17 Tips To Declutter Your Home For 2021

Decluttering and minimalising your home and life is becoming more attractive to more people. As we shift our focus to mindfulness, well being and taking care of the environment, decluttering our spaces is becoming essential.

However, the daunting task of actually tackling clutter in the home can leave people feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Getting rid of clutter and maintaining a clutter-free home is a real challenge, even for the tidiest of people. There are endless amounts of ’stuff’ that pile up from letters, mail, books, pens and other odd ends that fill your home without ever being put away.

If your home, car and office space feels cluttered and disorganised it can overwhelm you and you end up not knowing where to start. Every task in your life can feel way more complicated than it really is when surrounded by mess. When you have a tranquil space to live and work in you will feel more tranquil as well.

There are a number of ways for you to easily tackle the clutter in your home and keep it spotless. There are so many benefits to having a clutter-free environment so don’t waste another minute living in a mess.

The new year is the best time to declutter your home for a fresh start in 2021.

Benefits of decluttering your home

Here are some of the main benefits of decluttering your home:
• Less cleaning. When you have fewer belongings there is much less to dust and clean.
• Less organising. You won’t spend anywhere as much time putting things away or organising your stuff. Finding things will become effortless.
• Less stress. A cluttered space results in a stressed mind, overwhelm and frustration. Less clutter brings more peace and calm into your life
• Less debt. When you commit to remaining decluttered and minimising your life, you will find yourself saving money instead of spending it

Decluttering tips
Here are our 17 top tips for decluttering your home effortlessly for 2021.

1. Start With 5 Minutes At A Time

If you are new to decluttering and have a big job ahead, start with just 5 minutes a day. This will help you build momentum without getting discouraged or overwhelmed.

You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in 5 minutes. Eventually, you will easily build up the time spent decluttering as you start to see and feel the benefits.

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2. Give One Item Away Each Day

If you are a hoarder and are dealing with a lot of stuff that you have lying around but no longer want or need, start giving your stuff away. This is a quick way to start removing things from your home you no longer need. Each day find one item in your house to give away or donate. Make it a weekly trip to the local charity shop.

This will make a huge dent in your clutter over the year and your things will not go to waste either.

3. Fill An Entire Rubbish Bag In One Sitting

Get a big rubbish bag and give yourself the task of decluttering until it is filled. Filling a rubbish bag gives you a finish line and a source of motivation and a sense of accomplishment.

If you are having more of a serious clear out with larger appliances and furniture, set the items aside either in a garage or under shelter. Donate items that are still in good condition and arrange to have a waste or junk removal specialist come and take away the rest.

4. Identify & Donate Clothes You Never Wear

To identify clothes you never wear, hang all your clothes in the reverse direction. After you wear an item, turn the hanger around to the correct direction.

After a few months check which hangers are still facing backwards and give those away.

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5. Create A Decluttering Checklist

A checklist can help you have a plan and give you some structure. It is good to have a visual representation of what you need to do, to make it simple to move through the tasks.

You can create a list of things you need to do for each room in the house and get to work.

6. Do The 12-12-12 Challenge

The 12-12-12 challenge is to find 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate and 12 items to be put away where they belong.

Do this once a week or month and watch the progress!

7. Take Before And After Photos

Taking before and after photos is a great way to track your progress and keep your motivation high. Clean up one area of the house, take a picture and look at the amazing difference.

This will motivate you to start decluttering the rest of your house when you see how good it can look. It is also something to look back at if the clutter starts building again.

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8. Get Help From A Friend.

Often we can get irrationally attached to our belongings, leading to hoarding and clutter. It can be really helpful to get an objective friend or family member to come over and help you rationally work through what you need and what you can get rid of.

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9. Use The Four-box Method

Get four boxes and label them rubbish, give away, keep or relocate.

Enter a room in your home and place each item in that room in one of the boxes. Don’t miss a single item from that room. It may be difficult and take time but will help you think about what items you actually need in your home.

10. Expand Cabinet Storage

A lot of the time clutter, especially in the kitchen, is a result of a lack of storage space. Easily fix this by getting more! Make more cabinet space in your kitchen or bathroom by mounting a rack on the back of a cabinet or pantry door. You could try a roll-out rack in a lower cupboard to increase storage space, install floating shelves and a suspended utensil and pot rack.

11. Decluttering The Kitchen

Categorise items in your pantry to groups such as grains, spices, spreads etc. This will help you organise and identify items you no longer need or should be somewhere else.

Buy organising tools like storage baskets, drawer organisers, mason jars and storage containers to keep your pantry and drawers neat and tidy. Make no room for clutter!

Get in the habit of reorganising and purging your pantry and fridge of items that are expired regularly.

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12. Sorting Out Bathroom

Remove, sort and replace all your health and beauty products. Go through all shelves, cupboards and drawers and only keep what you use. It is easy to collect new cosmetics and toiletries without getting rid of older ones, it is time to be ruthless and put this to an end.

Store your bathroom appliances using a hanging shoe organiser or invest in a shelving unit with baskets to easily put away items and keep the benchtop clear. Get a make-up organiser to put in a drawer or to display nicely.

Keep stylish wicker baskets in your bathroom to store towels and laundry.

13. Organizing The Bedroom

Add extra storage in your bedroom without taking up much space by adding shelves. Move items that have nowhere to go from the floor to the shelves - just make sure you keep them tidy!

Stowaway items by season. Use large containers to store winter items under your bed or in another cupboard in summer and vice versa.

Fold your clothes every time you put them away. You will be able to fit so much more in your drawers and prevent clothes from spilling onto the floor.

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14. Leave Room To Grow

If you fill your shelves and drawers to the brim, you won’t have any room for new items to come in as your possessions begin to grow. Leave 10% of your shelves and drawers free at all times and as new items come in to try and get rid of older items.
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15. Detangle Cords And Cables

When decluttering it is worthwhile making the effort to detangle and organise all your cables and cords. Tangled cables and cords look awful and make life difficult, so get organised by getting your cables in order. It may even be worth hiring a cabling specialist to organise and hide your cabling if you have a lot of electronic devices.

16. Keep The Coffee Table Clear

Coffee tables are usually the focal point of the living room, so it is important to have this infamous clutter collector clear!

Stick to minimalist and intentionally placed decorations just as a vase, a candle, coaster and a couple of coffee table books.

When choosing a coffee table, opt for one that has a shelf or drawer for storage below it.

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17. Keep Your Home Decluttered For Good

Once all your hard work is done and the clutter is going, it’s important to do some maintenance work to ensure your home remains clutter-free.

Don’t allow potential clutter in your home in the first place. Before purchasing something seriously consider whether you need it and where you put it.

Declutter a little bit each day. Deal with everyday clutter causes like mail, clothes and toys every day. Set aside some time each day to put things away to prevent you from having to spend hours every now & then to declutter. It is much more pleasant, manageable and achievable to do a little bit each day.

Use the one-in, one-out rule. Whenever you bring something new home, throw away or donate something else. This is a simple way to ensure clutter cannot come back.

Rent or borrow one-off items. This could be a book, movie, evening gown, tools or an appliance.

There you have 17 tips to declutter your home for 2021!

No matter which decluttering tips you choose to implement, just take the first step in decluttering your home today, even if it’s just writing a checklist and taking before photos. Get excited! When you need help with removal of all the junk you have segregated, you can always reach out via ezy peazy and hire a removal expert!

There is a new way of living with more peace, tranquillity and organization waiting for you.