, they don’t look good and you never wear them or they’re out of date, donate, sell, consign, or dispose of.
While decluttering, remember the goal is to remove things that you no longer want need or use so you can make your life simpler and easier.
Relocate: If it doesn’t belong there, put it where it does belong. For example, out of season clothes, luggage, etc.
Remains: If it fits, looks good, if it’s in season, keep it. Put it back in the closet in an organized manner.
Take after pictures as a reminder of how far you’ve come. Complete your closet and celebrate your big accomplishment.
What does it feel like?
How does it impact your life?
Suddenly you can find what you want when you want it, you’re not wasting money on duplicating things that you already have, so you’re saving money. What else?
What you will discover after you’ve done one area, the next and then the next is that decluttering is life-changing.
By reducing the number of items, you own you’re gaining more time, money, freedom, and energy. You’re making room for the life you really want.
No more shoving things in drawers, in closets, or down to the basement. When you declutter, there is a fundamental shift in the way you feel about your home and about yourself.
It’s empowering because your home functions better, things are easier to find, you spend less time looking for things and your home feels peaceful, calmer, and cleaner.
Decluttering is like any other good habit though. You have to keep practicing it so clutter doesn’t reoccur.
As you declutter keep your goals in mind.
Why you wanted to declutter in the first place:
- You’re downsizing and will have less space.
- You want your home to be your sanctuary, not your storage unit.
- You want a simpler less, cluttered more peaceful life.
When you live with less you live more.
Check out my just-released Home Decluttering Checklist. You’ll be glad you did!
Check out our new online shop
for tools that will support you in your downsizing and decluttering journey.
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