How To Declutter Your Home + Lift Your Energy [Free Printable + Checklist]
We All Have At Least One! How Many Of You Have Two Or Three? We’re Talking Junk Drawers, AKA The Has-Been Bin With All The Puzzle Pieces To The Past!
An accidental time capsule of the haphazard, ranging from the memories to the meaningless, the cabinet of curiosity.
It can strike abject terror in anyone’s heart even thinking about entering it, never mind actually organising it!
You’ll have been living under a rock if you’ve not heard of Marie Kondo and her revolutionary method KonMari. Not just an everyday approach to declutter your home, but taking it one step further with and her unique method to keeping your home clutter free, by mindfully choosing to keep only the items that spark you joy.
Decluttering your home and organising doesn’t need to feel like a chore or burden, it can be incredibly liberating getting some clarity from clearing the chaos.
Today, I’m sharing with you some top tips to declutter your home (and mind) with a free checklist and printable so that you can clear the chaos today.
Whilst I personally didn’t go full on Kon Mari, back at the end of summer of 2018 I tackled my own #ClearTheClutter project.
1 full skip, 50+ items gifted to friends, 18 bin liners to charity, and £783 back in my bank account…. It’s absolutely transformed my home and we’ve all been living in easy to maintain, ordered and clutter free bliss ever since with an annual purge around Christmas, a monthly maintenance routine and cycles of rhythm and flows.
When I started it was all about removing the physical, but I’ve been astounded by what it’s done for me mentally too. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I genuinely feel lighter and able to do more.
I won’t lie, it took a while, three weeks in total. But by taking the time to get the house in order, it’s decluttered my mind and lifted my energy. If I can do it living in a post renovation house with three incredibly messy boys, anyone can do it!
1 – Pick A Category
There are a few ways to get started, but don’t make the rookie mistake of starting with a whole room. In your mind (and in reality too) this is a massive thing to tackle, and you’ll get stopped in your tracks when the train to overwhelm arrives before you’ve made any real progress.
Pick a category of items and you’ll be whizzing through the clutter in bite sized and manageable 10 minute chunks, constantly making progress and you’re declutter your home in no time! I’ve listed out the categories on the FREE declutter your home checklist below.
2 – Collect The Clutter
Once you’ve picked the category, gather all the items together and from one place, start the sort – You’ll need a few piles!
1 The Charity
2 The Selling
3 The Recycling
Let’s say you’re working on books, go to the playroom, the Children’s bedrooms, the loo, the office, the living room…. find all the books and bring them together in one place.
This will help you see exactly how much you have, and more importantly work out more precisely how much needs to stay. You may have duplicates, you may realise you have more than you need.
It’ll help you be more ruthless in your quest to declutter your home. If you sort in their individual locations, more will end up staying.
Bags and boxes are useful for collecting the clutter. But as it gets heavier, bags can be a little better as you can hang on handles as you sort, keeping it away from little fingers or nosey noses.
3 – The Burning Question
When I tackled project #ClearTheClutter, I wanted to create a new ordered and welcoming home, a new life and a new way of living.
A question I found so helpful to ask myself was this: Is this coming with me to my new life??
It might sound a little woo, but this one question created a complete mindset shift and saved me from the “Well, I might need this one day” struggle.
It was either coming, or it was going!
4 – The Declutter Your Home Challenge 10
If time is short, or you’re working on a big category, even committing to 10 minutes or deciding on 10 items will declutter your home and clear the chaos in no time.
If you do 10 items a day, over 30 days, you’ll have decided on 300 items. And if you get into this daily habit, you’ll have decluttered 3650 items in a year.
Unless you have a need to do things quickly for a house sale or move, there is no need to rush, slow and steady wins the race.
5 – Put It In Your Path
Now I’m not suggesting you pile it up on your stairs, we’re looking for a clean start, we’re not looking for a clean break (hello A&E).
Your piles need to be somewhere noticeable, not hidden away in a back bedroom only used for project #ClearTheClutter. Put them in the hallway, or main living areas, somewhere noticeable…. You’ll be reminded to keep going and make a little more progress more quickly.
When I decluttered I saved my whole charity pile up right until the end. It was great to see the progress and so cathartic to see just how much stuff I had that I didn’t actually need, but it was a full day trip to the charity shop and my hallway was very unwelcoming for a very long time!
If space is short, or the chaos overwhelms you set your rehoming timer to once every week, even decluttering 10 items a day you’ll be rehoming 70 items a week.
6 – Remember The Rewards
To declutter your home really is grade A adulting. You need to remember to give yourself a pat on the back for your efforts, set a new reward every week. A meal out, or something you’ve had your eye on for a while, just make sure it’s not more clutter and things that bring your home and life a little more joy.
7 – Break The Cycle
Once you’ve started on the #ClearTheClutter decluttering path, you’ll never go back.
It’s brought so much clarity to my home and my life. It’s changed my habits, my amazon order list is no longer eye-wateringly long, I now put so much thought into if I actually really need it that decluttering is saving me money.
My wardrobes are full of things I love to wear and nothing else getting ready for a day is not only quicker and more productive, it actually makes me happier.
Even when there is stuff to tidy (which happens a lot with two little people creating daily chaos), there is less to tidy and it all has a home, making it easier and quicker.
Grab your Ultimate Marathon #ClearTheClutter checklist below and join me on the #ClearTheClutter crusade! You won’t regret it and I promise your mood, your home and your life will be happier.
If you want to dig a little deeper with your home designs, come and join us in HomeEnvy Bootcamp.
Natalie xx
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