How to End Clutter in your Home in 5 Easy Steps

An uncluttered home makes us feel a lot better.  It is inviting, airy and looks spacious.  It even looks more healthy.  For me, it also shows some order.  

I always think if there are too many things piled up around me, it interferes with my thinking –  Chuck hears me sometimes saying “I can’t hear myself think!”  This is usually followed by me getting up to put some  things away or picking up some things off the floor.  No, I don’t think I am over the top with keeping a clean home.  I have trained myself to overlook things not being in place all the time.  Besides I do not live alone, so enforcing an exhibit ideal home would be like a dog chasing its tail sometimes. 

However, I do like to see a few clear surfaces.  Even before I start cooking, I like to see a clean cooker, cleared surfaces and a clean sink and will get to the task if otherwise.

Now let’s move on before you really start thinking I am a Hyacinth Bucket.  For those of us in the United Kingdom, we all know who she was/is!  So let’s look at how to end clutter once and for all:

#1  Buy less

It seems obvious, but the less we buy, the less clutter there is around us.  If we are honest, we all have bought things we have never used.  It is surprising if some of these things disappeared from our radar how we would never even know for the next five decades!  

That gadget that you think may come in handy probably won’t.   Those souvenirs from all those vacations just end up gathering dust.   

Say no to  impulse buying.  Say no to  comfort buying.  Say no to  recreational shopping. 

If you find this challenging, replace the shopping trip with running an errand for that old lady in church or neighbor or something!  Or just do a shop fast where you only buy consumables and essentials for a few months.  As Nike would say, “Just do it!”

Read the Guardian’s post on Dejunk your life

#2  Buy less printed materials

Whether we like it or not, ebooks are here to stay.  When my floor to wall bookcase became full with the 500 or goodness knows how many books on it, it was time for change.  I have been a bookworm since the cradle.  I devour books more than food.  I had always dreamt of having a library with four walls of floor to wall bookcases and a step ladder to reach the tops.  But that dream was for an old non-existent world. 

Today, you can get many books in eformat.  It may take a while getting use to reading from a screen but a Kindle offers a near experience of an actual book.

#3 Put up less shelves

I found that if we put up shelves, closets or boxes, it is only a matter of time before they will be filled up!  Have you found that when you move from say a one bedroom to a two bedroom, all of a sudden you find that you have so much space?  You are so grateful for all the space.  You can neatly put things away and even so, there is so much ‘capacity’ left.  That capacity can become full in no time till it is overflowing.  Rather than putting in shelves and so on, it is time to go through some old things and throwing/giving them out.

#4 Those electrical goods will not be used again!

That radio that stopped working in 1997, and has been in some closet/cupboard living a retired life ever after, is not going to come back to work life again.  Unless, it is some antique or heirloom you want to show your great grandkids, which I doubt, it is time to give it the send off it deserves.  The video player likewise. 

Electrical items take up space, especially old ones which are bulky and heavy.  Technology is moving at an evolving, lightning rate; it costs more to repair than to replace.  Find out how you can safely dispose of your electrical items or if there are any charities that require these.    That way you can clear up basements, lofts, garages, sheds and all the places we tend to congregate these items.

#5  Have a de-clutter day

Chuck and I have a de-clutter day at least one Saturday every couple months where we choose a room in the house to de-junk stuff.  We put on some music or inspirational message.  Then armed with a bag for the recycling collection, a box for the things we will keep, and another for one we are still thinking about,  we are ready.  The feeling afterwards is as like we have just been on a slim-fast diet where ‘the weight has come off’.  We feel so light.  The décor or space looks brighter and appreciative.  And the thing is we don’t miss any of the things we have got rid off.  It is so rewarding!

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About The Author

Zoe

Zoe met Eze (Chuck) in the 14th year of what turned out to be an 18 year ‘journey’ with mental illness. They got married less than a year of meeting with Zoe fully knowing Chuck had a diagnosis of mental illness. In the 18th year, Chuck defied the odds of mental illness. A consultant psychiatrist signed him off the mental health system with a bill of NO MENTAL ILLNESS. The consultant was so amazed by Chuck’s astonishing recovery that he even questioned how Chuck was diagnosed with mental illness all those years before, in the first place! Today Chuck is free from medication, its dependency and hospitalizations. Zoe’s award nominated book, DEFYING THE ODDS, chronicles the highs and ‘lows’ of this journey. Zoe, often writing from the standpoint of a caregiver, clearly understands that mental illness does not only affect an individual challenged with the disease, but also families, marriages and society as a whole.

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