If you’ve ever wished for more space at home, you’re not alone. One study revealed that a surprising 81% of Gen Z and Millennials said their homes needed more space.
A tidy home doesn't just feel calmer, it reduces stress and saves you time finding things. It also makes cleaning quicker and easier. Decluttering is often confused with ruthless purging, but it's actually more about having small, sustainable systems that prevent clutter building up in the first place.
Set Simple Rules
There are lots of documented simple to follow rules that everyone in the household can follow. They include:
- One in, One Out: When you buy something new, you find something old to throw out. This helps to stop possessions piling up and overflowing existing storage.
- Don't Go Empty-handed: When you're moving from room to room and you spot something that’s out of place and belongs in the room you're going to, pick it up and take it with you.
- The daily whip round: Every evening before bed take just five minutes to straighten cushions, remove random coffee cups from the living room and gather up any items that belong upstairs.
Don't try and set lots of rules all at once. Introduce just one that will be easy for everyone at home to get on board with.
Use the Box Method
When you start decluttering a space, it can help to have a few boxes or bags to put things in, ready for moving. Some people have permanent boxes for discarded items such as ‘charity’ or ‘storage’. When the boxes are full, they’re taken out of the house and dealt with.
Which boxes (or bags) you use is up to you, but some suggestions could be:
1. Keep
2. Donate or sell
3. Recycle or bin
4. Put into storage for safekeeping
If you’ve got a lot of sorting to do, tackle one small area at a time so it’s not overwhelming. A single drawer or shelf is a fine starting place.
Be decisive. If something hasn’t been used for months, it might belong in the donate or sell box. If it’s something you love but have no space for it might belong in self storage rather than at home and underfoot.
Try not to simply move things from one place to another without reducing their number otherwise you’re just relocating the clutter.
Have Timed Decluttering Sessions
If you’ve got a lot of sorting to do, tackle one small area at a time so it’s not overwhelming. A single drawer or shelf is a fine starting place.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and set to. When the timer goes off, stop and assess your progress. If the area looks better, you’re done. If you’ve had enough of it, you’re done. If you feel like continuing, have another ten minutes. Don’t stress it.
Once you get things in some kind of order, short sessions like this help you keep things under control. You can schedule 30-minute sessions on a weekly basis for all the rooms throughout the week:
- Monday: Hallway and bathrooms
- Tuesday: Kitchen counter and drawers
- Wednesday: Living room
Short bursts are less daunting and build momentum. You’ll notice progress fast.
Use Self Storage
Few people only have stuff they use on a daily basis. Hobbies, sports, garden equipment, heirlooms and hand-me-downs all have periods of inactivity. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want them. You do, you just don’t want them taking up precious space at home. Low-cost self storage might be the answer.
Whether you’re looking for cheap storage in Watford down south or Wakefield up north, a storage room helps you take charge of space at home.
Have a Landing Place for Essentials
Items you need daily, such as keys, phones, bags, work ID tags etc. should be given their own special places. Have a small tray by the door for keys, a hook nearby for bags and a rack for daily shoes.
Mornings are a lot less stressful when you don’t have to hunt for things because they always end up in random places. It takes a little while to build the habit of always putting them in the same place, but it’s a habit worth cultivating.
Keep Flat Surfaces Clear
If your flat surfaces are clutter magnets, try making a few clear rules for yourself and others.
- Only two or three decorative items on sideboards and mantlepieces.
- No personal belongings on the kitchen counters or dining table.
- Use you nightly whip round to clear the surfaces and put things where they belong.
Organise Storage by Frequency of Use
If you’re forever moving things to reach what you need, a quick storage rethink might help.
- For daily use, store at eye-level or waist-level.
- For weekly use items, use upper cupboards or the lower drawers.
- For rarely used things, use high shelves, labelled boxes or self storage.
Manage Kids’ stuff
With children about you might have to let go of having a perfectly tidy home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a few clear systems to keep things under control.
- Keep fewer toys out and rotate the rest weekly or monthly to renew interest. It’s a tried and tested theory based on the Montessori system.
- Clear toy bins every month and remove any broken or ignored items. The ignored items that are still good could be put into local self storage for future family additions, or until interest revives.
- Encourage kids to tidy up one play activity before starting a new one. Make a game of it or offer small rewards for tidying efforts.
Decluttering is an ongoing process, not once and done. As soon as you let your guard down, it builds up again. Small changes, such as having homes for things, short timer cleaning sessions, and regular donating and storing routines all help you stay in control. You’ll feel calmer, have more space, and banish chaos from your life.
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