5 Top Decluttering Tips

If you have seen my recent 'Creating Narnia' post - you will know that I've been on a bit of a cleaning hype - and it hasn't stopped at just a quick 'Hinch'. Although we only moved in July, as we lived together before we bought this home we did have 'stuff' to bring with us. For some stupid reason, instead of using the move as chance to get rid of unwanted items, some things slipped through the net. This resulted in our spare room instantly becoming a bit of a dumping ground and as you can imagine, that didn't sit will with me at all. I've actually had a week at home this week (which I'm sure I will explain a bit later on) and Kal has also had 4 days off which gave the perfect opportunity to have a bit of a clear out. That's why today I thought I could share 5 Top Decluttering Tips as you guys seem to love my list type posts!

Conquer One Area At a Time
First things first, don't overwhelm yourself! Pick one area/room at a time and get that done before moving on to another job. Not only will this make the task at hand a bit easier but it will also give you satisfaction when you can tick something off of your list ready to move to the next job. Using this method also means that if you have to stop for any reason (okay, so if you get bored) it means you haven't messed up too much of your house at once.

Do You Use It?
I find this to be a biggie. If it helps set yourself a time frame - 'Have I used this item in X amount of weeks/months'. If the answer is no then realistically do you need to keep it? It's easy to become attached to things 'just because' but realistically it just clutters the house and takes up room for things that you actually need/would use!

Would You Miss It?
We had items in storage for approximately 7 months and there were some items I didn't even think about in that time, let alone miss. Once again, if you wouldn't miss it if it was gone, do you need to keep it? It seems so silly to hold on to things that you don't really 'care' about so a good way to test this is to maybe build an empty box, pop some items in there that you're unsure about and then leave them for X amount of time. If you don't really think much about them in that time, maybe it's a sign to finally lose them!

Does It Have Sentimental Value?
Some things you maybe don't use or even think about very often but they have a sentimental value. For example, I have some things that where passed down when relatives died and I would never dream about throwing away. This must have limits though. I also had 4 (yes, FOUR) memory boxes full of cinema tickets and 'gifts' people had bought me. I have now whittled it down to 2 very small ones. If you need to, designate a certain area to keep your sentimental items and save them from being banished to no mans land!

Does It Have a Home?
The biggest thing when decluttering is obviously that you are trying to give things a home and get rid of general mess. If you can't find a space for something in your home it's maybe a big indicator that it's time to get rid. A lot of the time (for us anyway) certain areas will become dumping grounds for items that you can't find a home for. For example that pesky kitchen drawer which is full of odds and ends which don't have a forever home or that spare room which is full to the brim of empty boxes and those bigger items that just aren't getting their use. Use a declutter as a chance to organise your home and give everything it's place.


So there we have it, 5 quick tips to help declutter your home. I am in no means an expert when it comes to this but these top tips definitely help me when it comes to giving the house a declutter. Let me know, do you have any tips?

Disclaimer: This blog post is in no way sponsored and all opinions and photographs are my own.