Often family homes can fill to the rafters with clutter from years of collecting things. And although we promise to do some spring cleaning each year, it’s not long before the house is overrun.
An Australia Institute study found that of the 1,000 houses surveyed, 90% had at least one cluttered room in the house.1 The survey also revealed the top three clutter hotspots in the house as the spare room and bedrooms, the kitchen and the garage.
But how does one go about clearing the house of clutter?
Organise your wardrobe
One of the top three hotspots identified in the survey was the bedroom. Decluttering your closet is a great place to start. On average, Australians buy 27kgs of clothes per year. Take a leaf out of Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and discard anything that you haven’t worn in the past year or more.
Clear the floor
Whether that’s in the spare room, the bedroom or the garage, clear the floor of clutter so you no longer have to move things around to get through. Shelving and cabinets are a great way to make these rooms look tidy without actually getting rid of anything. Of course anything that doesn’t serve you a purpose should be discarded.
Clean the kitchen cupboards
Have you got a cupboard filled with coffee cups you consider your back up coffee cups? It might be time to let some of those go. Any items or utensils you find that are no longer useful, toss them. The same goes for food that has long passed its expiry date. Once you have tidied and cleaned up the kitchen and cupboards, ask everyone in the family to put things back where they came from.
Utilise garage wall and roof space
Create more space in your garage by utilising the wall space. Pegboards are very popular when it comes to garages. Simply attach magnetic strips to hang metal tools or place hooks on the board. Consider drawing an outline of the tools once they’re in their rightful place so you know where they need to be put back to. Don’t forget about installing roof racks to store longer, bulkier items such as surfboards or camping gear.
Keep decluttering
Decluttering is an ongoing process that never stops. The moment you stop decluttering is the moment the house begins to fill with clutter. Don’t give in to the temptation to throw something into a room and leave it there until you know what to do with it. Instead, take the time to consider where the item should live within in the house.
Self storage
If you’ve manage to accumulate too much clutter and can’t find the time to sort it or space to store it, consider a mobile self storage solutions. Self storage is a convenient solution that offers protection of your assets and clears space in your home. Grace self storage includes a range of extra value services like packing and loading and an online box shop.
