Room by Room Decluttering Guide
Every home has surfaces and corners that accumulate the most clutter. The thing is, we often get so used to the clutter that we don’t notice it.
If you’re looking for inspiration and help brainstorming regarding decluttering, sometimes it can really help to change your perspective. We tend to get used to the look of our own homes, allowing us to ignore the build-up of clutter until it becomes overwhelming. If this is the case, it is helpful to take photos of your rooms and spaces. This will give you a new perspective to help you strategize your organization and use of space.
For each room, try to stay within a fairly uniform style and color scheme. Clutter doesn’t just mean mess, in some cases it can refer to clashing styles or colors. These clashes can be overstimulating, causing the same problems with rest and relaxation that one might otherwise encounter in an unclean or overly cluttered space. This doesn’t mean that each room needs to be monochrome, but it’s helpful to pick an attractive neutral and focal color combination for each space that will help you decide on the room’s overall look and decor, such as soft-blue and light beige.
Bedroom
Bedrooms become an easy place to shove everything that you don’t want visitors to see. However, a cluttered bedroom can inhibit our sleeping patterns and add stress. Here are some tips for decluttering the bedroom.
Use Furniture Wisely
If you have a night-stand, use its drawers for nighttime routines and clothing essentials.
The best organizational systems are easily accessible. If it’s too difficult to practice a system, then it will fall apart quickly. There are some goldmine storage areas, such as below the bed, which can easily become disorganized due to being difficult to reach. One way to make under the bed storage more accessible is to put wheels on the containers you use for storage.
Use slim shelves to hold odds and ends. Deeper shelves encourage the kind of stacking that makes a room feel weighty or too full. Slim shelves can hold many objects with odd shapes and sizes while also keeping the room’s appearance light.
Keep Surfaces Clear
Make a habit of clearing off dressers and finding homes for all the things on it. It will help to have specific places for dirty clothes, mismatched socks, loose buttons, and other odds and ends. These homes can even be compartmentalized within the dresser drawers by decluttering the drawers using drawer organizers.
Declutter jewelry. You’re less likely to wear jewelry items when there are too many of them or they are tangled together. Not only is organization a must in this respect, but it’s also a good idea to go through any jewelry that you haven’t worn in over a year. The 80/20 rule applies well here too.
Use attractive containers to hold your everyday essentials, such as lotions and tissues. These containers can sit on your nightstand to consolidate the number of items and bottles.
Make Places for the Clutter
Keep a laundry basket in your room for dirty clothes and make sure that the clothes land there rather than on the floor.
Put a catch-all bin in your bedroom. For those who are prone to clutter, a catchall bin is a place you can put any object that needs to be put back in its home later. However, it is necessary to empty and replace objects from this bin at least once a week.
Make an empty space or a section on your shelving for magazines and catalogs that you haven’t gotten around to reading. This will give them a home and keep them from cluttering the coffee table.
