So you want to start decluttering your home, but not sure how and where to start? Start Here!
Don’t postpone decluttering your home any further. Trust me, starting will be easier than you think. And before you know it, you will have a clean, clutter-free home, that is calming and peaceful.
If you’re feeling like you don’t know where to start decluttering your home, I will give you 6 simple steps to follow that will make it easy to get started with decluttering.
Remember! The time is going to pass anyway. Whether you decluttered or not. So start now, not a week, a month or a year later. Just follow these easy steps, and you will soon be on a decluttering journey, and you will be proud of what you have achieved a week, a month or a year later.
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6 Steps to Start Decluttering Your Home
If you feel like you don’t know where to start decluttering.
Or maybe you feel like you don’t know how to start decluttering.
With these 6 simple steps, I will tell you exactly where to start decluttering, and how to get started.
1. Throw out Things That Are for Trash (or Recycling)
This is the easiest way to get you going even if you don’t know where to start decluttering. It works because it’s not really a specific place, and it is also so easy to do. What you will be decluttering first is all the trash. You already know that you need to throw it out, so it’s a pretty mindless activity.
Start decluttering by throwing out all the garbage in your home.
The absolute easiest things to declutter are those that are obviously for trash. Throw away things like packaging, old receipts, broken things, empty bottles, etc.
These things are very easy to declutter, there is literally no decision making involved whatsoever.
Just grab a trash bag, and go through a room, or the whole house room by room if you’re feeling really motivated, and get rid of all the trash. This can be done really quickly because you are throwing away things that you already know are for trash.
Get rid of broken items, things that don’t work, things that you hate or never use, any trash that might be laying around on surfaces or on the floor.
Throw away damaged clothes or shoes, and empty shampoo and product bottles.
By throwing out things that are clearly trash, you can go through your whole house really quickly, and easily get rid of a bagful of trash leaving your home feeling a lot tidier than when you started. And you didn’t even have to make any tough decisions.
Related: 7 tips to keep a clean and organized home
2. Declutter Kitchen Counters
Now that you have taken out the trash, it’s time to tackle the first space. My suggestion is to start with the kitchen counters, and I will tell you why. However, you can pick a small space, a drawer or a surface and start there. But it needs to be pretty easy. No sentimental items.
Start decluttering your kitchen counters
The kitchen counters are one of my favorite places to start decluttering. Having decluttered kitchen counters makes such a big difference.
The kitchen is used everyday, and kitchen counters can easily accumulate lots of clutter.
Luckily, it can be one of the easiest places to declutter, because you will be getting rid of things that don’t usually have any sentimental value attached to them. Not only is it pretty easy to declutter, but it makes a big impact on your daily life.
This makes counters the ideal place to start your decluttering journey. So remove all the clutter from your kitchen counters.
Clear Your Countertops
Remove anything that doesn’t belong and put it in its home. You want to aim for completely clear countertops. Find a storage place for everything that is sitting on your counters, and you will instantly have a more tidy kitchen.
You don’t really need to keep anything on top of the counter. Store it all away. Small appliances, your supplements, papers, decor items, plates, pots, etc.. It all needs to go.
Clutter-free kitchen counters make the kitchen instantly feel more inviting. It becomes much easier to clean, and much easier to use to cook and prepare food.
Feeling overwhelmed by your kitchen counters? Read this article by an expert; June from This Simple Balance on how and why you need to declutter kitchen countertops.
3. Declutter Your Fridge
Your fridge is likely being used multiple times a day. That’s why decluttering your fridge will create a big impact on your life.
It is also so easy to declutter, because again there is no sentimental value to the items we store in it.
The decision making process when decluttering the fridge is very simple. If it is old, has gone bad, or smells then you need to toss it.
Throw out the foods that have been sitting for longer than you can remember, and foods that you won’t eat.
While you’re at it, wipe down the fridge, and do a bit of organizing.
Decluttering the fridge is very easy to do, is done fairly quickly, and makes a big difference in your everyday life.
4. Declutter your email and social media
Next, you want to declutter your virtual life.
This might not seem like a big deal to you at first, but social media and all the different notifications are one of the biggest distractions in our lives right now. They are constantly seeking our attention, and very efficiently wasting our time.
Declutter your phone. Delete any apps that you don’t use, and turn off app notifications. These unimportant notifications are designed to distract us and waste our time. So turn off notifications, and only check the apps that you need on your own terms.
Declutter your email. Are you subscribed to newsletters that you never read? Maybe your interests have changed? Are you getting endless sales promotions from way too many stores? Go ahead and unsubscribe from these email lists that are also wasting your time every single day.
Now that you have less distractions and more time to yourself, use the time to achieve things that are meaningful to you.
5. Move on to Bigger Decluttering Projects
At this point, you have gotten used to the idea and the process of decluttering, and you can move to bigger areas, and to more difficult decluttering projects.
You have already started, and it feels great to get rid of all that clutter. Your home looks better already, and you are feeling motivated and you know you can do it.
Come up with a plan
Now we need to come up with a plan to declutter the rest of the house. Only you can plan how to declutter your home and how to fit that within your life.
Set aside a few hours each day, or each week for decluttering depending on what works with your schedule.
Write down your plan, what you intend to declutter and when, and stick to your plan. You also need to figure out where you are going with the clutter. Decide where you will send the items you want to donate, and the items that you want to recycle.
Having a plan will make any big project less overwhelming, and much easier to tackle.
6. Keep Decluttering Your Home As You Go
Now that you have started decluttering, or even finished decluttering you home. It’s important to keep your home clutter-free.
When you come across something that is broken, useless, or you have too many of, get rid of it right away. If you are applying your makeup in the morning, and you see that you have a dried up bottle of mascara, get rid of it.
When you reach out for a spatula while you are cooking, and you see that you have a few that you never use, and probably will never use, throw them out.
As you go on about your daily activities in your home, make it a habit to get rid of clutter. The more you do this, the easier it will be, and you will become better at it. Make it a habit to declutter as you go, and it will help keep you house tidy and clutter free.
Read this next: 25 Things to Throw Away When Decluttering
If you haven’t yet started decluttering, start now by following these steps and you will be amazed by the results you will be able to get!
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