Easy Ways to De-cluttering Your Home

Clutter in the Living Room/Bedroom/Kitchen

To simplify your living room, bedroom, and kitchen, first begin by viewing the items in your room with a new perspective. Let nothing escape your scrutiny. The goal is to rid your home of the things that no longer have use or purpose, so it’s necessary that you see your things with new eyes, keen eyes, cut-throat eyes! Think of it like your digestive system, which works daily to cleanse your body of particles that it cannot use.

When de-cluttering , consider which of the three categories your things fall into:
1. Throw {things with no use, value, meaning, function}
2. Store {things with function but no immediate use}
3. Display {things with value, meaning, and beauty}

Let’s take a closer look at these categories and some solutions.

Throw – Completely divorce yourself from things you don’t need. Don’t hang on to piles of papers, old clothes, and boxes full of things you haven’t looked through in the past year. If the show Hoarders: Buried Alive has taught us anything it’s to let go and move on! There’s such freedom in release.

Solution: Convert trash into cash. Clothing and house wares can be sold on Ebay, Craigslist or at a yard sale, and loved again by another household.

Store – Items that are functional but do not have immediate use should be stored away creatively. Appliances, supplies, craft materials can be pulled out when needed but don’t need prime real estate in your home.

Solution: Store items creatively in beautiful and/or functional containers, baskets, jars, and boxes. Choose storage options that reflect your lifestyle and taste. If you love what you store things in, there’s a good chance you’ll love to use your organizational tools. Remember to organize in a way that works for you, not the way you think you should organize. At the end of the day, organization methods have to function well enough for you to find things again on a regular basis.

Display – There’s something beautiful about honoring your most cherished items by displaying them. Anything you collect or enjoy as a hobby can become an instant, personal museum. Some things are just too important and lovely to hide in a storage box so these items should be displayed and enjoyed on a daily basis. Everyday household items can be turned into art, adding interest and color to any room.

Solution: Accessories like jewelry and scarves can be displayed in a bedroom on a lovely tray or on elaborate hooks. A library of cookbooks can be arranged on an open shelf in the kitchen. Your children’s artwork can be framed and hung down the hallway like a museum of modern art. Anything from postcards to matchboxes to wine bottles to vintage tea kettles can be turned into a beautiful display. This is a home’s true expression. Guests will instantly know who you are and what you value.

Always remember above all else to make room for the life you’re living today.

Closet Clutter

If the bedroom is the most intimate of rooms in the home, then the closet is the inner court of the bedroom. It’s where you keep your intimate belongings and even your most precious memories. But most importantly, it’s where you keep your clothing – the first thing people notice about you before you open your mouth to speak.

Here are some very practical ways to manage your closet, keeping it beautiful and functional:

1. Rid your closet of garments with stains, holes, wrong sizes and garments you haven’t worn in over a year. Don’t hold onto items you “may” fit into after you lose that weight. Live the life you have today. Those items can be recycled into cleaning cloths depending on the material.

2. Organize clothing with a system that works for you. I prefer to hang my clothes by type. I like all my jackets together, skirts together, dresses together, and so on. Within each type, I hang the clothes in color order from lightest to darkest. It creates a beautiful graduation of hues in the closet. For me, it all comes back to visual aesthetic.

3. Invest in quality, uniform hangers. Good hangers will prolong the life of your clothing. Wooden or cushioned hangers are great options and will create a sense of visual uniformity in your closet.

4. Hook hangers in reverse on the hanger rod. What this accomplishes is it lets you see what you actually wear on a regular basis. After six months, the hangers still hooked in reverse are the clothes you should let go of. It’s a easy trick.

5. Make sure your closet is well-lit. Ample lighting is essential to helping you find what you need efficiently in your closet. Don’t get dressed in the dark. Proper lighting will help you get ready for the day. Maybe a little vintage chandelier?

6. Store shoes on a rack. Some people prefer to store their shoes in boxes, but I prefer shoe racks that proudly display my heels, flats, tennis shoes and boots in a wonderful, artistic way. Boxes can take up a lot of space and be cumbersome when you’re looking for a particular pair, but a shoe rack is just the opposite.

7. Display jewelry, scarves and accessories in creative ways. Make an artistic statement on a little table either inside or right outside your closet, if you’re it doesn’t have space. Store and display your accessories in bowls, on trays and on hooks in your closet. You will love the accessibility and interest this adds.

8. Hang photos in your closet. This is just a little touch that adds a big impact. Smaller framed photos of family or artwork will make your closet feel a lot bigger and a lot more chic.

Keeping your closet organized and beautiful may be a continual effort, but the results are well worth the energy. It helps us to know exactly what we have, and in effect, helps us to reduce spending on unnecessary items.

Please feel free to comment and share your experience in de-cluttering!