Please welcome our guest blogger today, Cas from Clutterbug! I'm sure you've seen all of her wonderful organizing and decluttering videos on YouTube and she has graciously accepted an invitation to talk with us! Please enjoy and feel free to leave a comment!
Minimalism and decluttering is a huge trend right now, and why wouldn’t it be? Who doesn’t want an organized and clutter-free home? I know I sure do! Unfortunately, a lot of people think that heading to the store to stock up on plastic storage containers is all they need to do in order to organize their home and banish the clutter. Truth time - Buying plastic bins with the intent of reducing clutter is a lot like borrowing money to get out of debt – it’s a short-term, band aid solution.
So, how do you really get organized (and stay organized for good)? The process of organizing your home doesn’t have to be expensive, time consuming or difficult, but there are some important steps you need to take in order to achieve success. The first step? Declutter - aka – get the crap out of your house.
We all have too much stuff. We are constantly bringing new things into our homes on a regular basis, whether it be from Christmas, Birthdays or the occasional shopping trip. This steady influx of new “stuff” can add up to a lot of clutter when we aren’t removing items from our home at the same rate. Despite the average home size increasing each year, so many families are feeling stressed and unhappy with the stuffed state of their homes.
Let’s talk about some Painless Purging techniques that can transform your home from cluttered and chaotic, to clean and calm.
Garbage Bag Therapy:
I always recommend starting here because it’s a fast and easy way to make a huge
impact on the clutter in your home, without having to make any hard decisions. Grab a garbage bag and find as much actual garbage as you can. Old receipts, expired medications, empty bathroom product bottles, holey socks, stained clothing, broken toys, empty boxes from items you are not going to return and bills and statements over one year old (and not used for tax purposes) are some examples of things that can easily go right now! So what are you waiting for? Grab a garbage bag and start decluttering today.
21 Item Toss:
This decluttering technique is a great way to involve the entire family, and have a little fun doing it. Give everyone in your family a bag or box and tell them to find 21 items that they can donate, recycle or trash as fast as they can/ First person to find 21 things wins! This is a great purging technique because 21 is a small enough number that it isn’t overwhelming, but large enough that it makes an impact on your home. There are endless possibilities of things to fill your bag/box with, such as dried out pens, clothing you never wear, toys children have outgrown and old magazines and newspapers. I promise that finding 21 items to toss from your home is much easier to do than you think. Give it a try today.
Time Capsule:
If you are struggling to get rid of “guilty” clutter, such as items that were expensive, may be useful “someday” or have sentimental value, a time capsule may be a great option for you. Pack up the items that you really don’t want to keep (but feel guilty getting rid of) into boxes and label the outside of the box: DONATE IF NOT OPENED BY:__________ and add a date 6 months in the future. Now store this box somewhere in your home until that date arrives. This technique works well because it alleviates a lot of the stress that comes with purging guilty clutter. It gives you the opportunity to live without these items taking up your valuable space and you usually realize that you never really needed or wanted the things in the first place. Donated a box that has been packed up for the last 6 months is much easier than donating things straight from your closet.
For more easy decluttering tips, visit my website at: www.clutterbug.com
Cas Aarssen
Get Organized Today
Best Selling Author of “Real Life Organizing” and “Cluttered Mess to Organized Success”
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