Nice and Neat: How to Develop a Foolproof Process for Decluttering

Home is where the heart is. But it can also harbor a good bit of clutter that has built up over the months. Taking the time to clean and organize throughout your home helps clear mental clutter as well. This leads to a healthier lifestyle by allowing you to fully appreciate your surroundings. If the thought of decluttering from top to bottom seems overwhelming, just remember: building a tidying up method that keeps you focused and motivated to declutter where it matters most makes everything infinitely easier. 

Make a List, Check It Twice

Tackling the seemingly momentous task of decluttering your home sweet home is far less of an ordeal with a list on hand. Break down your goals room by room in detail. Make sure it spans your entire home, from the garage filled with tools and equipment covers to the attic housing heirlooms protected by custom tarps or even insulated tarps for more temperamental trinkets. Creating a list gives you the chance to spread out cleaning tasks over a more manageable period of time, thus ensuring a stress-free experience from beginning to end. 

One popular method for structured decluttering is to assign a day for each room in your home. Staying focused on one space throughout the day prevents distractions from the rest of the house and allows you to take a cleaning deep dive into each room. Once you’ve tackled every spot in the house, you can sit back and appreciate both your hard work and the beauty of your home sweet home. 

Start Small

While it may be tempting to go for the largest and most obvious messes while decluttering, cleaning experts recommend the exact opposite. Make a plan to start with small-scale features in each room, such as medicine cabinets in the bathroom and lesser-used drawers in the kitchen.

As you make progress in your clean sweep, work your way into the more troublesome spots of clutter. After spending the day pacing yourself by slowly but surely chipping away at smaller tasks, you’ll have the energy needed to clear out that cramped bedroom closet or overstuffed holiday decor bin. If you have an excess amount of clutter from these hot spots, laying out a custom tarp can help you better parse out what to do with each item.

Helping Hands

Tidying up is a communal task that the whole family can get in on as an exercise in gratitude. Get spouses and kids motivated in your spring clean sweep with some out of the box ideas that put inspiration into action. 

• When it comes to kids and teens, nothing is a better motivator than the glory of rewards like a special ice cream outing or an allowance bonus – all allotted for putting in their share of the work.
• Put together a catchy, upbeat playlist to stream while decluttering. Your family will be far more energized to help tidy if you cultivate a cheerful environment to work in. 
• Take a moment to remind yourself and your family members that this decluttering effort is an expression of gratitude for your home and prized possessions. A clean home is a happy, grateful one.

Fantastic Four

The four box process is one of the most popular and effective decluttering methods. This ingenious approach to tidying is simple enough: all you need is four separate boxes or crates and a little bit of time to spare. Designate each box with a specific purpose: trash, charity/donate, relocate, or keep. It’s that easy! You can even supersize this process for big jobs like the garage by going large scale in your clutter collection by trading your boxes for custom tarps in your backyard. 

As you tackle each room, sort through the obvious clutter but don’t neglect the tucked away bits and pieces. Decluttering is more than just surface cleaning – it’s about clearing your space and mind of unnecessary distractions. Every junk drawer and closet bin should be parsed through and divided up accordingly. As every room’s cleared out, the goal should be to have each of your four boxes full.

Sweet Charity

One of the easiest and most effective ways to give back and shed some excess clutter at the same time is by donating the unwanted belongings you come across in your clean sweep. The contents of your “donate” box will be readily welcomed by any number of charities or philanthropic organizations. Here are just a few to get you inspired:

• A local Savers store or donation center is the most popular option for those looking to hand off their gently used homewares and clothing. Not only will you be lessening your load and helping the environment, your Savers donation is tax-deductible.
• Red Cross shops help to raise profit for the famous philanthropic relief organization. The purchase of your donation directly benefits the many causes of the Red Cross.
• When clearing out your kitchen from cabinet to pantry, consider donating any non-perishable unopened foodstuffs to a local food pantry or soup kitchen. Food waste is an all too common occurrence that can be remedied with such a simple task.