Decluttering and organizing our homes doesn’t need to be a tedious process. In fact, there are ways you can have fun with the experience — and you don’t need an interior decorator to finish the job.
Purge What You Don’t Need
It may seem like torture to go through your belongings in every room, but you can make it fun. Start by creating an upbeat playlist so you can blast music to keep you motivated and energized. Next, decide what “piles” you want to sort your belongings into: keep, donate, sell, or upcycle.
Upcycling may take some extra time, but can be worth it. Transforming your belongings is a fun way to make over something you might otherwise donate, and once you’ve updated the item, you can either keep it or sell it online or in a local boutique. This way, you can earn a little money and find new life for old things.
Organize Room by Room
Once you have your possessions sorted, it’s time to put them in order. Organizing belongings can seem like a daunting task, so to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed, tackle one room at a time, and take plenty of breaks. SFGate suggests dividing each room into zones makes it easier to keep your space organized. To group things, think about how often items are needed and which ones are used together, and use color as a cheerful way to designate spaces.
Visual Refreshments
When considering decluttering, actual belongings are the first and obvious thing that comes to mind. However, as Reliable Remodeler notes, your wall paint can also make an impact in how cluttered or uncluttered a room appears. Unified shades can blend a space to help it appear larger and more orderly, and high points of contrast can draw attention away from other areas.
If you aren’t a fan of paint, there is always wallpaper. Today’s wallpapers aren’t what they used to be, thanks to a wide variety of textures and designs in removable treatments. A bold pattern can become your point of interest, or a subtle pattern in the same hue as the rest of the room can blend in. Think about the effect that makes sense for you and explore your options.
Hang It All
If you are struggling to find ample storage space, you may need to think unconventionally. You could create hanging storage on walls and doors, buy grids to place on the backs of doors, or even crochet baskets that you can hang on walls or on a hook from the ceiling. Every home layout is different, so experiment to find out what works best to give you the extra storage you need. This way, your items stay neat and organized, but not out of reach.
Get Your Clean On
As you organize your home, you may as well take advantage of the situation and do some deep cleaning. Unlike with organizing, doing the entire home all at once gets things done quickly, and will only take a few hours out of your weekend to do. Go task by task (instead of room by room) to be as efficient as possible. Of course, it may be easier to hire a one-time cleaning service to do a deep and thorough clean of your home. If you go that route, remember to check the reputation of any service you’re considering before you commit.
Keep It Tidy
Now that your home is organized and clean, you need to take measures to help it stay that way. Rather than saving all your cleaning for the weekend, do little maintenance tasks every day. For example, make your bed as soon as you wake up, and spend a few minutes each day wiping down surfaces. By creating a cleaning schedule, you’ll be able to stay on top of keeping your home tidy. To stick to it, focus on each task as you do it, and don’t set unrealistic goals. For instance, if you think you’re going to have the entire home cleaned and sorted before you go out for work, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Having an organized house isn’t impossible, and it doesn’t need to be boring. Add color to liven up your spaces, and get help cleaning when you need it. Remember, your home shouldn’t just be the place you sleep, but the place you love.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
