subject: Top Decluttering Tips [print this page] As we spend more time in our own homes and as our family grows, we tend to collect more items, furniture, ornaments, cloves and yes junk. The only problem with this is that we will obviously need more and more storage space in order to maintain a tidy, clean and uncluttered home. However for most people storage space is limited and before you know you can be living in a house that never seems to be tidy and stress free.
Of course your home should be a place to retreat and relax, but this can never be achieved if you have too much clutter. The following article should give you some ideas to begin turning your home back into the sanctuary it was always meant to be
Throw It Or Give It Away?
Now I know there are items that you absolutely must keep hold of when it comes to tidying your home. There are things such as priceless photographs and family heirlooms and of course you don't want to throw these or give them away to anyone. But there will be plenty of items that you simply don't need and don't use but you still hold onto them. Well now is the time to make that tough decision, so if you haven't used this item in the past 12 months and it really isn't a family heirloom perhaps it's time to get rid of it. Some items you can simply trash, but for those that feel a little too important to trash can you give them away? Perhaps you can give them to another family, a relative or even charity. This can often help ease the emotional pain of letting go of something.
Get With The Times
If you are even the slightest bit typical then you will no doubt accumulate piles of paperwork, letters and bills in various drawers or containers. These can build up very quickly and often result in a pile that seems too large to tackle. If this is the case then perhaps now is the time to begin using technology. For example many energy and phone companies now prefer to send your bill electronically via e-mail as opposed to a paper bill. Can you switch to this service? Have you also considered storing important documents electronically? For example are there any important documents that you can scan and store on your computer's hard drive? This can often be a very quick job to do and you can store thousands of documents on your hard drive or a single CD.
Specialist Furniture
Obviously in every home there are certain items that are important and you simply can't throw them into a huge skip outside your front door. There are always items that we have to keep and luckily for us there are some very clever designers that are helping to solve this very problem.
As an example there are coffee tables where the top of the table swivels or lifts to reveal some considerable storage space. This would be ideal for those loose magazines and newspapers you have lying around or those special coasters that only come out every now and again. Have you also seen the various and clever storage boxes that come in all shapes and sizes? For example there are wide but very shallow boxes that are perfect for sliding under beds and these can contain lots of items that would otherwise clutter your bedroom floor.
Of course there are hundreds of decluttering tips and many different methods to follow to get the job done. The most difficult challenge you will face in this whole process is simply getting started, so find some free time, gear yourself up and get stuck in! The results will be incredible!
