How to Declutter Your Home Effectively - A 4-Step Guide

Your home should be as functional as possible so that you can do things that you want to do without having to worry about all the things that are in your way. Therefore, you will need to learn to declutter your home as often as you can.

If this is something that you’re not familiar with, it can actually be quite complicated and overwhelming. If this is a problem you’re having, then you’re in luck! Here are four tips on how to declutter your home quickly and effectively:

1. ORGANIZE YOUR TASKS

Like with many other types of job, you need to organize your daily tasks from the most urgent and important to the least of both. For example, if you spend the majority of your time in the study, that’s the room that you will need to focus on first.

You can then make your way down the list of importance and urgency until you’ve gone through the entire house. This will not only help you to stay organized and know what to do at all times, it can help reduce the confusion that typically happens when decluttering.

2. PLAN AHEAD

You will need a good strategy and approach for each room, so it’s crucial that you plan your work ahead of time. This will give you a better idea of what you need to do first, which will minimize distraction and time wasting. You can get a lot more done with a smaller amount of time, which will give you more time to rest and relax as well. With that said, plan your decluttering strategy the night before the day approaches. Planning a night before prepares you with whats to come and it prevents you from overthinking the day of.

3. CLEAR EVERYTHING FROM YOUR HOME

When you’re in the process of decluttering, it’s important to get rid of things that you no longer need or use. One of the main reasons why we hold onto items that bring no value into our lives is because of how difficult it is to let them go. Because the point of decluttering is to clear some space for your home so that you can organize it in a way that’s more functional and aesthetically pleasing, finding creative ways to get rid of items will create clearer paths in your home and most importantly keep it organized.

4. PUT YOUR ITEMS TO GOOD USE

Getting rid of your unused or non-valuable items to your loved or even charities will clear all of your unused items from your home. Selling them on the internet, hosting a yard sale, giving them away to family or friends or even donating them to locale charity make the process of eliminating less daunting. With that said here are some spots you can visit to get rid of your stuff.

The Red Cross, Goodwill, Dress for Success, shelters for Battered Women and Salvation Army are the best places for you to donate your goods, or sell them for cheap. If you’re looking to sell your old furniture on the internet, eBay, Amazon or even FaceBook are the best places to do so. Make sure that you list them as second-hand so that buyers know what to expect from your goods.

If you’re looking for help decluttering your home or office in Houston, TX, get in touch with Rescue My Space today! We’re always more than happy to help.

Our Guide on How to Organize Your Home - What to Know

Our daily routine can be crazy and it can reflect our environment, which affects us. From ever-demanding jobs, kids, homework, and everything in between, it seems like many do not have the time to organize on the go before all the laundry and junk pile up. Instead of spending your hard-earned weekend hours catching up with your inner cleaning crew, do yourself a favor by adopting these easy-to-follow, keep-tidy-tricks. Soon enough, these tried and tested tips can become second nature, where your home can finally shine.

Tip #1: Categorize your belongings and delegate space for it

It’s always hard to keep track of keys, wallets, glasses, or other things we need but are lost continuously. When you designate a space for each item by categorizing them, you will find everything easy to trace and unquestionably in its place.

Tip#2: You can balance being organized and messy

Being naturally messy doesn’t mean you can’t be subtly organized. You can make the messiness look intentional by grouping items into categories and placing them together in its delegated container. A cute example would be a stash of winter hats and gloves all strewn together in a woven bin by the door, giving off a certain rustic charm.

After photo of a client’s Winter Closet

Tip #3: Get creative with your storage containers

Let’s say you’ve got organizing down, but you find your stacked possessions unsightly to look at. The best way to turn it from an eyesore into something more eye-catching is by using appealing receptacles. Your pile of umbrellas, for instance, can level up its look when it's stored upright using a large vase or champagne bucket. Another example is using an over-the-door bag meant for shoes to store a myriad of things like your crafting tools, cleaning supplies, toys, and many more. You make the rules in your house after all, and that includes improvising with other commodities as a cheap space-saving solution.

Tip #4: There’s no such thing as too many hooks

Once you see the potential it offers when it's hanging up by the back of doors, on walls, or anywhere that needs extra storage space, you’ll find yourself instantly hooked.

Tip #5: Make the most of natural storage space

Sometimes it's tempting to shop till we drop and force all our clothes in a closet until it's ready to burst open. You can increase the breathing space by placing unused clothes in a suitcase under the bed or at the back of the closet. This not only gives you more area to hang clothes, but you’d have a focused capsule that you know you’d wear within the month. 

Tip #6: Make the most of vertical storage space

Instead of loading up your cabinets back to the front, you can make use of available space from the tops of items like a refrigerator or even kitchen cabinets. It may require you to use a step-ladder to reach it, so be sure to place items there that you only use occasionally.

Tip #7: Practice conscious buying

Introducing a new item into your home means knowing what you already have. Cycle through it one by one - do you think you have any unused clothes you want to replace with this newly bought shirt? If you find that you can spare to give away some items, do it while you can. The trick to keeping things organized is to do things piece by piece without waiting for the need to do a massive overhaul. It’s the little things that make up the bigger picture after all.

If you’re looking for a Professional Organizer in Houston, TX to help make more space in your home or business, get in touch with Rescue My Space today! We’re always more than happy to help.

STOP buying things others don't WANT!

It was about a year ago when I realized how evident it was each time I was invited into someone’s home. We would walk into one room, I’d ask a question and I would receive the same response. We would walk into another room and I would get the same response, no change. At the end of the consultation I would leave with confusion because I knew my services were needed but at the same time they weren’t.

I’ve noticed that a lot items in our homes were gifted to us and out of those, many of them were given without knowing or even wanting. What do I mean by that? There are items in our homes right now that aren’t being used because we never wanted them but we feel guilty letting them go because they were given to us. It’s like this weird product cycle. We have an item we don’t need or use, we want to get rid of it but because it was given to us we feel guilty so the item stay in our home therefore remains clutter.

To all you lovely individuals who blindly give your loved one things you personally like without asking them what they want before you give it, this is for YOU.

Today marks the last day you will give a gift, whether for a birthday, an anniversary, a baby shower or just because, without asking the recipient what they want. No more surprises. Trust me, I understand your intentions are good and because you love the recipient so much, you want to give them a gift to show your love. I GET IT! The thing is 8 out of 10 people you’re giving said gift to doesn’t want it, use it or life changed after receiving it.

Lets be totally honest. The reason we give gifts, for the most part, is for our own selfishness. We feel great when we give a gift to someone even if they don’t ever use it. We don’t care because the gift came from the heart and that’s what matters right?!? WRONG! Sometimes we give gifts for the sake of giving a gift. We forgot about the event so we rush to the nearest store just to bring something to the party. Our loved one is grieving so we believe giving them a gift will cheer them up….it doesn’t. Even if it does, it’s only temporary. We saw a cute dress at the store and feel it will look great on our niece so we buy it for them and I’m sure that dress has never been worn. And my personal favorite, an inheritance.

I think its important that we understand that the unwanted, surprise gifts we are giving are unnecessary because those gifts usually become clutter. Unless the gifts are loved or being used, they usually take the back seat and are forgotten but because they were given to the individual, the guilt to get rid of it prevents them from letting it go. According to Professional Organizer Regina Lark, the average U.S. household has 300,000 things, from paper clips to ironing boards. Of course they’re are some who fall under that statistics but nevertheless, that’s a lot of stuff! The reason why I felt to add this is because the more unnecessary gifts you give, the more things we continue to possess, thus more clutter. Because my goal is to help people combat the clutter to create an organized life, rather than going at the clutter head on, I want to address the givers first.

So next time, if you’re thinking of giving a gift to someone, before you run out to the store ask them, “What do you want”? It may seem taboo because we love giving surprise gifts but trust me giving a gift someone actually wants is much better than giving a gift they will never use. If you just can’t see yourself asking this question, then try giving them a gift of experience.

Oh, and don’t take “I don’t care what you give me” as an answer because that’s a clear indication that the gift you want to give them will never be used.

If you’re interested in hearing the audio for this blog article, check it out below.

Stop buying things others don't want!

Judi the Organizer