We’re all in cleaning mode–especially those of you who read my spring cleaning post. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the printable Spring Cleaning Checklist is the perfect guide to get started.

Now, I promise as soon as you start spring cleaning, you’re going to be faced with a lot of clutter you didn’t even know you had and you’ll need a plan to get it under control. So, let’s have some real talk about how to declutter your home.

Decluttering isn’t always easy. Yes, it feels great—amazing—when you’ve taken steps to simplify your home, but getting there is often a daunting process. I’m going to break it down and give you solid ideas to simplify your space. I always like to think when you have a plan you can accomplish anything (even organizing a disaster area).

So, follow my 10 simple steps and you will be well on your way to a clean, orderly house in no time. I promise it won’t be too painful. If your home is bursting at the seams with stuff, the garage is piled to the brim and your bedroom has become a cluttered wreck, this post is for you, friend!

Ready to get rid of clutter and junk? Here are 10 great ideas to declutter your home.

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You CAN take back control of the clutter! It's time to start decluttering your home - here are a few simple and easy decluttering tips to help you get started! Read more at ablissfulnest.com

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10 Steps to Declutter Your Home:

1. Schedule a block of time to focus on decluttering

Organizing and straightening up your space takes time. A big decluttering overhaul isn’t done in five minutes. In fact, I like to block out at least an hour of time per area I’m decluttering.

If you’re ready to make some serious progress on your home organizing, schedule time in your planner. You may want to block it out in chunks of a few hours, over the course of several weekends or days off. If you don’t prioritize organizing it will never get done, so write it down and stick to it!

2. Keep only what you’ve used in the last year

Honestly, you must get out of the mind frame “maybe I could use this item in the future.” Nope! That packrat mentality isn’t going to work if you want to make your home clutter-free. If you haven’t used an item in the last year, it needs to go in a trash bag or donation pile.

The time-frame of a year works well because it allows you to make a decision about seasonal decorations and items. Over the course of a year, you should have the opportunity to use every item in your home. If you don’t use something in twelve months, it’s time to simplify.

3. Get rid of duplicate items

If you have multiples of an item (unless we’re talking practical storage items like lightbulbs and batteries) then it needs to go. Sometimes we forget we have something, so we buy it again. Sometimes we upgrade, but still hold onto a less-useful, lower-quality item.

This is especially true when it comes to decluttering and organizing your closets and drawers. Trust me, you do not need five white sweaters. Sort through your multiples—pants, tops, accessories and other items. Decide what fits well and which items are in optimal shape. Keep the best of the best and donate or trash the rest.

Want to declutter your home but have NO idea where to start? Don't let your clutter take control of you - use these 10 simple decluttering tips to start! Read more at ablissfulnest.com

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4. Create a designated spot for items you want to keep

Everything needs a home. EVERYTHING. Even if it’s going in a drawer. Use clever container ideas for drawer organization to help you maximize your storage space. Find creative solutions to house and hold all the stuff you want to keep. I love cute boxes, trays and even repurposed Kleenex boxes to help me stack items in cabinets (and to organize tough areas, like underneath the sink). Get creative if you want to keep it.

As you’re decluttering if you end up with items that don’t fit in the designated drawer or container?  Time to go back to step 2.

Here are some of my favorite boxes, trays, and containers to house all of your stuff:

5. Utilize your furniture storage

Do you have a desk with storage, room under your bed, or an empty bookcase? Utilize these spaces well with step #4. You will be surprised how much more space you will create in these spots when you have the right containers to store your items in.

The great aspect of organizing items into homes within your existing furniture is that they’re totally camouflaged. There are many storage containers made especially for those strange, underutilized spaces like between shelves in your fridge, under your bed or the vertical space in your garage.

Here are some of my favorites:

6. Label every item

Ever wonder why organizing ideas on Pinterest look so amazing? It’s often because they’re neatly labeled. Label-making may seem like a time-consuming process, but it’s well worth the effort when you see the finished result stacked in your neat storage areas.

When you add a label it adds a visual element to stacks of boxes. Even if you can’t see into the box or inside the back of a dark cabinet, you still know what items are in there.  Later you aren’t wrestling through your organized space, searching for something you need and turning it into a mess again. You can read right where it’s at.  A label maker really is a fabulous thing!

Get ready for Spring with these 10 super simple and helpful decluttering tips! These are the perfect starting points for decluttering your home and taking back control of your space! Read more at ablissfulnest.com

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7. Cut back on paper clutter by digitalizing your keepsakes

Do you have tons of photos? I know I do! But the great thing is that we live in a day and age where we can store all of them on our computers (or cloud storage). It’s a little frightening to part with those treasured items, especially if you’re new to digital storage, but once you see how much it cuts back on paper clutter, you’ll be convinced.

I actually store my photos on both my computer and in the cloud for safekeeping. If one storage method fails, then I know they’re safely in the other place. I label them on my computer by year, then create a subfolder with the activity and date. To sort I just drag and drop the photos right into my designated folders. Once the photos are safely organized, I copy the same folders to the cloud. Done!

8. Divide your remaining items into 3 piles

Once you’ve pared down your stuff, labeled and designated a spot for each item you want to keep, you probably have a big pile of to get rid of. Turn your “don’t keep” pile into three categories: trash, sell and donate.

For each item, ask yourself if you can sell it, first. With online selling options like Craigslist and eBay, you might earn money on what you aren’t going to use anymore. Don’t forget to check out local resale and consignment shops as well. Selling your stuff is worth considering and you might end up with some extra spending money!

For the rest of the items, you’ve got left, donate anything that’s in decent repair, but not worth the effort to sell. Clothing, dishes, and toys are often welcomed by Goodwill or the Salvation Army. The biggest rule to follow is if you aren’t going to clear it out within a week—sell or drop off to donate—then it’s time to put it in the trash. Don’t hold onto bags of junk. Get rid of it and move on.

Are you ready to declutter your home and get organized? Use our 10 steps to get your home refreshed for spring! ablissfulnest.com

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9. Adopt a policy to put items back where they came from

Decluttering your home is just the first step. Keeping your home organized and decluttered is where the real challenge comes in! You need a shift in your mindset and incorporate organizing into your daily life. Adopt a new policy so you’re always taking the extra step to return an item after you use it.

If it had a home before, then put it back. We’ve all been guilty of this because we get lazy. I am a major culprit of stashing items by the front door. Walk-in my house and you’ll probably see a collection of my shoes piled up. I take them off when I come in and then never go put them away. I swear I am working on this!

10. Plan another decluttering session

I hate to tell you friends, but this isn’t a onetime deal. You have to keep up on clutter every 3-6 months, so it doesn’t get out of hand again. It’s a regular process and you’ll need to add organizing time to your calendar and make it a priority.

But I know you can do it! Maybe you can even get some help from your girlfriends and make it a wine night. Good friends are often the best motivators to push you to let go of the items you don’t need. Find an honest buddy to tell you what she REALLY thinks you should hold onto and what items should head into the donation pile. The idea is to make decluttering fun, so you’ll feel excited to stick to it.

So. what do you think? Are you ready to declutter your home?

 

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    8 Comments

    1. Designating an area to your disposable items to keep things away from your house and avoid clutter sounds like a great first step. This way, we can clear our areas like the living room and basement so we have cleaner spaces to work with and have a better chance at remodeling them for more functionality. I’ll take your advice and start renting out dumpsters from a removal service in the area so we can start disposing items that we don’t need anymore.

    2. My house is already cluttered, and that is why I’ve decided to start looking for a storage unit where my other belongings will be placed. Thank you for sharing here as well the importance of labeling the boxes. Aside from this, I’ll also keep in mind to get rid of the duplicated items, such as White sweaters.

    3. Thanks for the tips! I think the most important one for me is to block the time because I can never seem to do it!

    4. It brings us back to the famous William Morris quote “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

      I fully agree about having a designated space for everything & I also subscribe to the mantra of ‘it takes just as long to put it in the right place as the wrong place …. ‘

      Thank you for the good tips.

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