Tips for Decluttering Your Home

Spring is just around the corner, at least that is what I keep telling myself anyway. So its time to start thinking about Spring cleaning and getting rid of the clutter that seems to take over our homes.  Now I am not an organized person at all. And I have been accused of holding onto way too much stuff. But these past few months we have done a fairly decent job of finally going through our house and ridding it of the dreaded clutter. I can actually sit at my desk and work in my office, which I haven't done in years. Here are a few tips to help you get started on your own Spring cleaning.

Sort

Remember that TLC show Clean Sweep, where organizers come into crazy cluttered homes and have them sort their stuff into piles? Do this for yourself. This is a great first step in getting yourself organized. We pulled our van out of our garage and set up three sections in there: sell/donate, keep and trash. Take a really hard look at the items you think you want to keep. When was the last time you used it? Is it something that you really must have? This was the hardest part for me: letting go of things I thought we could use in the future. But the truth is if you haven't used it in the past five years, you aren't going to use it ever. So get rid of it. If there are items that you must keep but don't have the room to store, you can look into portable storage containers.

Sell
Once you have sorted out what you are not keeping, you can ease some of the pain of getting rid of your stuff by selling it. This is not limited to just tag sales, although those are a great way to earn a few bucks. We had a tag sale last year but it wasn't that much of a success. I am also a huge fan of consignment shops, especially for kids clothes and gear. If you have a Once Upon A Child near you, they will pay you cash for your baby and kids stuff, no need to wait for it to sell. I make trips to our local one regularly as my youngest outgrows things. Also look into online groups on places like Facebook, Yahoo Groups, etc. I actually started a local tag sale group on Facebook for moms in our town and we all post our gently used items we are selling there. It ranges from kids stuff to furniture and it has been great. Whatever you end of not selling you can donate. I like to bring items to the Goodwill store. I also used a local "Mom Swap" group, on Facebook, to pass along our old couches and larger things that I could not get over to Goodwill. 

Organize

Our ClosetMaid
toddler toy storage.

Once you have cleaned out everything you no longer need you then have to organize what you have left. You need to avoid the cycle of it all happening again, which is something I often struggle with. Invest in some inexpensive organizational tools so that everything has its specified place. I happen to love the ClosetMaid storage solutions at Target. We have three units in our house being used for toys and one for the boys shoes, hats, gloves and backpacks. If you have office issues like I do, where the paperwork and mail seems to quickly pile up, develop a system that works good for you. Have a bin for bills that need your attention, papers that need to be filed and so on. At the end of the week, file anything that you need to keep so that the pile doesn't grow.

Decluttering your house really is a daunting task and not one most people look forward to. The above steps are what really worked well for us and hopefully will help you as well. While the process can be long and frustrating, once you have gotten rid of clutter and are surrounded by a neat and organized home, you will be so glad that you took the time to do it. 

Do you have any decluttering or organizing tips that could help us all out? Please share them!

This post has been brought to you buy Zippy Shell who offers affordable, portable storage in Houston.