5 Tips For Decluttering This Year

This post may contain affiliate links which gives us commission at no additional cost to you. We may also feature items we received for review.

If your home is overrun with clutter as far as the eye can see, it’s time to take action and focus on getting your home organized once and for all! And the beginning of a new year, is the perfect time to get started.

While it’s unlikely you’ll transform into the next Marie Kondo overnight, learning a few practical clutter-busting methods can keep your home from looking like a mess with minimal amounts of effort, so your home can finally feel like the peaceful, livable space you’ve been dreaming of at last.

Clear off all flat surfaces…and keep them clean

The fastest way to make your home look less cluttered is to clear off all flat surfaces, like your countertops, tabletops, nightstand, etc. Put everything on the floor and only add back the essentials. Then, corral the rest in drawers, bins or hang them from hooks.

You’ll be amazed at the difference! One thing that I do want to note, though, is that you don’t want to take off all your items and then stuff them into drawers. When I say to put the other items into drawers, closets, bins, etc., I am talking about the other things that you need to keep, but don’t need ON your flat surfaces.

If you have junk, make sure you aren’t stuffing those items back into drawers and closets. Toss them, sell them, donate them.

Ask yourself what items you actually use – and ditch the rest!

Speaking of…the most important step in any organization process is to purge anything and everything that you don’t or won’t use. Often, I see people fill spaces with pretty, labeled bins (when they are trying to get organized) with contents they will never need.

Simplify, and start with only the things that you know you definitely need or want. There is no reason you have to declutter the same things over and over again. 

Many times, you’re tempted to hang on to things because you feel like it’s a waste of money if you should ever have to buy them again. But there’s a cost to keeping something. You need to think about where to store it, give up the actual storage space, or take up precious empty space.

Then you’ll need to spend time organizing it and then remembering where you put if and when you need it, and then putting it away, organizing it again when it gets messy, and well…. you get the picture. Is that item really worth the time and effort it’s going to take to keep it?

Think about it BEFORE you declutter and put things away, the first time.

Use the 90/90 rule

The 90/90 rule has you ask yourself if you’ve used the item in the last 90 days and if you will use it in the 90 days to come. If the answer to both is “no”, out it goes.

The actual time of 90 days is flexible, and you can adjust it to whatever suits your lifestyle, but the framework helps you decide whether an item is as necessary as you might think.

Declutter area by area

Looking at one freshly cleaned-out space might inspire you to declutter the rest of your home, too. So keep the momentum going by decluttering deeply in small areas, instead of decluttering a little at a time all across your home, because at the end of the latter, you have a full bag of donations, but no specific peacefully-decluttered space to point to.

For instance, you could decide to declutter – all the way – the junk drawer or a particular cabinet in the kitchen.

Figure out what to do with your stuff

Another hard part of decluttering is trying to figure out what to do with your stuff. Sometimes, people think it’s easier to just keep it hidden away, instead of finding someone to buy it, a donation center, or hosting a full on yard sale. Valuables are hardest, in my opinion, but the good news? I have a place for you!

Chapes-JPL is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and gives low interest collateral loans (+ buys valuables outright) nationwide. You can sell handbags, jewelry, gold, or even Atlanta pawn rolex at Chapes-JPL, and the best part about them is that their offices are safe and private financial offices in Buckhead.

“Chapes-JPL has one simple goal, to provide affordable asset loans on jewelry, gold, diamonds, watches, and other valuable assets, at a low rate and at fair value.”