It’s a new year, a new season, and it may be time for a fresh start. Decluttering an apartment or home can be an overwhelming and daunting task. Whether you are in a small apartment or a large apartment, much clutter can accumulate quickly and it could easily get between you and your life.
But once it is all said and done, decluttering can spark joy and accomplishment in you. So let’s get started on decluttering your apartment space. Follow along for tips on how to declutter apartment or home.
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The Benefits of Decluttering
Decluttering your apartment can have many positive effects. Effects may include:
- Make us happier and healthier people – There’s something exhilarating and satisfying about walking into a fresh, clean house. Decluttering will provide you with a sense of peace, calm, and happiness in a home that is free of mess and chaos.
- Can reduce stress – According to Web MD, decluttering benefits your mental health by making you feel calmer, happier, and more in control, making for a more relaxed mind.
- Improves your focus and productivity – Let’s face it, a lot of clutter can impact our ability to complete tasks and get things done. Visual clutter can be distracting and sometimes exhausting. It can make you feel scattered and unorganized. Clutter takes you away from the things that matter since your focus continually diverts from one object to another. A mess-free space lets you focus and get the important things in your life done.
- Saves you money – Imagine all the things you didn’t realize you had because you just couldn’t find them. Decluttering will help you find your lost gems and things you may have repurchased if you didn’t find them via decluttering.
- Enhances your lifestyle and relationships – You may be more inclined to invite friends, family, and neighbors over to your house if it is clean and tidy. Spending time with family and friends will help to bolster your mood and make you feel more loved.
- Provides a fresh start – Once you have completed this overwhelming task, it will provide you with a renewed, refreshed feeling and a new state of mind.
Best Tips on How to Declutter Apartment
Tip 1 – Start with Individual Rooms
Start by decluttering individual rooms for best results. Get an accurate count of each room you would like to declutter and make a list. From your kitchen to your bedroom and living room, decluttering room by room is the best way to start the decluttering process.
Tip 2 – Create a Decluttering Plan
Create a to-do home checklist and decluttering plan for each individual room in the entire apartment. The declutter plan will include the areas that need to be decluttered and how you plan to do so. This will give you a starting point and direction on how to proceed with each room. It will help you keep track of the important decluttering tasks.
Tip 3 – Donate, Sell or Trash it
To help you organize the stuff you want to keep or get rid of, make three different piles: donate, sell, and trash. You can use boxes or bins (or even a trash bag) to help organize these piles. If it is something you haven’t worn or used in over a year, ask yourself if you plan to wear or use it again.
If the answer is no, then sell it, toss it, or take the unnecessary items to a local donation center like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. You can also sell these items by hosting a yard sale or listing it on Offerup or Facebook marketplace. There’s no need to keep all the extra stuff that you no longer utilize.
Tip 4 – Start Small
Start small with areas in each room that you find most important and most cluttered. This can be the area where you tend to pile things up or throw undesignated items that don’t have a designated space. There’s no need to declutter everything at once, especially if it becomes an emotional journey for you. You can start with the junk drawer, the pantry, or underneath the bed.
Tip 5 – Check the Expiration Date
Check for expiration dates and eliminate old expired food, cleaning supplies, old cosmetics, and hair products. Combine or get rid of duplicate items. You’ll be shocked at how much you’ve been holding onto and keeping around that isn’t used or has lost its utility.
Tip 6 – Start Decanting
Consider decanting your loose kitchen items such as flour, rice, and sugar and organizing them with labels. When you put organization methods in place, you’ll be shocked at how much simpler it is to maintain order.
Tip 7 – Find Storage Solutions
Find alternative storage solutions that can best fit the items in your home. Examples of this might be the following:
- Investing in key pieces of furniture that also double as storage. This could include a bed with under the bed storage unit, a trunk or storage bench, an ottoman, and side tables with drawers and cubes. These items also make great dresser alternatives which are especially useful when you are trying to maximize a small space.
- Hooks for hanging purses or jackets on the walls so you can use more vertical space.
- Folding your clothes for easy storage on the closet shelves.
- Hanging your clothes on matching clothes hangers so that your clothes look neater and more coordinated.
Tip 8 – Set a Schedule
Set aside specific times to declutter areas. Having a specific time set aside to get the work done will help you best manage your time and push you to complete the task within the specified time constraint. There’s no rule for when decluttering should happen, so if you have little time, you can spread it out over a day, a weekend or a couple of weeks as long as you keep track of your accomplishments and you stick to the decluttering schedule.
Tip 9 – Set Decluttering Goals
This will help you to have a goal that is attainable and one you can strive for. When your goal is achievable, you are more inclined to want to accomplish it.
Tip 10 – Solicit Friends and Family
Ask a friend or family member for help. Sometimes, we get emotionally attached to things in our homes and may have difficulty letting them go. So it helps to bring in someone that may have an objective approach or feeling toward your belongings. They can make suggestions on what they think you should keep or toss. Having your friend or family member assist you with decluttering is a great way to connect and accomplish tasks together.
If, for some reason, you prefer not to ask a family or friend because the clutter is so severe that it causes you embarrassment or you simply don’t want to burden them, then it may be time to call on a professional organizer. There are lots of professional services out there, like TaskRabbit and Thumbtack, that can assist with this kind of task. While it may not be a free service, it is well worth the investment.
Tip 11 – Clean Up
Once you have decluttered the area, thoroughly clean up the area removing any debris left behind, and wipe down flat surfaces to finalize the decluttering checklist.
Tip 12 – Reward Yourself
Give yourself a pat on the back and reward yourself. Decluttering can sometimes be an exhausting, emotional journey. So take a deep breath and try to reward yourself once you’re done with a glass of wine, a spa experience at home, or a celebration with friends. You can do whatever your heart desires.
Hopefully, you have found these tips for decluttering your apartment useful. Adopting a mindset that prioritizes your mental health and well-being over material belongings is one method to maintain a clutter-free lifestyle in the long run.
Do you have tips on how to declutter that is not listed here? Please leave a comment below letting us know what your think.
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