It can be very easy to build up clutter in your life without realising it, especially with internet delivery goods and the frantic pace of modern life.
Often, we do not realise just how much of our homes are choked up by unwanted goods until it comes to moving day, or until our homes start to actually feel claustrophobic.
To combat this, here are our top decluttering tips.
Work through decluttering a room at a time
Always start your declutter plan in the room of your home where you spend the least time. There is a good chance that items you do not really need will have ended up deposited here. Seeing the items less, you will be less likely to make sentimental or practical arguments for keeping clothes or items you never use.
Once you have set the precedent for yourself of choosing things to get rid of and removing them from the room in your house you visit least, go on to the next-least visited room and so on through your house. By the time you come to your bedroom or living room you will have a much keener sense of which items do and do not matter to you.
Depending on how much time you have available it can make sense to assign a couple of intense hours to each room, or, if you are doing it in smaller chunks over a longer time span, do a room every session. Once you have taken stock, divide the items into those you will keep where they are, those that are for storage, and those that are going out. Making sure everything gets moved to its new home on the day you clear the room is paramount – if you let it hang around elsewhere in your home the problem only moves.
With clothes, consider the 80:20 rule: most people wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time, and discard and move around clothes from there. Clothes can be an especially good item to hand on to family and friends, or to charity shops – plus you have complete control with clothes over what goes, and what stays.
Convert your loft into storage space
Loft insulation can make a huge difference to your energy bills, as well as being cheap and efficient to install and good for the environment. However, once you have installed it you may be worried about converting your loft into storage space in case you damage it.
While this is a legitimate concern for some conversions, with award winning loft boarding service from Instaloft you can bypass this concern entirely. Instaloft uses a loft boarding system called LoftZoneStorefloor, which can reliably protect your insulation and the savings it gives you, without any risk of squashing it or letting it get damp.
Donate as many items as possible
Many items such as old white goods or old clothes have limited resale value if you try selling them yourself online, but can do enormous good being sold in a charity shop. Charities such as the British Heart Foundation are always keen for donations to their shops. Supporting a good cause while freeing up space in your house should make the new sense of freedom even sweeter.
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