Inside: How to simplify your home today with easy tips to get you started.
When life is busy and your home is cluttered, you can end up feeling drained and stressed. More and more people are realising that a simple life can result in a more joy filled life and so are decluttering and simplifying their homes to lessen the load.
A simplified home will mean less tidying, less time spent cleaning, and less overwhelm. A simplified home creates a sense of calm and allows you to focus on the more important things in life.
I began my decluttering journey 6 years ago and I now have a home that serves me instead of me constantly giving of myself to keep on top of everything. Hopefully this post will help you get started on your journey today.
Before you start
The first step towards simplifying your home is to change your mindset around your belongings. You have to be invested in the idea of simple living for this to work and for this to happen you need to realise two things:
The money is spent whether you keep it or not.
80% of the things we keep “just in case” never get used again.
Let’s break it down with some examples:
That jacket in the closet that cost far too much has never been worn. But you can’t get rid of it because it cost so much money that it would be a waste. Right? But hoarding it for years isn’t getting you that money back, is it? All it is actually doing is stealing more from you in the form of space in your home. Sell it, make some money and clear the space. And even if you donate it, you get the space back.
You can’t get rid of those chopsticks you bought for that party you hosted a few years ago. You might need to use them again one day and you don’t want to spend money again. But how likely is it that you will host another party that needs them? How long have they been sitting in the drawer already? Yes you may have to spend money replacing them in 10 years time but the space you’ll gain in the meantime is worth it, don’t you think?
It is difficult to let go, I totally get it because I had the same thoughts go round my head. But remind yourself why you are doing this, the benefits you will get as a result of clearing out everything that takes up space in your home and time in your day trying to maintain it.
You can do it, I have faith in you.
Easy tips to help you simplify your home
Some of these tips are ones to start immediately, others are a longer term process, but all will help you work towards having less stuff and less stress.
Create a vision
This is possibly the most important part of the process – a little like putting an address into a SatNav to help you know where you are heading. For each space in your home, take a real good look at it and think about what is wrong with the current situation but most importantly, how you want it to look at the end of the process.
If you look at the kitchen and feel completely stressed because the surfaces are cluttered when all you really want is to be able to come down in the morning and feel peace – you know what you need to do. Clear everything off the surfaces and decide what you are going to do with it instead.
Donate, sell, trash? If it is something you really need to keep but doesn’t need to live on the counter then you need to find a new home for it.
Create a vision and then do everything you can to make that vision a reality for every space in your home.
Start small
It is tempting to go crazy and declutter an entire room at once, but take it from someone who actually did this a couple of times …. you want to start small.
Break down the decluttering process for each room into smaller tasks, so that you can tackle a little bit at a time to eventually finish the space.
The kitchen can be broken down into individual drawers and cupboards, the counter top, the fridge freezer, any shelving etc… Choose one smaller task and do just that one job well. Then you can move on to the next task when you have time.
Identify hotspots
A great place to start is with the hot spots of your home. And by this I mean those areas that seem to attract piles of clutter. Perhaps it is the corner of the kitchen counter that seems to get piled high with paper and random little things.
Maybe it is the pile of shoes in the hallway that you are constantly tripping over. Whatever it is, by tackling those areas that frequently cause you stress and heavily contribute to the feeling of clutter, you can make a huge difference to how your home feels.
Set a timer
One of the biggest struggles when it comes to decluttering your home is finding the motivation to get started each time. The best way I found was to set a timer for the amount of time I had available to me.
Whether that was 5 minutes to do a quick grab of anything that didn’t belong or a 30 minute timer to tackle a junk drawer, having a timer seemed to give me the boost I needed to jump into action.
One thing to do here is to allow time for the clear-up at the end. So, if you have 30 minutes spare, set the timer for 20 minutes to allow another timer for 10 minutes for tidying away afterwards. Otherwise you end up reaching the end of the time only to realise you’ve made an almighty mess and have zero time to deal with it.
Reduce consumption
Every single time you buy something you are bringing another item that needs to be managed into your home. Allow that thought to sink in. Get into the habit of asking yourself a few questions before you buy anything…
Do I actually need this?
Do I own something similar already?
Could I borrow one instead?
Where is this going to be stored?
It is so difficult to avoid adverts telling you you absolutely do need those kitchen gadgets, new outfit or new decor for the home. Everywhere we go, whether it be to a store or scrolling social media, we are being sold to. We line the pockets of the companies while lining every available surface of our home with unnecessary items.
Kids’ toys are big contributors, they certainly were in our home anyway. Every birthday and Christmas the kids would ask for and be given more and more toys. Of course some of these toys were brilliant and were played with over and over again.
But so many were tossed aside after a short time, only to be found gathering dust in a corner somewhere. These days when my kids say they’d like something I ask them where they think they will store it, they then either make the room by clearing some older toys or they concede that maybe a giant drum kit isn’t going to fit in their room.
A place for everything
“A place for everything and everything in its place”, a saying we all know but few actually live by. When you have so much stuff that your cupboards and drawers are overflowing, you need to make changes.
Now, this is important…
Do not go out and buy more storage. Storage is not the issue.
You have storage already, you simply have too much stuff. The first thing to do is declutter and then, and only then, can you assess the storage to see if it is suitable or needs replacing. More often than not, once you get rid of the excess you feel like you suddenly have extra space.
Memory boxes
The trickiest part of the process is dealing with those sentimental items we all hold onto. Many people have a hard time with it and struggle to let go of things. And you know what? It’s ok.
You may not need it, it may serve no purpose at all, but being able to hold it and look at it is important to you. For those items, you can create memory boxes to keep them safely stored for when you might want to see them again.
Now, the thing to work around here is that you don’t need to keep absolutely everything. For example, I had been keeping a pair of pinstripe trousers that I adored for around 10 years. They didn’t fit me but they reminded me of a time when I was happy and so I couldn’t let them go.
But, I had a good internal discussion with myself and realised that as much as they were a great pair of trousers, they weren’t that special and were just taking up space. They’ve been out of my house for over 5 years now but I can still think of them and smile about those happy days wearing them. I don’t need to see them to have the memories.
I have a memory box for each of my children, filled with their very first outfits, hospital ID bracelets and some of the cards that I received from loved ones celebrating their births. I cannot let go of those things and that’s ok.
Create new habits
You need to create new habits to make simplifying part of your daily routine and lifestyle. It’s no use decluttering the entire house if you are then going to keep on buying unnecessary things or leaving everything out on surfaces all of the time.
Simple living needs to be a part of you so that you don’t feel tempted to consume more than you need and that decluttering on a regular basis is the norm – maybe every couple of months or so to see whether you are able to let go of more each time or if the kids have outgrown clothes or toys.
As well as decluttering, you need to make tidying up one of those essential habits that all family members stick to. One way to do this is by having an evening routine, where everyone helps to put the house to bed at the end of the day.
This means clearing surfaces, wiping them down, putting everything back into its dedicated space, leaving everything clear and tidy so that you wake up to a calm and clutter-free home each day.
I hope this post has been useful and you can see that by following these simple steps you can clear your home and create an environment that allows everyone to feel relaxed. Start today to create the simpler life you have been craving. Good luck!